The freedom of the press in Germany and in Turkey. An analysis of the circumstances in 2013 and a comparison

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject Communications - Journalism, Journalism Professions, grade: 1.0, , language: English, abstract: Always when an editorial office was rummaged; Always when reproaches of the phone tapping or persecution of journalists arises; Always then the discussion about the freedom of the press awakes and the following questions arise: To what extent is it upheld and protected? Are there borders? May the state interfere?

If freedom of the press is understood as a synonym for freedom of speech and mental freedom, it wins a historically far-reaching dimension. The right of the freedom of speech was considered in the Greek democracy and Roman republic as a self-evident fact. On the other hand, for the first time the Roman law of the Twelve Tables revealed qualifying regulations in 450 B.C.E. Mockery poems and abusive poems were threatened in it even with the punishment by death. A censorship was still unknown for the purposes of our today's modern state right.

In the following segment the basic concepts and their definitions are cleared under the point ¿Basics¿. Further, a representation of both countries Germany and Turkey takes place. Consequently, the countries geographic situation and the state form are closer explained and moreover a showing of the juridical basic conditions occurs regarding to the freedom of the press of both countries. In the third segment of the term paper the different implementation of the freedom of the press in both countries is revealed. On this occasion, a universal line is drawn with the help of the research question and the thesis statement:

Research question: Why is the freedom of the press in Germany more guaranteed than in Turkey?
Thesis statement: The freedom of the press in Germany is more guaranteed than in Turkey, because the Turkish government changes laws in the Criminal Code over and over again or delete them even completely; apart from the numerous restrictions in the constitution concerning ¿the protection of the national security¿.

This term paper is finally rounded off with a conclusion in which the compiled knowledge is brought together in an overview.