Example: Political appointments to ARD and ZDF supervisory boards.
Public broadcasters like ARD and ZDF have governance structures that include members nominated by political parties. For example, in 2014, there was a controversy regarding political influence in ZDF when the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the broadcaster’s supervisory board had too many political representatives. This ruling followed allegations that members linked to the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) had pressured ZDF to cancel a political talk show segment critical of the party.



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2. Media Ownership and Editorial Bias

Example: Axel Springer SE and the CDU.
Axel Springer SE, a major media company that owns Bild and Die Welt, has been perceived as leaning toward the center-right, often aligning with policies of the CDU and its leadership. During Angela Merkel's tenure, Bild regularly published stories that were seen as favorable to her government, especially during the Eurozone crisis. Critics argued that this alignment shaped public opinion in favor of austerity measures.