The mass media have actively flooded the whole world. Every day we succumb to their influence, analyze, tell friends and acquaintances, draw certain conclusions and change our minds. The system of imposition through the media has become quite powerful since ancient times and to this day does not lose its position. This article is about the German media. Let's see how this system works there and how the Russian media in Germany work with information.
History of German journalism
The first publications of a journalistic nature appeared in Germany in 1609. At that time, very few editions were produced, about 30, but in 1618 the number increased to 200 editions. These were mainly weeklies such as Aviso and Relation.
At that time, postal departments had a wide range of information, so they were the ones who were engaged in publishing various issues. The first newspaper came out only in 1661, and weekly editions were issued in circulation from 200 to 1500 copies. ATnewspapers most often published various information, economic news and other news, which were carefully checked by the emperor.
Soon scientific, artistic, poetic publications began to take shape, saying that culture is not the last place in the German media.
Government
It was very important for the German authorities to cooperate with the media. Especially during the Third Reich and the Second World War, when it was necessary to conduct propaganda work. This was done by a specially created propaganda agency. Naturally, everything has its own resistance. Here, too, a resistance group appeared in this case, which tried to resist the emerging order and propaganda. But they didn’t succeed, because at that time there was a very powerful government in Germany. Only the defeat of fascist Germany by the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition and the following political changes allowed the country and the media along with it to be launched onto the path of becoming a democracy. The rules have become much looser, and the German media have gained freedom of speech.
Modern media
German media today do not lose their high positions. They are represented by an example of Western European printing. According to official statistics published in the Federal Government's State of the Media Report, there are as many as 384 publishers in Germany today. They publish 423 newspapers of a daily format, the total circulation of which is 25.3 million copies, of which 19.2 millionsubscription newspapers. The main feature of the German media is a huge number of local and regional newspapers, which is explained by the centuries-old fragmentation of Germany.
Broadcasting and television
Public law and private broadcasting in the German media.
Public Law Broadcasting was created on a national basis, which is controlled by the councils of the society, where authoritative political and public companies are represented. The list of Russian-language media in Germany remains limited.
The public law position for radio and television was chosen in order to ensure their independence from the authorities of the country and to enable the public to participate in the life of working bodies. There are three bodies that carry out this review and control.
Organs
- Council for resolving issues of radio and television broadcasting. The members of this council are called upon to represent the interests of the people. They are either chosen by the state parliaments or directly appointed by certain political parties, religious organizations, business associations or cultural communities.
- Council to address governance issues. Members of this Council oversee the implementation of program directives, make budget allocations, and act as "overseers" along the way. The Council also elects the General Director (in other words, the Quartermaster), whose candidacy must be approved by the entire Council.
- The general director in question (the same quartermaster). He is obliged to carry outmanagement of the company in accordance with the decisions of all boards and be responsible for the content of program plans.
The main income of TV and radio companies is, of course, the subscriber's fee. That is why they conduct a very modest, not flashy policy. After all, propaganda media receive much more funding, because they are subject to high-status people who benefit from it.
Publicism of Karl Marx
The local nature of the press remained very strange, and this was the main feature of German journalism. This was due to the fact that almost until the end of the 19th century, Germany was considered “the most remote place in Europe”, “a country of rags”, “a semi-feudal weak power”. Naturally, this had a very strong effect on the local press, and it was noted by many.
Given the fragmentation of Germany into principalities, only the German language united the inhabitants of the state into something united. Soon there was a regional journalism, which exists today.
Consequences of censorship rules
Printing of publications was very slow, much slower than, for example, in France, which made Germany even more lagging behind. Nobody wanted to read German newspapers and magazines, preferring more French ones. And in 1823, the German publisher Friedrich Brockhaus allowed himself to put it this way: “Our German journalism is a complete nonentity.”
The public complained that the press had become stingy, uninteresting andbased only on facts. No entertaining columns and somehow embellished texts. The German media in Germany used only facts, which made the articles dry and boring.
All this was the result of numerous censorship restrictions. Basically, the components of newspapers and magazines were the stories of authors who talked about their life path. Most of the time, no one was interested. Another proof of this is a quote from one journalistic publication: “A common feature of newspapers and magazines of this era is the scarcity of content. The censorship did not allow discussion of the events, moods and demands of the era - it was forbidden to touch on the issues that worried the hearts in the press.
Russian media
Political scientist Suzanne Spam decided to find out how the Russian media work in Germany. She says that the Russian media want to influence the consciousness and mood of their compatriots and not only that Germans are also becoming subject to news flows. This is primarily due to the fact that about three million Russian speakers currently live in Germany.
In addition, according to the political scientist, the influence of the Russian media on the Germans is not only through news channels, radio programs and television programs. A very wide range of information passes through social networks, as there are a huge number of users.
Will Germany respond to such actions by the Russian Federation? According to the political scientist, no. Germanywill not take any action because freedom of speech reigns in Germany. As long as the Russian media do not do anything illegal or contrary to German traditions and laws, Germany will not take any decisions.
In general, Suzanne Shpam believes that the goal of the Russian media is very simple and predictable - to show that the Moscow authorities have a wide range of dissemination of information and give it out to people who easily trust the domestic press. However, do not forget about the German media in Russian.
Modern German media
According to numerous characteristics, the first place is occupied by magazines of a certain specialization, the second - by socio-political magazines. Departments are in third place, advertising is in fourth place.
At the moment, the system of German radio and TV stations is called the "dual" system. This means that there are only two forms of media ownership in Germany:
a) public legal form of ownership;
b) private ownership.
The largest and richest owners are the magnates of the three concerns, who are among the 500 richest businessmen in Germany. These are the concerns of Bertelsman, Springer and Burda. In total, there are 15 private television companies in Germany. In Germany, there are more than 500 information agencies that collect and process socio-political information. They carefully process it and only then let it air or print.
This is how the German media in the 21st century is organized - freedomwords, while filtering information is still present.
Conclusions
The German media is a great example of freedom of speech. On the one hand, interference by foreign media is also allowed, and on the other hand, foreign media will be punished for violations of rules and laws.
This is a very correct position, which is not supported in many countries. Every journalist in Germany can express his thoughts and positions, and this will not be punished. Today's changes in the field of journalism and the media are very different from those that existed during the Second World War. There reigned complete control over each letter, and at the slightest suspicion of disobedience, the author was subjected to severe bullying.
When there are changes in a positive direction, it has a very good effect not only in the internal affairs of the country itself, but also in external relations with other countries.
So, we can conclude that Germany has taken a very correct and advantageous position, thus not allowing disorder to develop in its country and at the same time learning about the positions of other countries (for example, Russia). The Russian-language media in Germany do not have such clear positions - they are aimed at disseminating information for the Russian diaspora.
