Freedom of the press in Austria

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The freedom of the press in Austria is guaranteed as a fundamental right in the federal constitution.

Austria slipped in 2019 in the press freedom index by Reporters Without Borders from 11th to 16th place from.

Legal basis

The freedom of the press is guaranteed in the Austrian Federal Constitution.

development

The relationship between parts of Austrian politics and various media has been tense since the 2000s. In particular, the public service broadcaster ORF has come under constant criticism. In addition, there is a large market concentration, i. H. much of the media belongs to a few corporations.

In 2015, Austria was ranked 7th in the Reporters Without Borders (RoG) press freedom index. In 2016, RoG criticized the high density of advertisements in Austrian newspapers; the federal government delayed a more transparent information law. In addition, the maintenance of official secrecy and the special case of a news blackout around the Traiskirchen refugee reception center were criticized.

According to the RoG, it has been problematic since 2017 that the right-wing conservative FPÖ in particular is putting increasing pressure on journalists. This usually happens indirectly - for example through budget restrictions - and thus endangers the independence of the ORF.

After Austria was ranked 11th out of 180 in the press freedom ranking in 2016-2018, it slipped back to 16th in 2019 and is no longer listed by RoG among the countries with a good press situation. The decisive factor for this development are attacks on journalists by high-ranking politicians since the existence of the conservative right-wing populist Federal Government Kurz I , such as defamatory statements about the ORF journalist Armin Wolf . The interior minister at the time, Herbert Kickl , instructed officials to limit communication to media reporting critical of the government (such as Standard , Kurier and Falter ) to a minimum and not to support them with “ treats ” such as exclusive accompaniment.

literature

  • Helga Wanivenhaus: The freedom of the press in Austria: history of its realization and its legal norms . Dissertation, Vienna 1971.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ https://www.reporter-ohne-grenzen.de/uploads/tx_lfnews/media/Rangliste_der_Pressefreiheit_2019.pdf
  2. ^ The Federal Constitution. Retrieved September 25, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Austria: TV broadcast under police sovereignty? In: tagesschau.de. September 25, 2018. Retrieved September 25, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b Hasnain Kazim: press freedom in Austria: How does the FPÖ journalists under pressure. In: Spiegel Online. April 18, 2018, accessed September 25, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Freedom of the press. In: politik-lexikon.at. Retrieved September 25, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Ranking list for press freedom 2015. Reporters Without Borders, February 11, 2015, accessed on May 23, 2019 (PDF; 108 kB).
  7. ↑ a b c Ranking list of press freedom 2019. Reporters Without Borders, accessed on September 25, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Ranking list for press freedom 2016. Reporters Without Borders, April 19, 2016, accessed on May 23, 2019 (PDF; 102 kB).
  9. ↑ Ranking list for press freedom 2017. Reporters Without Borders, April 25, 2017, accessed on May 23, 2019 (PDF; 101 kB).
  10. ^ Austria: Attacks on freedom of the press. Reporters without borders. March 8, 2018, accessed May 23, 2019.
  11. ↑ Media control of the Ministry of the Interior: Systematic attack on freedom of the press and democracy. Reporters without borders. September 25, 2018, accessed May 23, 2019.