Media organizations oppose US visa plans for correspondents
German media organizations ARD, Deutschlandradio, ProSiebenSat.1, RTL Deutschland, Deutsche Welle and ZDF, together with the publishing associations Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) and Association of the Free Press (MVFP), have renewed their opposition to US visa plans for foreign correspondents, which are due to take effect on September 15, 2026. They are calling on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul for support.
In a joint letter, the organizations appeal to the German government to "use all political and diplomatic means at your disposal to ensure continued free and unhindered reporting from the United States and to prevent a troubling precedent for how democratic countries treat foreign media."
The new rules would limit journalist visas to 240 days. Extensions for additional 240-day periods would be possible, but the process is cumbersome and procedures remain unclear. "We are familiar with similarly short periods only from countries that restrict freedom of expression or seek to make reporting more difficult. We are deeply concerned that the United States is now moving in this direction as well," the media executives and association chairs said.
Florian Hager (ARD), Stefan Raue (Deutschlandradio), Marco Giordani (ProSiebenSat.1), Stephan Schmitter (RTL Deutschland), Barbara Massing (Deutsche Welle), Norbert Himmler (ZDF), Matthias Ditzen-Blanke (BDZV) and Lars Joachim Rose (MVFP) stress in their letter that the ability to form opinions "on the basis of impartial information is a cornerstone of our democracies."
For this reason, German broadcasters maintain a network of bureaus in different parts of the world. Their US bureaus, including those in Washington and New York, have traditionally been among the media organizations' most important international offices.
Since the plans were announced last autumn, more than 100 leading media organizations and associations worldwide have voiced their opposition to shortening the duration of journalist visas.
Contact
- ARD Communications: pressestelle@ard.de | +49 69 155-5555
- ZDF Communications: pressedesk@zdf.de | +49 6131 70-12108
- Deutschlandradio Press Office: presse@deutschlandradio.de
- ProSiebenSat.1, Stefanie Rupp-Menedetter: Stefanie.Rupp@prosiebensat1.com
- RTL Deutschland Corporate Communications, Kerstin Jaumann: kerstin.jaumann@rtl.de
- German Newspaper Publishers and Digital Publishers Association (BDZV), Anja Pasquay: Pasquay@bdzv.de
- German Free Press Media Association (MVFP), Antje Jungmann: antje.jungmann@mvfp.de
- DW Corporate Communications: communication@dw.com
Further information
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) position, including the list of signatories, was published in 2025.