Although Germany has had a freedom of information law since 2007, which applies to all citizens, journalists from the trade unions and media outlets we interviewed complained that access to official sources and information is quite restricted and painful to obtain. The law contains many and very broad exceptions. Certain public interests remain protected, for example, if the disclosure of the information could have adverse effects on international relations, security-sensitive concerns of the military [Bundeswehr],on internal or external security, or control tasks of the financial, competition, and regulatory authorities. If ongoing legal proceedings or discussions with the authorities could be adversely affected, the principle of confidentiality continues to apply. The secret services are completely exempt from the right to information. Private interests also lead to exception clauses, for example, if conflicts with data protection arise or if business and trade secrets of a private company are being requested. Although the Constitutional Court ruled in 2015 that how journalists obtain information is protected by fundamental rights, there is no federal press information law, and the press laws on the level of the states do not suffice for journalists’ investigations.
Authorities typically delay requests based on the freedom of information law, as the representative of a journalists’ union states: “Due to delays and tactics by the federal authorities, it is sometimes not possible to continue research at all. We can provide legal protection through our state-based associations, or this can be done through the publisher”. Through internal sources, journalists got to know that administrations have passed regulations to find exceptions for being obliged to give applicants insight into documents on the grounds of “disproportionate processing effort”. A Federal Commissioner for Freedom of Information, who works on limiting the exceptions, is in charge, but there are some ministries where the acknowledgement of receipt contains by default the sentence, “Requests can cost up to 500 €”. An exception of this overall situation is created by the Transparency Law of the State of Hamburg, which obliges the authorities to publish files not only upon request but automatically.
In rural areas, there are closer networks, and access to information can work better there. On the other hand, the accessibility of administrations is even worse here: “Journalism has become the covert press office, because investigation is no longer done at the grassroots level, with the people, but rather with the president, the deputy president or the press spokesman”. The application of state law to federal agencies is only a makeshift solution. Because of delay and evasion, journalists often have no access or need a long court procedure to enforce their claim. Many investigations are eroded by delays, as then the effort is too great or the matter is no longer topical. The regional associations of the journalists’ union, DJV, often provide legal protection in these cases, and sometimes this is also possible through the publishing house. The DJV has fought through spectacular cases as an advocate of a federal press information law.
The answers of the interviewed journalists show, as well, that success in getting information is often dependent on the time and resources a newsroom has.
