The rash of attacks and thefts in a New Year's Eve crowd in the western city of Cologne was only widely covered by national media early this week, after police had initially reported no major incidents.
News editors of ZDF's flagship "heute" (today) evening news programme apologised on social media for not reporting on the incidents at least in its Monday evening bulletin, four days after the attacks.
Editors had decided to postpone the news segment to yesterday, the day Cologne's city hall and police held a crisis meeting on the attacks, he wrote, admitting this was "a clear misjudgement".
As the assaults have come to dominate German mainstream media, more women have come forward in Cologne and other cities about being groped and attacked on New Year's Eve.
The number of criminal complaints in Cologne topped 100 by today.
The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany party seized on the attacks as "the appalling consequences of catastrophic asylum and migration policies".
A media industry website said that the ugly incidents -- and the sluggish official and media response -- played into the hands of groups such as the Islamophobic PEGIDA street movement, which claims Germany's politicians and media are colluding to mislead the public about immigration policy.
"Despite the world's most expensive public broadcaster, countless social media reactions and online newsrooms ... It took four long days before national media comprehensively reported on the incidents," said a commentary on the Meedia service.