Economy, Communications

The German Basic Law guarantees the freedom of the press. Germany has high newspaper readership and a well-informed population. In 1998, the country had 398 daily papers, with a total daily circulation of 25.5 million copies. Major daily publications include the Frankfurter Allgemeine, Suddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt, and the Berlin Tagesspiegel. Der Spiegel and Die Zeit are weeklies with national circulation. Party-owned and government-run publications in the former East Germany were privatized after 1989.

The three major German public television channels are financed by fees tied to the ownership of television sets. The channels are organized into 12 broadcasting regions, each with several radio stations. The channels produce their own shows or purchase foreign films and programs. Additional private and foreign channels and cable television are available. Television ownership is nearly universal.

The German telephone system is modern, automatic, and also nearly universal. The system relies on satellites, cable, and microwave radio relay (MRR) networks. Before unification, this state of development did not apply to East Germany, where only the government and the secret police had efficient communications at their disposal. Since 1990, however, massive Western transfer payments have given East Germany a highly advanced communications systems, although the distribution of private telephones has not yet caught up with West German standards.

Deutsche Post A.G. controls the collection and distribution of mail. Deutsche Telekom A.G. oversees the growing national and international telecommunications operations.