Sources Of News : Germany

The mass media obtain their material from news agencies at home and abroad, from their own correspondents and from direct research. The radio and television networks have offices in all major cities around the world, as do the large newspapers. A number of news agencies offer comprehensive coverage of German news. The leading domestic news agency is the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa). Other news agencies include the Deutscher Depeschen-dienst (ADN/ddp), which merged with the former East German Allgemeine Deutsche Nachrichtenagentur in 1993, the Associated Press (AP), Reuters (rtr) and Agence France Press (AFP), dpa supplies all German daily newspapers. AP, rtr and AFP can base their German-language services on the global networks of their parent companies in the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Most newspapers buy their material from at least two of these services, and the public broadcasting networks from as many as five.

In addition, there are numerous specialized agencies and press services which cover a virtually unlimited spectrum of subjects. They include the Protestant Press Service (epd), the Catholic News Agency (KNA) and the Sports Information Service (sid). Agencies like the Vereinigte Wirtschaftsdienste (vwd) also provide information for private companies and business organizations.

Various asssociations, public authorities, parties, companies, etc. have their own press departments which, like outside agencies, keep information flowing to the mass media. This is done by means of news conferences, press releases, mailings, picture services and briefings for journalists.

It is also part of the journalist’s daily routine to research topics of his own choosing. Public authorities in Germany are required to provide journalists with information within the framework of the law. There are nearly 1,000 accredited correspondents in Bonn alone; in Berlin there are meanwhile about 700. In Bonn, the roughly 550 German journalists are members of the Federal Press Conference, and the more than 400 foreign journalists belong to the Foreign Press Association. Both are entirely independent of the authorities.