Memminger Freedom Prize: Panel discussion "Press freedom" worries about "Quality journalism"

Memmingen - Last Friday (May 20, 2022), three state vice presidents and Memmingen's mayor Manfred Schilder discussed "questions and sticking points about press freedom" as part of the supporting program of the "Memminger Freedom Prize".

The round was moderated by Gerd Horseling, a former deputy editor-in-chief of the Augsburger Allgemeine.

Horseling said at the beginning that it was a serious issue because freedom of the press was closely linked to democracy, and freedom of the press was not only under pressure worldwide, but also in Germany.

He asked where the encroachment on press freedom begins.

State vice -

(SPD) found the change in reporting from the Bavarian state parliament “striking”.

The pressure on freedom of the press is increasing primarily due to the economic development of the daily newspaper publishers.

The circulation of daily newspapers has halved in the last 20 years, and media concentration is also showing a remarkable pace in Bavaria.

For local concerns, the local newspaper is "the be-all and end-all"

For

(Free Voters), freedom of the press means not having to be afraid when expressing opinions, that there is no censorship and that you have free access to information.

He, too, lamented the media concentration as a stumbling block for press diversity and freedom.

After all, according to Hold, there are many different channels and good opportunities to find out more online.

For local concerns, however, the local newspaper is "the be-all and end-all".

If there is no longer any competition here, many things can be hushed up and the internal independence in the editorial offices must be viewed increasingly critically.

Media concentration as a stumbling block

Thomas Gehring

(Greens) complains that there are no longer any state parliament correspondents and at the same time a dramatic change in the “public”.

Companies and political groups are increasingly using their own online channels to disseminate their information, the way they like to see it published and without inconvenient journalists.

The latter development is also causing problems for

, who stepped in for

(CSU).

While newspapers cut correspondents and editors, large companies massively expanded their PR departments and took advantage of the freedom of the press.

This also promotes the so-called "bubble formation", i.e. the development of no longer dealing with other opinions and perspectives.

Media subsidies critical

Alexander Hold called on the media to take responsibility themselves.

They would have to fulfill their control function over those in power and ensure transparency in important decisions, but saw this as a good solution in the Corona times.

He can understand the discussion about subsidizing newspaper delivery, since it is a significant burden for publishers, especially in rural areas.

Schilder and Rinderspacher, on the other hand, are extremely critical of subsidizing daily newspaper publishers, as it means that independence is no longer guaranteed and the newspapers depend on drips from the state.

"Supervised thinking" or "thinking for yourself"

The many different social media channels guarantee media plurality on the one hand, but also unsettle most people.

Quality journalism often falls by the wayside, users can no longer distinguish "fake news" from "real" news.

There was also agreement that much more had to be done in schools for media competence.

Young people and teachers should get significantly more help to recognize "quality journalism" and to find their way around the net.

School and parents are responsible for this.

The pressure of having to react quickly to various publications is also at the expense of “quality journalism”; content is being pushed into the background in favor of speed.

For the panellists, public service broadcasting is a role model when it comes to freedom of the press.

Its financing is regulated and guarantees independence.

However, one of the approximately 30 listeners saw things differently, he also found the public media no longer credible and demanded “real” news.

Another guest asked what reliable reports are and where you can get them from.

Unfortunately, there were no more helpful answers due to time constraints.

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