The next scandal for public service broadcasting is looming at the NDR in Kiel: employees accuse the editorial staff of preventing critical reporting on politicians. Instead, reports are made in the spirit of the state government.
The Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Kiel has to explain itself because of the accusation of politically motivated reporting. According to information from “Stern”, several NDR employees criticize “court reporting” at the public broadcaster. “It is striking that the government is constantly being questioned and broadcast. No voice from the opposition, no critical voice from associations,” said a member of the editorial board of the magazine. The head of the political editorial department is primarily responsible for this. “You get the impression that content is being filtered, that the editorial staff is no longer objective.”
“It’s a kind of anticipatory obedience,” confirmed another employee. “Editorial and broadcasting executives want to keep their well-paid contracts or move forward. And that’s why they don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. But critical journalism isn’t possible like that.” Negative reports would be specifically prevented. “Public reasons are given why we shouldn’t report after all. The allegations are not sufficiently substantiated. More research would have to be done first. Even with clear evidence, reporting is weakened or even completely prevented if it is not desired. “
According to “Stern”, there are several cases that confirm the allegations made by the editorial team. For example, the NDR did not report on a drunken drive with the consequences of an accident by the former CDU parliamentarian Hans-Jörn Arp, who is a close confidante of Prime Minister Daniel Günther. The incident was a big topic in the state media, but was hushed up on NDR. “In retrospect, we consider the non-reporting of the incident involving MP Arp to be a failure,” NDR said when asked.
In a second case, the head of the political editorial department, Julia Stein, moderated the farmer’s day in Schleswig-Holstein. Important CDU politicians – including Prime Minister Günther – sat on the podium alongside association officials. A few hours later, Julia Stein was also responsible for reporting on the event in the “Schleswig-Holstein Magazin”. NDR says the editor-in-chief took the day off. In the end credits of the show, however, Stein is named as responsible for the current reporting.
Internally, according to “Stern”, an investigation report has already dealt with the processes. He should confirm the allegations. The authors are apparently aware of how serious the internal criticism is. “The damage to NDR would be immense if this process were discussed in public,” the report says. “That’s exactly what needs to be prevented.”
You can find the complete article on stern.de or in the current “Stern” at the kiosk.