Journalism should be neutral and not work for any political party.
Journalism should say what is and not what should be.
If journalism does not do this then only manufacturing of consent remains but not journalism.
In Germany however this is circumvented by the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Unnoticed by the public and hardly reported by the rest of the press the SPD has become the owner and co-owner of various newspapers and publishers. This conflict of interests alone is questionable. In addition there is a demonstrable impact in the newspapers where the SPD and partly in the rest of the press landscape.
This is a way of working that is attributed to the German journalist Hanns Joachim Friedrichs. Whether he is the author and whether Friedrich has always done justice to it is not the topic here. But the idea is essential because what the supposedly good thing is can change. And then something wrong can be done in the name of good. Anyone who has experienced a communist or socialist government or has relatives from that time knows such stories.
In fact journalists can commit serious mistakes by knowingly or unknowingly select or interpret information in a way that confirms their own expectations. This behavior can also be seen in the fact that people are more likely to remember events that confirm their own expectations. Such behavior is called confirmation bias. Another such mistakes is the misinterpretion by omission, which is not a direct lie but the deliberate omission of informations that does not confirm your own expectations. Such behavior is also called lying by omission. See:
Fake News
In the meantime however the "Vorwärts" (Forward) is no longer free from questionable articles. Angela Marquardt is a member of the Social Democrats and managing director of the think-tank Arbeitskreises Denkfabrik (working group think-tank). Marquardt (SPD) has publicly and without exception advertised the collaboration with the Antifa in the Party Gazette of the Social Democrats. Either Marquardt (SPD) downplays the spiral of violence that now emanates from parts of the Antifa or she even condones this. See:
Me Ne Frego [3]
Nazan Komral and Yasmin Breuer campaign for the repetition of the 2015 migration crisis. They claim that most of those who flee do so from their home country becausse of war, violence and hardship, completely omitting the phenomenon of economic migration and the business with it. Nobody supposedly had to do without anything, but when the demand for finite goods such as housing, social benefits and jobs increases, the equilibrium price increases and the resources available per person decrease. They also claim that the best possible crisis management took place and at the same time that the authorities were overwhelmed. Thus the authors Komral and Breuer contradict themselves. However it fits with the longer development of leftists in search of a replacement proletariat and the promotion of the business interests behind migration. See:
[Dossier] Migration Business , [Commentary] The left is looking for a replacement proletariat [4]
The Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (ddvg/German Print- and Publish-Association) is a media participation company. The ddvg is co-owner of various newspapers. According to its own statements the ddvg with its daily newspapers has a total circulation of around 435,000 copies and a market share in the daily newspaper market of 1.9%. And the SPD is in turn the sole owner of ddvg. [5] [5,archive] [6] [7] [7,archive]
The Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland (RND/Editorial Network Germany) is an editorial office for national reporting. According to the RND it supplies more than 50 daily newspapers with a total daily circulation of more than 2.3 million copies with content from national coverage. According to the RND it reaches around 7 million readers per day this way. And the single largest limited partner of the RND is the ddvg and thus the SPD. The RND not only supplies newspapers in which the SPD is already involved but also those that are considered neutral. [8] [9] [10] [11]
The pattern with which the SPD commences in the press whether intended or not is clear. The names of the sub-organizations are neutral, unsuspicious and above all they do not contain the name of the SPD at all. And when articles are cited the circumstances behind them are not immediately obvious. It would be an exaggeration to say that one can control the total reporting with a participation of this size. However it would be even more unrealistic to say that participation of this magnitude has no influence on reporting at all.
And as Roland Tichy himself published an article at his Website Tichy's Einblick on February 4, 2019 criticizing this dynamic, the article was stopped with a lawsuit. No one less then the RND and the Madsack publishing group filed a lawsuit. The SPD has therefore indirectly interfered with freedom of the press through the RND. [14]
Whether there has been a cross-party shift to the left in recent years because of this is up for debate. For this thesis speaks that demands from the left-wing spectrum such as for more immigration, driving bans, a CO2 tax or a more liberal social policy either already arrived in the public debate or have already been implemented. Arguably the strongest argument against this thesis is that the designated theme of the left spectrum has moved into the background. Indeed there has been a shift in politics and published opinion by the press. Here there was an increased focus on identity politics and too little on the social question. There is also a certain cross-party overbidding competition. Under the guise of cosmopolitanism more immigration is be implemented, thereby increasing competition on the labor and housing markets. Under the guise of environmental protection driving bans and a carbon tax are being implemented thereby increasing the pressure on the lower and middle income classes. This is then no longer a social policy but only a reinterpretation of what the left once started against.
