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At its ninth meeting held on 19 October 2023, the Medienrat (Media Council) of the Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien (Bavarian New Media Authority - BLM) adopted new guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism. Designed to protect the credibility of journalism and preserve democratic debate, the guidelines are merely an initial set of recommendations regarding the use of AI systems in journalism. In view of AI’s rapid development, however, they will need to be continuously updated. The authors accept that the use of AI in journalism has some benefits....

On 17 October 2023, the Saarland state parliament adopted a law modernising Saarland media law. Under the reform, a separate law concerning the public service broadcaster Saarländischer Rundfunk (SR) was created, with structural changes to its management and internal control. Meanwhile, the provisions relating to the supervisory body, the Landesmedienanstalt Saarland (LMS), were amended, including changes to its governing bodies and director election procedure as well as the broadening of its remit. SR is one of the nine regional public service broadcasters in Germany. Under the amendment,...

On 10 October 2023, the German Landesmedienanstalten (state media authorities) published their new transparency-related FAQs for media intermediaries. The FAQs are designed to explain to intermediary services, i.e. mainly search engines and social networks, how they can meet their transparency obligations under the 2020 Medienstaatsvertrag (state media treaty – MStV). They also stress that these rules, which promote media diversity, apply regardless of the entry into force of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which also contains transparency obligations for online platforms and search engines...

In a ruling of 11 October 2023 (case no. 11 A 185/21), the Schleswig-Holsteinische Verwaltungsgericht (Schleswig-Holstein Administrative Court) overturned a decision of the Medienanstalt Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein (Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein media authority – MA HSH) alleging a breach of human dignity and programming guidelines by private broadcaster Sat.1. The MA HSH had ruled that a sequence in the real-life documentary series “Lebensretter hautnah – Wenn jede Sekunde zählt” showing a person who had suffered a serious seizure had been voyeuristic and sensationalist,...

In a ruling issued in summary proceedings on 16 August 2023, the Verwaltungsgericht Minden (Minden Administrative Court – VG) decided that a YouTube blogger who wishes to report on a court case concerning himself is entitled to protection under the freedom of the press. The court also allowed him to take the equipment that he needed to produce reports into the court building. The decision concerned a court procedure involving the YouTube blogger at the Landgericht Bielefeld (Bielefeld District Court – LG), which he wanted to report on via his YouTube channel. To do this, he intended...