News Coverage of the Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis in German Public Service Broadcasting: A Case Study Analysis in Tagesschau, Heute, Brennpunkt and ZDF Spezial

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study analysed German public-service news coverage of the Greek sovereign debt crisis in the regular news bulletins Tagesschau and heute and the special broadcasts Brennpunkt and ZDF spezial (which provide supplementary reporting on special events) to establish whether the coverage met standards of relevance, neutrality, balance, diversity and analytic quality. It found that although the news coverage was commensurate with the relevance of the topic and satisfied the criterion of diversity, it fell short when it came to the criteria of neutrality, balance and analytic quality. During the study period, the coverage focused on a very small number of topics, journalists allowed their own value judgements and opinions to creep into news and reports, and overall there was an evident slant against the position of the Greek government.