Farmers’ Protests in Germany: Media Coverage and Types of Bias

ABSTRACT The German farmers’ protests of 2024 sparked widespread media coverage and public debate. Yet, media coverage was not always positive, reflecting the media's attention‐seeking and selective focus. Occurrences of farmers blocking media outlets reflected distrust in how their concerns were portrayed. This is an indication that the hostile media effect may be at play, a phenomenon where even neutral reporting is perceived as biased by involved actors. In this paper, we analyse 147 media articles about farmers’ protests from six major German newspapers focusing on reporting frequency, key topics and balance of reporting to explore potential media bias with a view on spin, ideology and context bias. Our findings indicate that media coverage followed protest occurrences. Protest incidents and policy criticism were the most frequently reported topics, with the tone of coverage varying by topic suggesting spin and gatekeeping bias. References to right‐wing extremism were predominantly critical, while policy criticism was generally framed more favourably toward farmers. Overall, conservative media tended to report more sympathetically on farmers’ perspectives, whereas progressive media maintained a more neutral to critical stance, suggesting ideology bias. While we do not find evidence of coverage bias with more attention towards negative stories, the observed differences in tone across media outlets suggest a risk of increasing polarization and perceived bias, particularly as readers tend to selectively consume ideologically aligned media. As such, given the media's influence on public opinion, understanding media reporting on farmers’ protests is essential for informed policymaking, effective communication strategies, and bridging societal divisions.