Reporters without Borders: 41 Attacks on Journalists in Germany
Reporters without Borders (RSF) has observed an atmosphere of rising hostility toward the press in Germany. The number of physical attacks on journalists went down in 2023 compared to the year before – but compared to the years before the pandemic, the number remains high, according to a report published last week.
In 2023 the organization documented and verified a total of 41 attacks on journalists and editorial offices. That number is significantly lower than it was in 2022, when RSF counted 103 attacks. In 2021 there were 80.
Nevertheless, “A stable reversal of the negative trend is not yet apparent,” the report notes. The numbers remain high compared to the years before the pandemic – in 2019, for example, RSF recorded only 13 attacks.
RSF executive board member Michael Radiske said in a statement: “Last year reporters were again beaten, had their equipment destroyed and received threats on the internet on a massive scale. 2024 began with the brutal injuries suffered by a journalist outside a demonstration in Leipzig, to name just one example.”
According to the “Country Report: Germany 2024,” the most common form of violence against journalists was kicks and blows, “including with objects such as torches.” RSF classified such incidents as attacks if physical contact was made with the journalists’ bodies or equipment.
Journalists also had their equipment forcibly taken from them. Some were thrown to the ground or pelted with sand and rocks. One theater critic was even smeared with feces.
Attacks at Demonstrations
The most dangerous places for journalists, according to RSF, were political gatherings like party meetings, demonstrations, or other protest actions. Of a total of 41 attacks, 31 were recorded in connection with such gatherings.
RSF cites as one example a demonstration in Munich in February 2023. There a participant attacked a reporter from behind, knocked him over and pinned him to the ground. According to the reporter, who pressed charges, the case went to trial and the court imposed a fine of 1,000 euros.
In May, at a torchlight march put on by a student fraternity association, a journalist was attacked with a burning torch, which hit the lens of his camera. Another marcher wielding two torches attempted to hit the journalist in the head.
During protests against the demolition of the town of Lützerath, which is being cleared to make way for a coal mine, a photographer from the DPA news agency was struck by a participant. And in the Hambacher forest a team from Westdeutsche Rundfunk was attacked by a masked assailant; a camera was damaged in the attack.
A large number of the attacks (18) took place in connection with coverage of conspiracy-minded and extreme right groups, per the report. These groups are united in their hatred of the so-called “lying press” (Lügenpresse) and their criticism of the democratic process.
Threatened at Home
In some cases journalists were even threatened at home. In Passau in March 2023 the home of local journalist Hubert Jakob Denk was vandalized. In his reporting Denk had been critical of protests against Covid restrictions. David Janzen, who writes about the extreme right milieu, found graffiti spray-painted on his front door – and chunks of meat stuffed into his mailbox.
Most of the confirmed attacks in 2023 took place in Saxony (12), followed by Bavaria (6), Berlin (5), and North Rhine-Westphalia (5).
Meanwhile in the first months of this year the organization has already received reports of incidents that it characterizes as “alarming.” In one instance, following a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Leipzig, a video journalist and his friend were beaten by three unknown assailants. Their injuries were severe enough to require hospitalization.
Outside a protest led by farmers in south Brandenburg in January a team from rbb24 was attacked while inside their news van. And in Halle a driver drove his car into a local reporter who was on site covering an action by the group “Letzte Generation” (Last Generation).
Newspaper Distribution Centers Blocked
In February 2024 the entrances to press distribution centers and printing plants were blocked using various means, including parked tractors, in an effort to prevent newspaper deliveries, a development RSF finds particularly worrying. This seems to be a new strategy for attacking the freedom of the press, the organization warns.
Michael Rediske commented: “This shows that the freedom to report independently is under threat in this country, and not just in the form of attacks on individual journalists. Dissatisfaction with what some claim is too-scant coverage of farmer protests is apparently sufficient grounds to further lower the bar for acceptable behavior in attacks against press freedom.”
Journalists are subject to digital violence as well. This includes, for instance, so-called doxing, the publication of private information like a person’s home address – but journalists also encounter hate speech, threats of violence, and deliberate and systematic online attacks. Those who report on topics like migration, right-wing extremism, and corruption are particularly affected.
In its report, RSF responds to the key points for a law against digital violence outlined by the German Ministry of Justice in April 2023. Among other demands, the organization would require that such a law explicitly name journalists as a protected professional group. The government has not yet approved a draft of the law. (js)