Protestberichterstattung an den Grenzen der Demokratie

In recent years, physical and verbal attacks on journalists in Germany have increased, particularly in the context of street protests. These assaults not only pose direct physical and personal threats but also—through their occurrence and anticipation—negatively affect freedom of expression and freedom of the press, undermining central democratic principles. At the same time, they reveal shortcomings on the part of state institutions, which bear responsibility for ensuring the protection of reporters. To date, such attacks have received little attention in communication and political science research. The few existing studies primarily provide quantitative monitoring rather than investigating how such attacks are perceived, how they affect those targeted, and how they potentially restrict free reporting. Addressing this gap in research, we conducted interviews with twelve journalists who regularly report, or have reported on demonstrations in Saxony, a hotspot for such incidents. Our findings show that the journalists’ perceptions of these attacks, as reconstructed from the interviews, have serious implications for news coverage and the quality of democratic public discourse in Saxony.