Germany: German newspapers have declared war on politicians for abusing an extraordinary privilege that allows them to censor interviews, writes Derek Scally in Berlin
Nine newspapers, including the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine and the left-wing Tageszeitung, have attacked the so-called authorisation procedure, where journalists allow politicians to read interviews before publication.
The procedure only applies to print journalists and, officially, is voluntary. But journalists who don't go along with the procedure are threatened with the removal of access to politicians.
That was the case last week when the Tageszeitung was refused permission to print an interview it conducted with a leading Social Democrat (SPD) politician.
According to the newspaper, SPD press officials said the interview was too "peppery" and demanded changes in questions asked and answers given.
When the newspaper refused to make the changes, the SPD allegedly threatened to exclude the newspaper from future off-the-record briefings.
Yesterday the newspaper splashed the interview with Mr Olaf Scholz, the SPD general secretary, on its front page with every answer blacked out.
In a front-page editorial the newspaper said the situation was "a creeping hollowing out of the freedom of the press" and that politicians' abuse of the system was "deceiving readers".
Eight other newspapers printed articles showing solidarity with the Tageszeitung. A spokesman for the SPD was unavailable for comment yesterday.
"Sometimes even the questions are changed to a more agreeable form. And occasionally they maintain something was never said, even if the tape-recorder proves the opposite," wrote the Berliner Zeitung. "It is a trend, a habit, an epidemic," wrote the Frankfurter Allgemeine.