German media appear to report far more frequently on violent crimes committed by foreigners than would be appropriate based on statistics from the police and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). This finding comes from a newly presented study that analyzed television and newspaper reports from this year. A particular focus is placed on crimes committed by individuals from countries with predominantly Muslim populations.
One in Four TV Reports and One in Three Newspaper Articles on Violent Crimes Mention the Suspect’s Origin
One in four television reports on violent crimes mentioned the origin of the suspects. Among the newspaper articles analyzed, it was even one third. In 94.6% (TV) and 90.8% (print) of these cases, the suspects were foreign. However, the BKA’s 2024 statistics list only 34.4% of suspects in violent crimes as non-German. “Foreign suspects are thus approximately three times overrepresented in the media,” concludes the study by journalism expert Thomas Hestermann from Hamburg’s Macromedia University.
A Particular Focus: Crimes by People from Muslim-Majority Countries
Approximately 70% of the foreign suspects in the media reports came from predominantly Muslim-majority countries, Hestermann’s study further states. The official crime statistics, however, attribute only 15.8% of suspects to these countries. Suspects from Muslim-majority countries of origin are thus more than four times overrepresented in leading German media, according to Hestermann.
The study examined media reports from a period of four individual weeks, spread across the months of January to April 2025. As in previous years since 2007, it included high-reach television broadcasters ARD, ZDF, RTL, Sat.1, ProSieben, Kabel Eins, Vox, and RTL Zwei. Since 2019, the analysis has also included major daily newspapers: Bild, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Welt, and taz. The study was commissioned by the Mediendienst Integration with funding from the EU and the German Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Bavaria: Police Publicize Nationality of Suspects
In Bavaria, since early October, the police have been instructed by the Bavarian Interior Ministry to “generally and actively” state the nationality of suspects and victims in their press releases. According to a ministry spokesperson, the background is that in recent years, the nationality of suspects or the accused has increasingly become a public focus.
The Working Group of Foreigners’ Advisory Councils in Bavaria fears that stating origin fosters racism. Journalist and spokesperson for the German Press Council, Manfred Protze, also views this critically. He notes that besides quality media, which commit to ethical foundations through their press code, police reports are used by various groups on “ethics-free” social media platforms that “have no problem with collective guilt.” This, he argues, puts pressure on the traditional press, which then has to defend itself against accusations of concealing facts.
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