Photo: DPAThe German Press Council on Wednesday eased slightly the rules about mentioning the religious or ethnic background of a criminal suspect. Newspapers themselves blamed the delay in reporting on the police, who also often follow the press code when writing reports on criminality. Supporters of the previous guidelines maintained that they were necessary to ensure that negative stereotypes about ethnic minorities were not perpetuated. But critics said that they stopped the press from reporting important details of a crime and detracted from press credibility in the public’s eyes. On Twitter the AfD Heidelberg branch described the new guidelines as "a clear recognition of 'parental journalism' and censorship."

Source: The Local March 23, 2017 14:37 UTC