Journalists attacked in Germany since 1992
Berlin police shove journalists with batons, prevent them from covering eviction
Police in Berlin physically attacked journalists to prevent them from covering a controversial eviction on October 8, 9, and 10, 2020, in which police removed activists who had been squatting at a house in the city, according to journalists Björn Kietzmann and Christina Gutsmiedl, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app and email respectively, journalists’ social…
Q&A: Financial Times reporters Dan McCrum and Stefania Palma on Wirecard and pressures on business journalists
Dan McCrum and Stefania Palma, business reporters for the Financial Times, spent years investigating German payments company Wirecard and revealed in a series of articles that the darling of the stock markets and the German tech scene faked its accounts. When it filed for insolvency in June 2020, Wirecard owed creditors billions of dollars, and…
Germany revisits influential internet law as amendment raises privacy implications
On October 1, a new law to regulate content posted on social media platforms took effect in Turkey, The Guardian reported. Turkish journalists already face censorship and arrest because of social media posts, CPJ has found, and the law offers just one more tool to censor news. Yet the legislation was not solely conceived in Ankara; it follows the example of one…
Demonstrators attack, obstruct journalists covering protests against COVID-19 lockdown in Germany
Since mid-July, 2020, German protesters against the country’s COVID-19 restrictions have attacked journalists covering their demonstrations, according to news reports and videos of the incidents shared on social media. On July 17, at a protest in the town of Weiden, Bavaria, protesters harassed Beate Josefine Luber, a local freelance reporter covering the demonstrations for regional…
German injunction against BuzzFeed story in place since September due to COVID-19
On September 18, 2019, the Berlin Regional Court issued a temporary injunction ordering BuzzFeed Germany, the local branch of the U.S. media outlet, to remove two articles from its website, according to news reports from the time. Due to the country’s lockdown to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the court has not held…
For Turkish journalists in Berlin exile, threats remain, but in different forms
For Can Dündar, sitting in the audience of a theater performance near Dortmund in Germany in May was an emotional moment. In an interview with CPJ, he recalled how during the premiere night, he watched the main actor on stage playing a journalist as he was imprisoned in Turkey, had his house searched, his books…
Austrian politician Strache sues German newspapers over ‘Ibiza video’
Berlin, June 12, 2019 — German authorities should reject criminal complaints filed by former Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache against news outlets that published a video that led to his resignation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
German draft legislation would enable intelligence agencies to spy on journalists
Berlin, June 7, 2019 — The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the German Ministry of the Interior to drop draft legislation that would make it easier for intelligence services to surveil journalists and their sources.
CPJ alarmed by detention of German freelance reporter in Venezuela
Miami, November 29, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern over the detention in Venezuela of German freelance journalist Billy Six. Venezuelan counterintelligence agents detained Six in the northwestern state of Falcón on November 17, according to his parents and news reports.
Germany should use UN Security Council role to promote press freedom
CPJ calls on Chancellor Angela Merkel to use Germany’s position on the U.N. Security Council to prioritize press freedom and the safety of journalists. The country should extend its legacy of speaking up when journalists are under attack.