The European Center for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) published a report on September 20 that found an increase in violence against journalists in Germany. In particular, the report showed a sharp rise in attacks on the press in 2018, when some 28 journalists suffered a total of 22 verified physical assaults so far.
By contrast, there were only five registered attacks against the press in 2017. The year with the most violence against journalists was 2015, with a total of 43 verified attacks.
The center acknowledged that its figures differed from those of the German Federal Criminal Police Office, especially in the eastern German state of Saxony, but the authors attributed the discrepancy to data collection methods.
The ECPMF report noted that along with the rise in physical attacks, less widely documented verbal attacks and threats are also very troubling. The number of severe verbal assaults against journalists remains “extremely high,” according to the report.
Source: DW