However the poor and workers are left behind. The proportion of those at risk of poverty in Germany rose from 12.7% in 2007 to 20.5% in 2016. [16] The proportion of people affected by poverty in Germany despite being employed has also increased since the introduction of the Euro and low-wage policies. According to the EVS (Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe/Income and Expenditure Survey) and the SOEP (Sozio-ökonomisches Panel/Socio-Economic Panel) the proportion of people affected by poverty despite gainful employment in Germany rose from around 5% in 1995 to 10% in 2015. [17] [17,A03] [1] Cool bleiben, nicht kalt 1995-03-27
http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-9176410.html
[2] Vorwärts - Über Uns
https://www.vorwaerts.de/seite/vorwaerts-vergessen
[3] Im Kampf gegen rechts braucht die SPD auch die Antifa 2018-09-07
https://www.vorwaerts.de/artikel/kampf-gegen-rechts-braucht-spd-antifa
[4] Geflüchtete - 2015 muss sich wiederholen 2020-03-20
https://www.vorwaerts.de/artikel/2015-wiederholen
[5] Trends in der Weltpresse: Zeitungsauflagen und Anzeigeneinnahmen weltweit im Aufschwung 2007-06-04
http://www.wan-press.org/article14367.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20110812034727/http://www.wan-press.org/article14367.html
[6] ddvg - Unsere Beteiligungen
https://www.ddvg.de/wirueberuns/unserebeteiligungen/
[7] ddvg - Geschäftsbericht 2008
http://www.ddvg.de/wirtschaftsdaten/geschaeftsbericht2008.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20110718224328/http://www.ddvg.de/wirtschaftsdaten/geschaeftsbericht2008.pdf
[8] Wer sind Funke-Mediengruppe und Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland? 2017-01-03
https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/sie-fragen-wir-antworten-wer-sind-funke-mediengruppe-und.2626.de.html?dram:article_id=375430
[9] Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich - Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack GmbH & Co. KG
https://www.kek-online.de/medienkonzentration/mediendatenbank/#/profile/shareholder/5be1a6b6-2b11-4f5f-bf33-fccd64db4f7e
[10] Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland - Das RND
https://www.rnd.de/das-rnd//
[11] Madsack - Zahlen und Fakten
https://www.madsack.de/Unternehmen/Zahlen-und-Fakten
[12] Koalitionsvertrag: Rentenkürzung für Zeitungszusteller 2018-03-22
https://daserste.ndr.de/panorama/archiv/2018/Koalitionsvertrag-Rentenkuerzung-fuer-Zeitungszusteller,zusteller124.html
[13] BAG zum Mindestlohn für Zeitungszusteller 2018-04-30
https://www.bund-verlag.de/aktuelles~Mindestlohn-mit-Nachtzuschlag-für-Zeitungszusteller~
[14] WIE SPD IN DIE ZEITUNGEN KOMMT - Zeitungen, auf die die SPD heimlich und indirekt Einfluß nimmt 2019-02-04
https://www.tichyseinblick.de/tichys-einblick/spd-medien-erklaeren-nzz-zur-grauzone-des-rechtspopulismus/
[15] POLITIKJOURNALISTINNEN UND -JOURNALISTEN 2010-05
https://www.dfjv.de/documents/10180/178294/DFJV_Studie_Politikjournalistinnen_und_Journalisten.pdf
[16] Eurostat-Daten - Wenn Arbeit nicht vor Armut schützt 2018-10-24
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/beschaeftigte-armut-101.html
[17] Armuts- und Reichtumsbericht
https://www.armuts-und-reichtumsbericht.de/DE/Startseite/start.html
In Germany however this is circumvented by the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Unnoticed by the public and hardly reported by the rest of the press the SPD has become the owner and co-owner of various newspapers and publishers. This conflict of interests alone is questionable. In addition there is a demonstrable impact in the newspapers where the SPD and partly in the rest of the press landscape.
- The Importance of Journalism
- The Involvement of the SPD in Newspapers
- The Involvement of the SPD in Publishers
- The Support
- The Consequences
The Importance of Journalism
Das hab ich in meinen fünf Jahren bei der BBC in London gelernt: Distanz halten, sich nicht gemein machen mit einer Sache, auch nicht mit einer guten, nicht in öffentliche Betroffenheit versinken, im Umgang mit Katastrophen cool bleiben, ohne kalt zu sein. Nur so schaffst du es, dass die Zuschauer dir vertrauen, dich zu einem Familienmitglied machen, dich jeden Abend einschalten und dir zuhören. [1]
That I learned during my five years at the BBC in London: Keeping a distance, not to ally with one thing, not even with a good one, not to sink into affliction in public, stay cool in dealing with disasters without being cold. That's the only way you can get viewers to trust you, to make you a family member, so they look at you at every night and listen to you.
