The digital transformation of Germany's media landscape continues, increasing pressure on the press, particularly local newspapers. Meanwhile, the ongoing reform of public broadcasting is prompting PSBs to work harder to retain audiences, thereby further intensifying competition with private news providers.

The collapse of the German coalition government following a dispute over the federal budget in 2024 paved the way for early elections in February 2025, just a few weeks after our survey was in the field, meaning some caution is required when interpreting the data. At 83%, the election saw Germany's highest voter turnout in decades, with the conservative party emerging as the winner. The far-right AfD, a party monitored by German security services on suspicion of extremism, came in a historic second place. Against the backdrop of the AfD's growing popularity, Elon Musk's influence on the pre-election campaign attracted particular attention. In addition to a live interview with the AfD's leading candidate on his platform X, the US billionaire supported the AfD in a guest opinion piece for Axel Springer's Welt am Sonntag, prompting the newspaper's comment editor to resign in protest.

Meanwhile, the shift from print to digital continues in the German newspaper industry. As in 2024, 13% of our survey respondents said they are paying for online news, with Bild and Der Spiegel mentioned most frequently, along with regional and local daily newspapers. In Q4 of 2024, the print circulation of daily newspapers continued to decline, but the circulation of digital newspapers (‘e-papers’) increased (+23% compared to the previous year).¹ Leading industry representatives expect the importance of e-papers to grow further, as efforts continue to move older print subscribers across to them, since they generate higher sales revenue compared to other digital subscriptions and save paper, printing, and delivery costs.² While Germany has not yet experienced ‘news deserts’, the number of independent local newspapers has been declining over recent decades, with newsrooms being downsized or merged.³ For instance, Medienholding Süd is planning to cut up to 45 jobs in its editorial offices at Stuttgarter Zeitung, Stuttgarter Nachrichten, and other local newspapers over the next three years, equivalent to 5% of the current 300 strong workforce each year.⁴ Alongside e-papers, more innovative business models are being developed: the national weekly newspaper Die Zeit has launched a podcast subscription giving access to all paid podcasts from its media brands, these are also included for digital subscribers at no extra cost.

Germany’s public service broadcasters are facing reforms that seem likely to both reduce their remit and funding. In October 2024 the Broadcasting Commission of the federal states agreed on a draft contract to reform the PSB system which would reduce the number of their channels to cut costs. In December 2024 the federal states agreed a new simplified funding model which will also freeze the licence fee until 2027. However, the PSBs have lodged a separate constitutional complaint about the failure to implement the 2024 licence fee increase as recommended by the independent commission of experts (KEF). One response by the PSBs has been to work harder to retain news audiences. For instance, Germany's most-watched TV news bulletin, ARD Tagesschau, has introduced a new approach to news presentation, with simpler language, a more engaging presentation style, and a greater focus on positive news.

While publishers are increasing investment in AI technologies in their newsrooms,⁵ the German Press Council (Presserat) – the self-regulatory body for print media and their digital outlets – has responded by inserting a new section on AI in its Press Code (Pressekodex), which sets ethical guidelines for journalistic work. It emphasises that editorial responsibility remains with the publishers, regardless of how the content is produced. While no mandatory labelling for AI-generated texts is currently required, the Press Council now requires AI-generated images to be marked as being purely illustrative to prevent misleading readers. The Press Council recorded a record number of serious violations of the Press Code in 2024, issuing 86 reprimands (Rügen), up from 73 the previous year. While the council reviews complaints from the public and can issue reprimands for violations of journalistic ethics, it has no legal enforcement power. Many of the complaints in the past year were related to reports on terrorist attacks in Germany, as well as coverage of the Middle East conflict, with several media outlets receiving reprimands for misinformation or unethical reporting. At the same time, Reporters Without Borders has documented an increase in violent attacks and online hate speech against journalists covering the Middle East conflict in Germany.

Julia Behre, Sascha Hölig, and Judith Möller
Leibniz Institute for Media Research, Hans Bredow Institute, Hamburg

Changing media

The weekly reach of TV, online, and social media as a source of news has generally remained stable for the past few years, while print news continues to decline.

Trust in news remains broadly stable at 45%, but is still well below the peak at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public service news, together with regional and local daily newspapers, are the most trusted sources in the list surveyed, whereas the tabloid Bild is least trusted.

Footnotes