satirical action triggers media discussion

Face-News, so false news, in the time of social media and digital digital communications spread much faster than ever before. That's the bad news, but he knew it. The good news is that nonserious news spreaders today can be exposed much faster than before.

For example, in 1977, to discover the dishonest methods of the work of the German newspaper “Bold”, renowned German investigative journalist Gunther Wallraf had to get into the editorial as another person and work there for two months. The result of this investigation was the book “Der Aufmacher” (Charcle) on non-serious and dishonest investigative methods of Germany's best - selling newspaper.

Today, after four decades an e - mail and a number of calls from a satirical magazine to find out how weak the editorial investigates “Bild”, perhaps in the service of a political self - agenda. What had happened?

The newspaper had been sent an e-mail that was allegedly a testimony to the first-class political scandal. In the e-mail, a Russian troll had proposed to the leader of the youth organisation of the Social Democrat Party to conduct a manipulated campaign on social networks in order to influence the outcome of the current vote, which is taking place in its party to enter the new coalition under Chancellor Angela Merkel. In the e-mail, the leader of the new Socialists, Kevin Kühneft, who has been trying for weeks to prevent the creation of a new government between Germany's two major parties, is shown openly to this proposal.

The newspaper “Bild” reacted with an editorial on the front page with the title: “The dirty SPD fushes”. Only at the end of the article did the author write that there is no evidence of the authenticity of e-mails. It turned out that everything had been invented! A game from German satirical magazine “titanic”.

Media relation

From political scandal this event turned into a media link. Because the question now posed is not about how much Bild's journalists investigate, but about the political preferences of the supposedly independent German media whose task would be to report the truth as closely as possible and impartially.

The editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Bild”, Julian Reichel, reacted to the social twitter network with the words: Of course, satira is allowed to do one, but she's trying to create profiles by trying to consciously discredit journalistic offers. ” But he could not refute the criticism that his newspaper had received the information without control and had made an editorial out of it for a central German internal policy theme.

So it is not surprising that in these bright times, doubt arises that the newspaper “Bild” had received special e-mails from the Titanic magazine and had not verified them at all and made an editorial on a central topic of German internal politics, which ran the newspaper's political line.

Even Critical of the satirical Magazine

As far as the media is allowed to go when there is a political agenda, a question now posed in the media. Frank àberall, chairman of the German Journalists' Association (DJV), has an answer: “Media can comment, there may be a editorial policy, but the facts must be correct. ”

ãoberall welcomes the fact that the head of the newspaper “Bild” apologized to the public, despite his opinion, too late, but he adds that this does not undo the feature.

But the role of the Titanic magazine is also viewed with suspicion. “Of course, satira is allowed, however bitter, as it may be, in this case”, but I also appeal to colleagues and colleagues not always attacking journalism”, says ⇩berall.

The irony of this story is that the author of the Titanic who made up the whole story came out and conducted an interview by Russia's state television, Russia Today. It is this very station that often accuses German media of deliberate manipulation of opinion. Since then, a major controversy has started on the social network. It's exactly what, in fact, applauds for this Titanic action, but they also see it discredited.

While the newspaper “Bild” and the magazine “Titanic” continue the fight on social networks and, as they have warned, will take legal steps, one of the main figures of forged e-mail, new socialists chief Kevin Kühnott, is shown calmly: He told “Der Spiegel”: We said at first it was false news, now it's funny news. ”