The study “What Keeps Society Together and How Public Media Contributes to This” by ARD, ZDF, and Deutschlandradio examined how the German population perceives social cohesion and what role public media plays in integration. PD Dr. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt provided the broadcasters with scientific advice. The study results paint an ambivalent picture: 67% of people in Germany experience a strong sense of cohesion in their personal environment. At the same time, however, 76% of those surveyed perceive a significant threat to cohesion in Germany. More than half (53%) attribute a significant contribution to social cohesion in Germany to public media.
The findings of the study “Was die Gesellschaft zusammenhält und was öffentlich-rechtliche Medien dazu beitragen” [What Keeps Society Together and How Public Media Contributes to This] are available for download (PDF).
Key Findings
- Around two-thirds of Germans report strong feelings of belonging in their personal environments and having been politically active in the past year.
- While a clear majority supports democracy as a form of government, only one-third is satisfied with the current state of democracy.
- Most Germans perceive a threat to social cohesion and see social inequalities as a greater problem than cultural differences.
- Three-quarters of Germans perceive a serious threat to social cohesion in Germany.
- The threat is perceived significantly more often in eastern Germany and in small towns.
- Public media outlets reach almost everyone in Germany, regardless of age — the older the respondents, the higher the proportion of regular viewers.
- Frequent public media use goes hand in hand with strong involvement in one’s personal environment.
- Regular public media viewers are almost universally more socially and politically active.
- Nearly half of the population in Germany does not want to do without entertainment offerings in public media.
- Without entertaining public offerings, people who are less involved or who see cohesion in Germany as being at risk are more likely to stop watching.
- Just over half of respondents attribute a high contribution to German societal cohesion to public media, ranking it fourth after sports clubs, science, and the Federal Constitutional Court.
- Significant majorities perceive public media’s cohesion-related services in terms of “synchronization.”
- Between half and two-thirds of respondents consider public media’s representation-related services to be adequate.
- The dialogue-related services provided by public media receive somewhat less approval in some cases.
- Perception of selected services provided by public media: Younger people show higher approval. Those who regularly use audio and media libraries show the highest approval.
According to Section 26 of the Interstate Media Treaty, public media have the task of “providing a comprehensive overview of international, European, national, and regional events in all essential areas of life in their offerings. In doing so, they should promote international understanding, European integration, social cohesion, and discourse throughout society at the federal and state levels” (§26 MStV). The study assessed expectations regarding implementation on the one hand and the perception of actual performance on the other in three dimensions:
- Synchronization: Public media programs focus the attention of many people on current events and topics simultaneously.
- Representation: Public media reflect different lifestyles and perspectives, giving voice to various views and concerns.
- Dialogue: Public service media provide “communication spaces” where different perspectives coexist and engage in dialogue. They are also open to citizens’ concerns and suggestions.
A total of 1,351 people in Germany, aged 14 and older, took part in the representative survey in March and April of 2025.
Jan-Hinrik Schmidt, head of the Hamburg section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion, contributed the perspective of viewing public service media as infrastructure for social cohesion. He also determined how expectations and perceptions of cohesion-related services provided by public service media are distributed across different population groups.
Further Information
- ARD press release in German
- RISC article on the study in German
- BredowCast with Jan-Hinrik Schmidt discussing the study findings in German
- Interview with Jan-Hinrik Schmidt on Deutschlandfunk Kultur in German
Photo: ARD/Jochen Enderlin