A new study by the Technical University of Dortmund has found that nearly two-thirds of German journalists show political preferences leaning toward left-green parties, confirming what critics have claimed about an ideological bias within the mainstream media.
The study, conducted with 525 journalists between March and June 2024, reveals that 63 percent of respondents support the Greens, the Social Democrats (SPD), or the Left Party.
Of those with a political leaning, 41 percent back the Greens alone — a figure nearly four times higher than the party’s general support among the German population.
When isolating only journalists who expressed a party preference (77 percent of respondents), the alignment with left-green parties rose to 82 percent, highlighting an overwhelming skew in favor of liberal parties.
Notably absent from journalist support is the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), which wasn’t even listed as an option, despite the anti-immigration party maintaining between 15 to 20 percent support among the general public.
In total, the Greens garnered 41 percent of support followed by the SPD (16 percent), CDU (8 percent), the Left (6 percent), FDP (3 percent), and BSW (1 percent).
Some 2 percent of respondents opted for “other parties” while 23 percent said they have no party preference.
The study, reported on by the Nius media outlet, also surveyed journalists’ perceptions of political alignment within their profession, with 30 percent identifying the Greens as the strongest party among their colleagues. While journalists appeared conscious of the leftward bias in the industry, they consistently underestimated its extent.
Despite the prevalence of left-green preferences, most journalists believe that their political affiliations have little impact on reporting. According to the study, 37 percent of journalists think their political leanings do not influence their coverage, while 27 percent admitted their preferences may affect the emphasis of their reporting.
The respondents comprised 40 percent of journalists working for public broadcasters and 60 percent employed by private media. There was a slight lean towards male respondents (54 percent) compared to female (45 percent) while 1 percent did not identify as either.
