Federal Government Report on Communication and Media

On behalf of the Federal Government, the Hans Bredow Institute authored a comprehensive assessment of the development of media in Germany since 1997. It is meant to serve as a basis for the Federal Government’s Report on Communication and Media. The evaluation was published as an addendum to the Federal Government’s Report on Communication and Media on 17 December 2008.

The German Bundestag (Upper House of Parliament) had requested that the Federal Government produce an appropriate report on the state of the media, which continues the tradition of the Federal Government’s media reports last published in 1998. With this, the Federal Government announced its intention to establish a database on the subject of the development of the media and communication systems, to be available along with these reports every two years in future. In addition, the report was meant to offer a point of departure for identifying problems in the area of communication and media early, as well as for presenting various solutions. The Federal Government elected to have these studies conducted by an independent academic institution.

The goal of the Hans Bredow Institute’s research-based assessment was to provide a well-structured, comprehensive and neutral source of information, on the basis of which political needs and options become visible. It is meant to be a supplement to the actual report, which is produced by the Federal Government and in which political consequences will be formulated.

To discuss current media developments and their effects on society, the Institute arranged five expert workshops, the insights of which were integrated into the report. The findings from the workshops have been included in the text of the scientific section.