Norddeutscher Rundfunk was able to examine transcripts of its reporter's telephone conversations, Deutsche Welle reported. The broadcaster said that the conversations did not involve political or terrorist activity.

There are also reports that the authorities have recorded telephone conversations involving a reporter for a Berlin daily and a journalist with an online site.

Jobst Plog, an editor with Norddeutscher, said that the recording may be "a massive assault on press freedom."

A prosecutor said that police have acted with "no malice intended." He said that the recording is done by machines and that police transcribing conversations may not know which parts are relevant to an investigation.