This is a way of working that is attributed to the German journalist Hanns Joachim Friedrichs. Whether he is the author and whether Friedrich has always done justice to it is not the topic here. But the idea is essential because what the supposedly good thing is can change. And then something wrong can be done in the name of good. Anyone who has experienced a communist or socialist government or has relatives from that time knows such stories.
In fact journalists can commit serious mistakes by knowingly or unknowingly select or interpret information in a way that confirms their own expectations. This behavior can also be seen in the fact that people are more likely to remember events that confirm their own expectations. Such behavior is called confirmation bias. Another such mistakes is the misinterpretion by omission, which is not a direct lie but the deliberate omission of informations that does not confirm your own expectations. Such behavior is also called lying by omission. See:
Fake News
The Involvement of the SPD in Newspapers
The "Vorwärts" (Forward) is a newspaper founded in 1876 and is the official party paper of the SPD. And the newspaper has remained so to this day. It publishes articles about and in the interest of the SPD. Among many others Rosa Luxemburg and Kurt Tucholsky wrote for the "Vorwärts". [2]In the meantime however the "Vorwärts" (Forward) is no longer free from questionable articles. Angela Marquardt is a member of the Social Democrats and managing director of the think-tank Arbeitskreises Denkfabrik (working group think-tank). Marquardt (SPD) has publicly and without exception advertised the collaboration with the Antifa in the Party Gazette of the Social Democrats. Either Marquardt (SPD) downplays the spiral of violence that now emanates from parts of the Antifa or she even condones this. See:
Me Ne Frego [3]
Nazan Komral and Yasmin Breuer campaign for the repetition of the 2015 migration crisis. They claim that most of those who flee do so from their home country becausse of war, violence and hardship, completely omitting the phenomenon of economic migration and the business with it. Nobody supposedly had to do without anything, but when the demand for finite goods such as housing, social benefits and jobs increases, the equilibrium price increases and the resources available per person decrease. They also claim that the best possible crisis management took place and at the same time that the authorities were overwhelmed. Thus the authors Komral and Breuer contradict themselves. However it fits with the longer development of leftists in search of a replacement proletariat and the promotion of the business interests behind migration. See:
[Dossier] Migration Business , [Commentary] The left is looking for a replacement proletariat [4]
The Involvement of the SPD in Publishers
A direct participation of the SPD in several newspapers would be too noticeable. And the majority participation of the SPD in several newspapers would tie up a lot of capital. The participation of the SPD works according to a more effective and inconspicuous concept.The Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (ddvg/German Print- and Publish-Association) is a media participation company. The ddvg is co-owner of various newspapers. According to its own statements the ddvg with its daily newspapers has a total circulation of around 435,000 copies and a market share in the daily newspaper market of 1.9%. And the SPD is in turn the sole owner of ddvg. [5] [5,archive] [6] [7] [7,archive]
The Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland (RND/Editorial Network Germany) is an editorial office for national reporting. According to the RND it supplies more than 50 daily newspapers with a total daily circulation of more than 2.3 million copies with content from national coverage. According to the RND it reaches around 7 million readers per day this way. And the single largest limited partner of the RND is the ddvg and thus the SPD. The RND not only supplies newspapers in which the SPD is already involved but also those that are considered neutral. [8] [9] [10] [11]
The pattern with which the SPD commences in the press whether intended or not is clear. The names of the sub-organizations are neutral, unsuspicious and above all they do not contain the name of the SPD at all. And when articles are cited the circumstances behind them are not immediately obvious. It would be an exaggeration to say that one can control the total reporting with a participation of this size. However it would be even more unrealistic to say that participation of this magnitude has no influence on reporting at all.
