The strongest sanction of the German Press Council, the Deutscher Presserat, is the public reprimand, the öffentliche Rüge. The press code says it is part of fair reporting to publish the reprimand, above all in the publication concerned. Readers must learn what the reprimanded article was about and which principle it broke. Publishers commit themselves to the code voluntarily. In 2025 the council issued 102 public reprimands, the first time it went above 100. It had issued 73 in 2023 and 86 in 2024.