Not even close to the same level of protection we have under the 1 st Amendment . Not really , America generally does far far worse in the freedom of press index since journalists stand under a lot more pressure . Easy exampleIn the US courts can force journalists to reveal their sources which can incriminate people whistleblowing and is easy to abuse if corruption exists , in germany journalists sources are protected and can ' t be forced to be revealed BY ANYONE . This is one of the main reasons the Sddeutsche Zeitung was choosen for the Panama Papers instead of an American paper , since the sources could face HUGE problems if they were found out . Only look at the US treatment of whisteblowers etc . and you see that you comment is incorrect .