Mass media in Germany includes a variety ofonline,print, andbroadcast formats, such as radio, television, newspapers, and magazines.
The modernprinting press developed inMainz in the 15th century, and its innovative technologyspread quickly throughout Europe and the world. In the 20th century period prior and duringWorld War II, mass mediapropaganda in Nazi Germany was prevalent. Since the 1980s a "dual system of public and commercial" broadcasting has replaced the previous public system.[1]
The German Press Council (Deutscher Presserat) introduced a Press Code (Pressekodex) in 1972. Since 2017 this Code has an amendment (12.1), which says that, „when reporting on crimes, care must be taken to ensure that mentioning the ethnic, religious, or other minority groups of suspects or perpetrators does not lead to a discriminatory generalization of individual misconduct. As a general rule, mention of such groups should not be made unless there is a legitimate public interest. Particular attention should be paid to the fact that mentioning such groups could fuel prejudice against minorities.“[2]
As of 2015, widely read national newspapers includeSüddeutsche Zeitung,Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,Die Welt, andBild.[3] "Germans are voracious readers of newspapers and periodicals.... The economic state of Germany's several hundred newspapers and thousands of periodicals is enviably healthy. Most major cities support two or more daily newspapers, in addition to community periodicals, and few towns of any size are without their own daily newspaper."[1]
Bild is the largest highest-selling newspaper in Germany. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paperBild am Sonntag ("Bild on Sunday") is published instead, which has a different style and its own editors.Bild is tabloid in style butbroadsheet in size. It is thebest-selling European newspaper and has the sixteenth-largest circulation worldwide.[4] Bild has been described as "notorious for its mix of gossip, inflammatory language, andsensationalism" and as having a huge influence on German politicians.[5] Its nearest English-language stylistic and journalistic equivalent is often considered to be theBritish national newspaperThe Sun, the second-highest-selling European tabloid newspaper.[6][7][8]
The first "radio program in Germany was broadcast on October 29, 1923, in Berlin."[3]
TheGerman video gaming market is one of the largest in the world.[9] TheGamescom in Cologne is the world's leading gaming convention.[10][non-primary source needed] Popular game series from Germany includeTurrican, theAnno series,The Settlers series, theGothic series,SpellForce, theFIFA Manager series,Far Cry andCrysis. Relevant game developers and publishers areBlue Byte,Crytek,Deep Silver,Kalypso Media,Piranha Bytes,Yager Development, and some of the largestsocial network game companies likeBigpoint,Gameforge,Goodgame andWooga.[11]
