On the level of the labour market, the journalist unions like DJV and Ver.di/DJU provide a differentiated view, whereas in MDM 2011 (Marcinkowski & Donk, 2011), it was clearly pessimistic. This change can be attributed to various causes. First, in the last decade, the fictitious self-employment in the media sector had finally been prosecuted, after a long period of legal laissez-faire. This led to a wave of contracts for formerly self-employed journalists. However, unions point out that publishers filtered out high potential journalists and dismissed the rest. Austerity also has other spill-over effects:
A situation of tension arises [dealing with the tight resources] because those who manage budgets in the editorial offices […] are in a bind. […] It is of course the case that a budget that is too tightly allocated […] by the management […] and the editors in the individual units have to manage parts of this budget. [They] are responsible for awarding contracts and can only offer lousy fees in order not to end up under pressure themselves because they exceed their budget.
Fixed-term contracting is widespread, and freelancers are seen as an important part of the German media system. The official statistics counted 27,000 freelancers in journalism alone in 2018 (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2019b: 365). Of about 220,000 employees in the media industry, 158,000 work in editorial boards and journalism (including public relations staff). These freelancers are heavily affected by the Covid-19 crisis, as they rarely meet the requirements for state subsidies. About 113,000 of these 220,000[i] employees are under contract, and 60,000 are self-employed (Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit, 2019: 121–123). The job market finally showed positive development, due to the overall solid economic growth in Germany; however, the seniority system of contracts makes the work of older journalists more expensive. In print journalism, this may have led to dismissals, but there is a tendency to keep experienced journalists, according to unionists. The digital transformation, however, created new challenges for legacy print media:
The people who are hired now are not journalists, they are reconfiguring the platform of journalism […] In the print sector […] they hire a lot of expensive people. […] those who are hired there for digital transformation are really expensive. They are as expensive as an editor who has been around for twenty years.
In public service media, political pressure and austerity are driving forces for job instability. However, according to the Worlds of Journalism Study (Hanitzsch et al., 2016: 2–3), about 75 per cent of German journalists work full-time, of which 17.7 per cent are freelancers in 2016. Over 92 per cent hold permanent positions. Second, a trend towards stable working conditions is partly attributed to publishers’ desire to attract younger journalists who can aid the digital transformation. Gen Z strives to keep a work-life balance and a stable future, which means employers need to offer better contract conditions. Moreover, the employability of academics decreased during the last decade, and interview partners assume that there is a battle for the best graduates. According to the DJV, the public debate about the quality of news and the trend of investing more in investigative reporting led to a rise in awareness about journalism’s importance.
On the juridical level, the companies derived from classic print publishers in Germany are Tendenzbetriebe, which means that a company not only has economic, but may also have cultural or political, objectives. One example is Axel Springer SE (Bild), where journalists must consent to reporting in support of the Israeli state and liberal market economy. However, any influence on the editorial bent of news media by politicians or the industry is against federal constitutional law and federal law. Publishers still cannot force their editorial staff to follow their inclinations, so a journalist is not bound to write an article expressing the publisher’s viewpoint exactly. Freedom of expression and human dignity (according to the German Basic Law) legally protects journalists from pressure, which can be interpreted as a clause de conscience. Above that, bylaws of editorial units, labour legislation, and last but not least, unions, protect journalists.
Female journalists are, like every working woman in Germany, supported by federal laws such as parental leave, which guarantees a leave for up to 36 months for each child. In media companies where unions are strong partners, women’s contracts seem to be protected better. Male journalists can take the leave if resources are available, but this may interfere with advancing their career, according to DJU. Public debates during the last decade have led to a rise in awareness about workplace sexual harassment. When female journalist Laura Himmelreich shared her negative experiences with a politician’s sexist advances during an interview via Twitter #aufschrei in 2013 (comparable to #metoo), it spurred an ongoing debate about everyday sexism. Legally, the victims of physical sexual harassment are protected by the law to protect sexual self-determination, which was implemented in November 2016 (§ 184i StGB).
Bullying is, as such, not a crime, but certain acts like discriminating or harassing someone are. The antidiscrimination law AAG (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz) obligates employers to offer comprehensive protection and implement measures against sexual harassment and bullying on various levels, which also contains the right to complain. The burden of proof lies on the suspect to prove they are not guilty.
[i] The official statistics do not differentiate between journalists and public relations professionals. It is hence hard to give a specific overview of the current employment situation in the news media.
