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Research object German television staff: Diversity is the big exception (archive picture with »Lindenstrasse« actors 2020)
Photo: Lucas Bäuml / dpa
Rostock professor Elizabeth Prommer, director of the Institute for Media Research, and her two colleagues Juliane Wegner and Julia Stüwe already suspected that there might be headwinds.
Discussions about their topic, their research results and the methodology - that was to be expected.
But accusations of racism?
The three communication scientists presented a study on audiovisual diversity on German television at the beginning of October.
Key question: How well is social diversity portrayed on television and in German films?
In addition to the visibility of women in the productions, it is also about other population groups.
"For the first time in Germany, television content is also being analyzed more precisely according to sexual orientation, ethnic origin, migration background and disability," says the 23-page study.
The study
AreaWhat was examined? Expand
The television programs of 17 full TV channels and four children's TV channels in Germany that were broadcast in 2020 were examined.
Around 25,000 protagonists from thousands of programs were analyzed.
Expand areaWho commissioned the study?
Behind the study are the MaLisa Foundation of actress Maria Furtwängler and her daughter Elisabeth, as well as several private and public German television channels.
The study was carried out at the Institute for Media Research at the University of Rostock.
Area How meaningful are the results? Expand
According to the University of Rostock, the selection of programs was representative, the results therefore allow conclusions to be drawn about the German television offer as a whole.
The main results:
Only 34 percent women
appear in formative roles and functions
on
television
- and 66 percent men.
This applies to all broadcasts, i.e. fictional, non-fictional and information formats.
While a quarter of the population (26 percent) has a family history of
migration
, only 11 percent of the people in all television programs do so.
"
Disability
,
sexual orientation
, migration background and attributions of
ethnic origin
are not as diverse as they are distributed in the population," says the study.
In fictional TV productions, for example, only around two percent of the protagonists can be read as homosexual or bisexual.
However, there are also
positive developments
, especially when it comes to the visibility of women, the authors of the study note: “In the fictional productions that were made in 2020, the gender ratio is almost balanced.” And even in the information programs, “men do not explain more alone the world.
Moderation and journalistic functions are approaching parity «.
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Two weeks after the publication, the "Bild" newspaper raised serious allegations against the Rostock researchers: the media scientists had used "racist categories themselves."
In addition, parallels are drawn between the current study and the National Socialist "race research" in the article.
Elizabeth Prommer finds this "hair-raising" and unfair.
"It is interesting that these allegations come from a corner that otherwise tends to deny the existence of racism on German television," the media scientist told SPIEGEL.
"Who is not counted, does not count"
The »image« allegations refer to the so-called code book: instructions with which all the assistants involved in the project evaluate films and TV programs as far as possible according to uniform criteria.
Among other things, example photos are shown there for people who were categorized as »Black«, »Latinx«, »Indigenous / minority peoples« or »White« in the evaluation.
more on the subject
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Opportunities and problems after the Merkel era: Is Germany now a country of immigration - or not? By Katrin Elger and Jan Friedmann
"In the study we examined racism and discrimination based on external attributions," says Prommer.
Anyone who wants to find out how easily recognizable minorities are on television must first define how this visibility is expressed.
»We are aware that a coding of these dimensions must withstand a potential accusation of establishing discrimination and racism.
In this way, an 'othering' becomes visible through operationalization alone, ”says the study.
"I can only determine underrepresentation or invisibility by counting," says Prommer.
»The much-quoted saying applies: 'If you don't count, you don't count.'
With material from dpa
