Several major German media companies and publishers’ associations have called on Chancellor Friedrich Merz for support as the United States plans to restrict the validity period for visas for foreign journalists.
Signatories to the joint letter to Merz and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul include broadcasters ARD, ZDF, Deutschlandradio, Deutsche Welle, RTL Deutschland and ProSiebenSat.1, the Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) and the Media Association of the Free Press (MVFP).
The US administration recently announced plans to grant foreign journalists visas for only 240 days. Visas were previously valid for as long as the correspondents met official requirements.
Publishers deeply concerned
The signatories called on the German government to use “all political and diplomatic means at its disposal” to ensure reporting from the US remains free and unrestricted. They said steps are needed to prevent the creation of a “worrying precedent for how democratic states deal with foreign reporting.”
‘We are only familiar with similarly short timeframes in states that seek to restrict freedom of expression or hinder reporting,” the letter stated. The signatories said they are “deeply concerned that the United States is now also moving in this direction.”
The media representatives also underlined the importance of correspondents’ bureaux for reporting and said the free formation of opinion based on unbiased information is a cornerstone of democracies.