Overview
- Julia Becker made the remarks on Paul Ronzheimer’s podcast on July 8, 2026, citing a recent weekend assault on Apollo reporters in Erfurt as an example of a pattern of violence at AfD‑linked events.
- Becker said FUNKE now sends private security to accompany journalists at protests but added that staff are still being attacked and beaten despite those measures.
- She traced the publisher’s current investment push in local news to a 2021 ownership consolidation after previous shareholders paid out large profits and left the company underinvested.
- Becker defended the principle of newsroom independence, rejected close social ties between publishers and politicians, and recounted an attempt by Chancellor Friedrich Merz to press the issue.
- She called on politicians to act on AI regulation and on tech platforms that aggregate or reuse news content without fair compensation, while expressing cautious optimism that solutions will emerge.