Die Unterstützung
%The Support
Additionaly to the participation for newspapers by the SPD as a whole comes the support of the SPD for newspapers. The coalition of the SPD and the CDU/CSU decided in April 2018 to reduce the employer contribution to pension insurance for five years by five percent for mini-jobs of newspaper deliverers. This means that workers cost less for employers but the pension for workers decreases. This decision supports classic newspapers at the expense of the SPD's designated electorate. [12] [13]And as Roland Tichy himself published an article at his Website Tichy's Einblick on February 4, 2019 criticizing this dynamic, the article was stopped with a lawsuit. No one less then the RND and the Madsack publishing group filed a lawsuit. The SPD has therefore indirectly interfered with freedom of the press through the RND. [14]
Die Folgen
%The Consequences
However when journalists do not focus on the facts but on an attitude then this is reflected in the reporting. So the question is what kind of attitude journalists have. According to a study on the views and voting behavior of journalists in Germany a quarter of the journalists choose the vote for the Green-Party. And almost half of the journalists choose the left-wing and Green parties. The conservative CDU/CSU and the marcet-liberal FDP account for only 9 and 7.4 percent respectively. Left and Greens are thus over-represented while other parties are dramatically underrepresented. [15,S.18]Whether there has been a cross-party shift to the left in recent years because of this is up for debate. For this thesis speaks that demands from the left-wing spectrum such as for more immigration, driving bans, a CO2 tax or a more liberal social policy either already arrived in the public debate or have already been implemented. Arguably the strongest argument against this thesis is that the designated theme of the left spectrum has moved into the background. Indeed there has been a shift in politics and published opinion by the press. Here there was an increased focus on identity politics and too little on the social question. There is also a certain cross-party overbidding competition. Under the guise of cosmopolitanism more immigration is be implemented, thereby increasing competition on the labor and housing markets. Under the guise of environmental protection driving bans and a carbon tax are being implemented thereby increasing the pressure on the lower and middle income classes. This is then no longer a social policy but only a reinterpretation of what the left once started against.
However the poor and workers are left behind. The proportion of those at risk of poverty in Germany rose from 12.7% in 2007 to 20.5% in 2016. [16] The proportion of people affected by poverty in Germany despite being employed has also increased since the introduction of the Euro and low-wage policies. According to the EVS (Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe/Income and Expenditure Survey) and the SOEP (Sozio-ökonomisches Panel/Socio-Economic Panel) the proportion of people affected by poverty despite gainful employment in Germany rose from around 5% in 1995 to 10% in 2015. [17] [17,A03] [1] Cool bleiben, nicht kalt 1995-03-27
http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-9176410.html
[2] Vorwärts - Über Uns
https://www.vorwaerts.de/seite/vorwaerts-vergessen
[3] Im Kampf gegen rechts braucht die SPD auch die Antifa 2018-09-07
https://www.vorwaerts.de/artikel/kampf-gegen-rechts-braucht-spd-antifa
[4] Geflüchtete - 2015 muss sich wiederholen 2020-03-20
https://www.vorwaerts.de/artikel/2015-wiederholen
[5] Trends in der Weltpresse: Zeitungsauflagen und Anzeigeneinnahmen weltweit im Aufschwung 2007-06-04
http://www.wan-press.org/article14367.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20110812034727/http://www.wan-press.org/article14367.html
[6] ddvg - Unsere Beteiligungen
https://www.ddvg.de/wirueberuns/unserebeteiligungen/
[7] ddvg - Geschäftsbericht 2008
http://www.ddvg.de/wirtschaftsdaten/geschaeftsbericht2008.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20110718224328/http://www.ddvg.de/wirtschaftsdaten/geschaeftsbericht2008.pdf
[8] Wer sind Funke-Mediengruppe und Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland? 2017-01-03
https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/sie-fragen-wir-antworten-wer-sind-funke-mediengruppe-und.2626.de.html?dram:article_id=375430
[9] Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich - Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack GmbH & Co. KG
https://www.kek-online.de/medienkonzentration/mediendatenbank/#/profile/shareholder/5be1a6b6-2b11-4f5f-bf33-fccd64db4f7e
[10] Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland - Das RND
https://www.rnd.de/das-rnd//
[11] Madsack - Zahlen und Fakten
https://www.madsack.de/Unternehmen/Zahlen-und-Fakten
[12] Koalitionsvertrag: Rentenkürzung für Zeitungszusteller 2018-03-22
https://daserste.ndr.de/panorama/archiv/2018/Koalitionsvertrag-Rentenkuerzung-fuer-Zeitungszusteller,zusteller124.html
[13] BAG zum Mindestlohn für Zeitungszusteller 2018-04-30
https://www.bund-verlag.de/aktuelles~Mindestlohn-mit-Nachtzuschlag-für-Zeitungszusteller~
[14] WIE SPD IN DIE ZEITUNGEN KOMMT - Zeitungen, auf die die SPD heimlich und indirekt Einfluß nimmt 2019-02-04
https://www.tichyseinblick.de/tichys-einblick/spd-medien-erklaeren-nzz-zur-grauzone-des-rechtspopulismus/
[15] POLITIKJOURNALISTINNEN UND -JOURNALISTEN 2010-05
https://www.dfjv.de/documents/10180/178294/DFJV_Studie_Politikjournalistinnen_und_Journalisten.pdf
[16] Eurostat-Daten - Wenn Arbeit nicht vor Armut schützt 2018-10-24
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/beschaeftigte-armut-101.html
[17] Armuts- und Reichtumsbericht
https://www.armuts-und-reichtumsbericht.de/DE/Startseite/start.html
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