It hasn't been the de facto standard for decades now. Prime news sources like Tagesschau or Deutschlandfunk oder Zeit or SZ are doing it, publications of many academic branches are doing it etc.
More than two thirds of the Germans reject gendered language: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/gendergerechte-sprache-m...
The Bayrische Rundfunk even explicitly discourages employees from using the asterisk and/or double colon: https://taz.de/Oeffentlich-rechtlicher-Rundfunk/!5791847/
The Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) also reports that more than 65% of Germans disfavor gendered language: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/sprache-mehrheit-der-deut...
Quote (headline):
> 93 Prozent der Studienteilnehmer in ambulanter Behandlung
So here are they talking about all participants regardless of gender or only about males? Surely they don't only talk about males right?
Then, just 2 paragraphs below:
> Die Studienteilnehmerinnen und -Teilnehmer gaben keine, milde oder höchstens mäßige Symptome zum Zeitpunkt der Infektion an.
So here they use female and male. What does that mean now? Have they excluded any non-female-nor-male participants? Surely they are talking about all participants again, right?
This shows the amount of mistakes and confusion that is currently created/happening in the German language.