Mass media in Germany
Mass media in Germany includes a variety of online, print, and broadcast formats, such as radio, television, newspapers, and magazines.
History
The modern printing press developed in Mainz in the 15th century, and its innovative technology spread quickly throughout Europe and the world. In the 20th century period prior and during World War II, mass media propaganda in Nazi Germany was prevalent. Since the 1980s a "dual system of public and commercial" broadcasting has replaced the previous public system.The German Press Council introduced a Press Code in 1972. Since 2017 this Code has an amendment, which says that, „when reporting on crimes, care must be taken to ensure that mentioning the ethnic, religious, or other minority groups of suspects or perpetrators does not lead to a discriminatory generalization of individual misconduct. As a general rule, mention of such groups should not be made unless there is a legitimate public interest. Particular attention should be paid to the fact that mentioning such groups could fuel prejudice against minorities.“
Books
Magazines
Newspapers
As of 2015, widely read national newspapers include Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, and Bild. "Germans are voracious readers of newspapers and periodicals.... The economic state of Germany's several hundred newspapers and thousands of periodicals is enviably healthy. Most major cities support two or more daily newspapers, in addition to community periodicals, and few towns of any size are without their own daily newspaper."Bild is the largest highest-selling newspaper in Germany. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper Bild am Sonntag is published instead, which has a different style and its own editors. Bild is tabloid in style but broadsheet in size. It is the best-selling European newspaper and has the sixteenth-largest circulation worldwide. Bild has been described as "notorious for its mix of gossip, inflammatory language, and sensationalism" and as having a huge influence on German politicians. Its nearest English-language stylistic and journalistic equivalent is often considered to be the British national newspaper The Sun, the second-highest-selling European tabloid newspaper.