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German Media’s Reporting on China: Exploring the Binary Nature, Challenges, and Solutions

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German media's portrayal of China is often binary and predominantly negative, reinforcing stereotypes by focusing on issues like human rights violations and environmental neglect. The coverage is biased by Western values and German interests, frequently overlooking social, cultural, and technological dimensions. Occasionally, there are overly positive reports linked to Chinese state propaganda efforts in Germany. This leads to a monolithic view of China that fails to capture the country's complexities. Structural issues in German newsrooms, such as limited on-ground correspondence and a general lack of expertise on China, complicate journalistic efforts. Additionally, worsening press freedom in China makes it difficult for journalists to gather information or find willing interviewees. Despite these challenges, there are still excellent journalistic endeavors that manage to tell nuanced stories without reinforcing stereotypes. We aim to showcase several of these efforts, including the use of OSINT, to discuss with our colleagues how we can facilitate better reporting on China.

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