Slowly, word has spread among Berlin taxi drivers: The Federal Press Office and the Federal Press Conference are not the same thing. How often have I invited someone to my office in the House of the Federal Press Conference and had to wait a quarter of an hour because the guest was first dropped off at the Federal Press Office near Friedrichstraße station and had to get redirected there.
Officially, the Federal Press Office (BPA) is called the “Press and Information Office of the Federal Government”. So it is an agency of the government. Its task is not to control, regulate or supervise the press. There is no such thing in Germany, because the press – meaning not only print media, but all media – is free. The Basic Law says: “There is no censorship.” But then what do the almost 500 employees of the Federal Press Office do?
INFORMATION FOR THE GOVERNMENT
They handle information, both internally and externally. Internally means they supply the Chancellor and the Federal Government with relevant information from outside, from abroad as well as from within Germany. News agencies and media publications are also evaluated for this purpose. Twice a day, a press kit is prepared for the head of government with a selection of the most important domestic and foreign newspaper articles.
INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC
Externally means that the BPA itself also transports information about the Federal Government’s policies to the public, be it new measures, strategies or background explanations. This is not done through bulletins as in the old days, but with modern instruments. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz tweets, or rather has people tweet (@bundeskanzler). In addition, there are websites, videos, podcasts, and other information channels.
GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN OR GOVERNMENT SILENCER
The head of the Federal Press Office is the government spokesperson. There are many different types of spokespersons. Some are very involved in everything that is said and thought in the Chancellery’s chief office but keep a low profile vis-àvis journalists. Others don’t know that much about the inner workings of power but can talk about it in such an exciting way that journalists get something useful out of it. Often, government spokespersons tend to be government taciturns.
JOUR FIXE OR NO MEETING AT ALL?
In the past, the Foreign Press Association had repeatedly tried to introduce a jour fixe with a government spokesperson in order to get background information. When forty colleagues showed up at the first appointment, twelve at the second and only three at the third (and last) jour fixe, that speaks volumes. It was a waste of time. Maybe it will work better with the current one, Steffen Hebestreit.
TRIPS TO BERLIN WITH THE FEDERAL PRESS OFFICE
Few people know that the Federal Press Office also plays a bit of a travel agent, in the sense of political education. Every member of the Bundestag – and there are more and more of them! – has the right to invite three groups of visitors the size of a bus from his constituency to Berlin every year. In this way, more than 100,000 eligible voters (at taxpayers’ expense) come to the Spree for a few days, where they can visit political institutions, but also memorials to Germany’s recent history and, above all, discuss with MPs. And they will certainly learn the difference between the Federal Press Office and the Federal Press Conference.
Text Ewald König