An overview of the media ecosystem of Germany:
Germany is one of the countries with the highest amount of news agencies in its own language. This is one of the reasons for the high competition in this segment. One of the main and active international news agencies is the DPAGmbH- Deutsche Presse-Agentur Gesselschaft mit beschränkter Haftung located at Mittelweg in Hamburg.It can be regarded as the primary source of news as all the complementary news agencies subscribe to the DPA to obtain news.
The shareholders of DPA are solely media companies and broadcasting stations. It is a publishing source for over 800 daily news reports that are published in every German news channel and print media. It also has an exclusive photo service department which releases around 1200 photos to the media outlets.DPA has grown into a major worldwide operating service in recent years and it has expanded its roster through print and social media. Although DPA has gained fame for its reliability and authenticity, it has heaped criticism for not being independent enough.
Historical evolution of DPA to GmbH:
Initially established as a cooperative company in 1949 at Goslar, succeeding the Deutsch Nachrichtenagentur and Süddeutsche it achieved the status of a limited liability company or Gesselschaft mit beschränkter Haftung(GmbH) in the year 1951.GmbH emphasises that the members of the entity are not personally responsible or credible or liable for the company’s debts.
The phrase mbH is used as a suffix if the name of the company itself is Gesseschaft. DPAGmbH is a specially limited liability company with a charitable purpose.Since it is a traditional foundation and one of the primary news agencies that provide worldwide news it spends the profits by the end of a fiscal year, it was accrued. It as an organization builds 10% of the capital reserves of the annual donations or 33% out of the dividends received.
The geographical location of DPAGmbH:
The editorial department of the company moved to Berlin in 2010 from Hamburg, the place of its origin. However, the corporate headquarters remain in Hamburg along with subsidiary news agencies such as Akutell GmbH, DPA Media Technology GmbH, and DPA Infocom GmbH.
Competing media platforms against DPAGmbH:
In 1986, the DPA founded Global Media Services which bought its competitor, Cartography Service. Thus becoming the sole agencies with reliable sources of information.
International news agencies in Germany:
The DPA releases news in German, English, Spanish and Arabic. The DPA WORLD NEWS SERVICE releases news stories in English from Berlin and Spanish news from Madrid through Buenos Aires and Arabic news from Cairo. American Associated Press merged with the German Cable service in 2009 and holds a market share of 18%.
Considering the staunch religious implications of the Germans, the other two news agencies are KNA, a Catholic news agency that holds a market share of 7%. Agence France Presse(AFP) and German Reuters are the other two Protestant news agencies that hold an important place in the German media market.
