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Independence is the cornerstone of our work

Independence from outside interests is one of the cornerstones of the German Press Agency. This was laid down in the agency’s founding statutes in 1949. dpa stands for non-partisan and reliable reporting - values that are consistently implemented in all aspects of our daily work. A core expression of our independence is our legal constitution as a joint venture of the German media: dpa is entirely privately organized. The number of individual shares is limited. None of the roughly 170 shareholders can dominate the others. 

In the true sense of the world: The non-partisan dpa

dpa maintains strict neutrality and non-partisanship in its reporting. This corresponds to the essence of an independent news agency and is also essential for its work because it supplies customers with a variety of world views. Partisanship would most likely lead to a rapid end of the business relationship. This applies not only to the media, who are dpa's customers for raw news materials and finished content.

The agency's customers include ministries, authorities and many other institutions and organizations in the political arena at German federal and state level, as well as parties across the spectrum, including the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union, Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democrats, Left Party, Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance and Alternative for Germany. It goes without saying that the prices are in line with the market. The range of customers shows that dpa operates independently of political orientations and views and is regarded by all players as a trustworthy source of information.

Regardless of their own editorial orientation, the media in Germany and around the world trust dpa's non-partisan, neutral and verified reporting. dpa's customers include publications that are critical of the agency and occasionally attack it publicly. The fact that these media also make intensive use of dpa's content and willingly pay for it emphasizes the high journalistic quality, neutrality and reliability of the reporting.

The media, politics and business - all pillars of our free and democratic society - trust dpa. The agency adheres to the highest journalistic standards: every report is carefully researched, checked by a second pair of eyes and formulated neutrally. Each photo, each video, each radio report and each graphic also follows this principle. And as soon as an error is spotted, it is corrected immediately and transparently for everyone. The non-partisan reporting not only strengthens trust in dpa but also ensures broad acceptance among all customers and their different perspectives.

The public discourse

dpa is a central source of up-to-date news information in Germany. We associate this with the highest level of responsibility.

Due to its activities, dpa is in the spotlight around the clock. We are the subject of – at times critical - reporting and are in constant dialogue with our customers and the public. We are open to criticism and see it as a source of inspiration to improve our work.

Are you "government-funded" if the state is your customer?

Time and again, however, criticism is mixed with narratives that we expressly oppose because they are false. Above all, this includes the accusation that dpa is "government-funded" or "state-funded".

Government agencies, like public institutions in general, are customers that purchase dpa products when they need them for their work. dpa rejects financial contributions from government agencies, companies and private individuals. The agency only accepts project-related funding in a few select cases and only after careful consideration. The volume of project-related funding from 2021 until the end of 2024 totalled around 2.3 million euros. During this period, the dpa Group generated a total turnover of around 650 million euros. Funding therefore only accounts for 0.35 % of the business volume. Detailed information on dpa's earnings situation can be found in our current Annual Report 2023  and the annual reports  from previous years.

Project-related grants are not simply money that dpa receives and can use freely. Within these project-based grants, dpa provides specific services. However, these are not standard products, but innovative activities with social relevance, such as the "Year of the News" or the DRIVE ME  initiative. (A list of the sponsored projects can be found at the end of this article).

In addition, dpa participates in tenders and receives funding for precisely defined, time-limited projects according to transparent criteria - including from the European Union.

This all demonstrates that none of it can even begin to influence our reporting, let alone lead to a dependence on government agencies

"Is fact-checking censorship?" - Why editorial teams need fact-checking expertise

dpa has its own fact-checking editorial team. However, "fact-checking" is an inappropriate word. What we check at dpa are not facts, but assertions. Is what is being claimed true? This is exactly what a fact-check answers - providing the response in a comprehensible manner and backed up with links, documents and verbatim quotes so that readers can understand the reasoning. Checking opinions is taboo.

Nevertheless, the dpa fact-checking team is regularly accused of censorship. Fact-checking has nothing to do with censorship. Fact-checking is the exact opposite.

Our fact-checkers support the concept of refutation. In other words: False claims are countered transparently with facts to give people the chance to inform themselves and form their opinion on the basis of facts. And that’s even if they no longer consume established media in a targeted manner but primarily read what ends up on their social media timelines.

dpa is active in fact-checking for several social networks. This cooperation includes monitoring, i.e. identifying and checking possible false claims, as well as submitting ratings. Important: The platforms have no influence whatsoever on the selection of topics and content of our published fact checks. The concept of independence applies here too.

What the platforms do with the results of the fact-checks - whether they label content, use algorithms to limit its spread or even delete it - is up to them.

Fact-checking therefore has nothing to do with censorship, on the contrary: a fact-check adds fact-based context to a claim, enabling people to form their opinion freely and protecting them from disinformation.

Project-based funding in the dpa group

  • DRIVE ME 
    Purpose: Accelerating the digital transformation of newspaper publishers through the use of AI
    Duration: 10/09/2021 - 31/12/2022
    Funding amount: 750,000 euros
    Funded by: Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media 
    Description: Funding went to dpa and the management consultancy Highberg for the DRIVE initiative. Around 30 publishers are now behind DRIVE.

     

  • Democracy Newsroom 
    Funding for a feasibility study
    Duration: 02.11.2022 - 31.08.2023
    Funding amount: 321,000 euros
    Funded by: Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
    Description: This is a feasibility study that could potentially result in a cooperative project between international news agencies with the aim of reporting on democratization developments.

     

  • Guide to AI
    Purpose: Training programme
    Duration: 01.04.2024 - 31.03.2025
    Funding amount: 240,536 euros
    Funded by: Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
    Description: Training programme for journalists on the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence

     

  • Year of the News  
    Purpose: Overarching media industry initiative to promote news expertise
    Funding amount: 1 million euros
    Duration: 1 November 2023 - 31 December 2024
    Funded by: Federal Ministry of the Interior
    Description: The non-profit dpa subsidiary UseTheNews gGmbH received the funding to implement the initiative. The aim of the "Year of the News" was to promote news literacy among young people. It included a social news desk, an advertising and social media campaign, nationwide news camps and regional projects at schools. More than 50 partners from the media, advertising, education and science are behind UseTheNews and the ‘Year of the News’.

     

  • Newscamps
    Purpose: Organizing events to promote news literacy
    Funding amount: 30,000 euros
    Duration: 1.1.2024-31.12.2024
    Funded by: Federal Agency for Civic Education (BPB)
    Description: The BPB supported the organization and implementation of so-called news camps throughout Germany. The funding went to the non-profit dpa subsidiary UseTheNews gGmbH as part of the ‘Year of the News’ activities.