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International Press Freedom Day - Is Our Press Still Free?
Image from CORRECTIV, © CORRECTIV
To mark International Press Freedom Day on May 3, we have taken the liberty of translating parts of an article by the German nonprofit investigative journalism newsroom CORRECTIV for you.
We simply couldn't have written it any better.
CORRECTIV has been widely known since their publication about the secret meeting of AfD politicians with right-wing extremists, in which they discussed a racist secret plan to deport millions of people.
“News like this [referring to the news in the image above; editor's note] reaches our editorial office daily.
In our democracy, freedom of the press is firmly anchored in the Basic Law. And yet we as a society must remind ourselves every day that free reporting cannot be taken for granted. Even in Germany, press freedom is in danger.
In recent years, Germany has slipped down in the Press Freedom Index. Instead of being ”good,“ the state of press freedom is only ”satisfactory.“ Compared to 2019, the number of hostilities, threats, and violence against media professionals has quintupled.
Many hate mails in particular are addressed to female journalists and reporters and have a completely different quality:
” [...] you dumb agitating piece of pig shit [...] Stupid dumb bitch ... Kisses“
It starts with ”simple“ attempts at intimidation and escalates to massive threats of rape and murder:
”The Nuremberg Tribunal 2.0 is certain for you.“ (Mail 14.11.22)
Over the years, the tone has become more and more aggressive. People who hate us seem to feel safer and safer. We notice that many no longer hide behind pseudonyms, but write their full name and even their address under emails. Other editorial offices report similar experiences.
Free reporting is irreplaceable. So that every person can form their own opinion. An attack on press freedom is also an attack on everyone who wants to live in an open society.”
We have nothing more to add.