Sunday, January 17, 2016

Germany: Anti-Israel reporter loses case at German Press Council


Via Jerusalem Post:
The Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) newspaper falsely claimed that tens of thousands of Israelis fled to Germany because of the policies of the Netanyahu administration, the German Press Council confirmed.

The council’s 5-to-1 vote to uphold its initial ruling against the largest broadsheet newspaper in Germany is the latest act in a long-running media dispute playing out with high-powered lawyers and press experts.

The case began in 2014, and the decision was published in the first week of January. It was obtained by The Jerusalem Post late last week.

Honestly Concerned, a Frankfurt-based pro-Israel media watchdog, had filed a complaint alleging that Thorsten Schmitz, an SZ journalist, falsely stated in his article that “tens of thousands of Israelis fled” their country and sought refuge in Germany.

Honestly Concerned prevailed in the initial complaint. The SZ won a reversal last year. Now, Honestly Concerned appears to have sealed a final victory.

(...)

Dr. Elvira U. Grözinger, a member of the German chapter of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, told the Post, “Thorsten Schmitz is a biased, anti-Israeli journalist. After complaining about him to the SZ (no response) I unsubscribed from the paper. I gave his reports from Israel as a reason for that, and I am sure that we were not the only readers who did that because of him.”

The SZ has a history of publishing allegedly anti-Semitic cartoons and articles, as well as a racist cartoon about migrants in Germany.
read more

No comments :

Post a Comment