Multi-level and Interrelated Media Policy Processes in Germany: An Enabling or Constraining Factor for Free and Independent Media?

Abstract

The German media policy focuses predominantly on national aspects, such as public service broadcasting and its regulation through state media law, while de facto the means of transmission and the media more broadly have grown out of a solely federal state perception. Accounting for this are several reasons: the advent of the Internet with its new means of information diffusion and the market entry of new actors, like Google and Apple, and the increased impact of European and international policy forums on media regulation. At the same time, the national media policy has maintained its twofold character: both the federal state and the states have distinct responsibilities in the media sector, which adds an important dimension of complexity to domestic policy-making. The question that arises then is how these multi-level competences and policy structures affect media regulation from the perspective of media freedom and independence. Does this multi-level policy environment support regulatory solutions that promote free and independent media? Concurrently, and bearing in mind that the German media policy mainly involves the traditional pathways of the legislative process, excluding complementary forms of political participation, it is vital to inquire into the impact of Internet-based forms of political participation on policy-making and the promotion of media freedom.