I. MISSION STATEMENT
Germany and the United States, like all nations, have their unique histories, cultures, geographies, national values and priorities. Considering that, it is hardly a surprise that Germans and Americans do not always agree on all of the issues. It would be strange if they did. On the other hand, both countries share a great number of values and interests. We at Davids Medienkritik believe that the shared values and interests far outweigh the differences. That said, there is nothing wrong with acknowledging and discussing differences in a constructive manner. Such a dialog should be aimed at minimizing and bridging the gap between our two nations.
Unfortunately, that is not what is happening today.
A shrill yet influential segment of the German media has repeatedly sought to exploit and exacerbate transatlantic differences. This weblog is a watchdog site dedicated to the documentation of anti-Americanism in German media and the negative influence it has on Germans’ perceptions of the United States.
German media coverage of the United States is frequently marked by one-sidedness, ideology, stereotypes, clichés and factual errors. Consider the words of ZDF's Washington, DC Bureau Chief Eberhard Piltz, one of the most influential correspondents in the German media today:
"ZDF Bureau Chief and Correspondent Eberhard Piltz, felt that ideology was a major impediment to quality coverage of the United States. Piltz spoke of “prejudice” and described it as “an intellectual arrogance that thinks that the American way of life, feeling, taste and thinking is inferior and not authentic.” He complained that many journalists see “the U.S. through an ideological lens,” and that “most of them grew up with the leftist, socialist dream and now they look for scapegoats.”
Or, take a moment to view the following statement from Andrei S. Markovits, a leading scholar and author on European anti-Americanism:
It is important to keep in mind that the examples documented on this site do not reflect the entire German media landscape. There are numerous highly professional, relatively unbiased news sources to be had from Berlin to Bavaria. That said: The biased, anti-American media coverage that we document here does reflect a large and influential segment of German media. Most importantly: The type of reporting and coverage that we document on this site is having a significant and detrimental impact on German-American relations and transatlantic understanding.
Above: A selection of Der SPIEGEL covers on the United States: 1997 - 2006
Although David and I are both German citizens (I am a dual US-German citizen and David is a full German citizen), we are sometimes accused of being “anti-German” because we dare to document and criticize what is going on in German media, politics and society. Our critics seem to think that it would be better if we all just stuck our collective heads in the sand and pretended the hate mongering and America bashing simply didn’t exist. We strongly disagree. The only way to change what is happening in wide segments of the German media is to confront it head on and expose it for what it is. If that makes some people uncomfortable, so be it. The fact that we have drawn millions of readers to our site is a strong indicator that we have put our finger in a gaping wound and touched an important chord. We will continue to speak out openly, honestly and with a healthy dose of humor, opinion and biting sarcasm until this problem is confronted and addressed on a societal level. Until that day, we have no plans to stop doing what we are doing.
Above all, we thank our readers for supporting and guiding us.
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