Davids Medienkritik

Christoph Luetgert: Bush and Bin Laden Enemies of the Free World

(By Ray D.)

In case you missed it, here is another of the German media's Schroeder-lapdogs blaming Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush in the same commentary on the ARD-Tagesthemen (Germany's main state-sponsored evening news program) for terror and insecurity in the world. This commentary was given to mark the fifth anniversary of 9/11. If anyone honestly believed that the anti-American stupidity in the German media had abated, here is more proof that it hasn't!

Here a translation submitted by one of our readers, edited by us. If you live in Germany, this is how your German public broadcasting tax money is being put to good use!:

Anchorwoman: Christoph Lütgert of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk, on the lessons and impacts of the 9/11 attacks.

Christoph Lütgert: Some may believe it an outrage to mention the names Osama bin Laden and George W Bush in the same breath, but I believe both have made our world much less safe. With his fight against terror, Bush was a willing marionette of out-of control neo-conservatives in the USA, and at the same time a help in fulfilling the objectives of the terror godfather bin Laden. Bush is primarily responsible for making the geopolitical consequences of September 11, 2001 worse than the catastrophe itself.

The war against Iraq, itself is a crime against international law, with no end in sight for the chaos, bloodshed and civil war. The recent Lebanon war would not have been thinkable without the Bush inspired radicalization of the Islamic world, likewise the threatening nuclear behavior of the terrible Iranian President Ahmadinejad.

As time increasingly passes, the accomplishments of the previous Red-Green (Schroeder-Fischer) administration, which distanced itself from this disastrous and unspeakable President, as the majority of Americans now do, are becoming increasingly evident. The current Union (CDU/CSU) administration under Angela Merkel should not be spared the reminder that it took her far longer. Perhaps, looking at the positive, it is all the more significant that we now see Chancellor Merkel and other prominent members of her administration clearly denouncing the abhorrent elements of Bush’s fight against terror, the human rights violations of Guantanamo Bay and CIA prisons.

It will take the free world a long time to repair the damage done by Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush, if that can be accomplished at all. And it (the free world) will be repeatedly challenged in its fight against terror not to give up freedoms that it in fact wants to defend.    

Endnote: If you wish to contact Tagesschau on this commentary, they can be reached at: [email protected]

Also, Tibor pointed out the Luetgert commentary and a response to it in Handelsblatt. At least someone is responding. (Hattips Tibor and Marko. Thanks also to Marko for hi-tech support.)

UPDATE: We now have one of the most egregious examples of anti-American propaganda at ARD on video HERE. Another example HERE as well.

UPDATE #2: This is not the first time we have dealt with Mr. Luetgert. We caught him lying to the German people last year as well.

Major Study: Anti-Americanism Pervasive in German Television Media

(By Ray D.)

Media Research Institute Confirms Long-Term Negative Trend in German Media's Reporting on the United States

Day for day we at Davids Medienkritik point out examples of anti-Americanism in the German media. We report these examples because we know, through our own experience and observation, that they are part of a larger trend that is seriously damaging transatlantic relations.

Many of our strongest critics, however, suggest that the examples we present simply represent isolated incidents in the German media and that our postings are little more than anecdotal. They deny that anti-Americanism is widespread in the German media and claim that German media sources are fair and balanced. Unfortunately, such critics are often very short on convincing evidence.

The Evidence Is In

Just two days ago, an independent German media research institute, Medien Tenor, released the results of a major, long-term study on seven major German television news programs that examined over 14,000 individual television news reports. The results overwhelmingly confirm what Davids Medienkritik has argued all along: That Germany's largest, most influential media outlets are pervasively biased against the United States.

Here, now, are the Medien Tenor study results translated exclusively for our audience:

US Protagonists in German TV: News Reporting Continues to be Negative
2005-04-20
Bush visit in February does not bring a sustainable change

Despite the short-term positive reporting of the Bush visit at the end of February, the negative trend in the portrayal of US-American protagonists and institutions that has been ongoing since 2002 continues in German television. This is shown by a current, long-term analysis done by the independent Bonn media research institute Medien Tenor of the main news programs of ARD, ZDF, RTL, SAT1 and PRO7. "Since the German federal government backed away from its 'unconditional solidarity' in the year 2002, the rating has gone continually downwards in the television news," explains Roland Schatz, the Director of Medien Tenor. The short "Bush-Schroeder pageant" in Mainz also did not bring a sustained change to the news reporting.

The negative trend was also not limited to political figures, but also encompassed news reporting on business. Scandals and crises have predominantly marked the picture of the American economy since 2002. "Successful developments clearly stand in the shadow of scandals and are barely portrayed," Schatz analyzes. The news prefer to repeatedly present their viewers with information on Enron or the investigations of Eliot Spitzer instead of reporting on success stories like those of Dell.

For the analysis, Medien Tenor evaluated 14,703 news reports in seven German TV news programs. ARD Tagesschau and Tagesthemen, ZDF heute and heute journal, RTL Aktuell, SAT1 NEWS (18:30), Pro7 NEWSTIME. Time period: January 1, 2002 to March 31, 2005.

And here is a graph of the negative trend from Medien Tenor:

Steady Trend: German Television Media Have Grown Increasingly Negative Towards All Things American Since 2002

The results of this study also emphatically contradict the claim that German media are simply "anti-Bush" and not "anti-American." The study clearly shows that major German television news programs suffer from a pervasive, across-the-board bias against the United States in reporting on both political and non-political matters.

Bearing these results in mind, is it any wonder that the United States has grown less popular in the eyes of the German people? How would the American people view Germany if they were bombarded daily with increasingly negative television images of German society, politics, culture and business? When will the leaders of both nations properly recognize this issue and the impact it is having?

Finally, as a concerned observer, one has to wonder how the German government could possibly be taking out expensive, full-page color ads in American newspapers claiming that Germany and America are "united" and "partners" while failing, completely, to criticize the media bias in their own country that is slowly destroying German-American friendship. Why, for example, has Gerhard Schroeder's so-called "Coordinator for German-American Cooperation" Karsten Voigt been so deafeningly silent on this vital matter? Could it be that Gerhard Schroeder and his Socialist-Green coalition know that they may, again, have to rely on anti-American media and voters to put them into office come election time, as they did in 2002?

You be the judge...

Biased German Media Confronted by Reality

(By Ray D.)

This report from Medien Tenor via Die Achse des Guten is even more remarkable now that the election results are in:

Medien Tenor: Arab broadcasters report more positively on Iraq election than German broadcasters

Quote from a Medien Tenor press release:

The German public television news are spreading, with their news selection, a climate that the parliamentary elections in Iraq could not fulfill their function. With that, they stand in contradiction to the position of the UN that Kofi Annan presented on the basis of UN election observers as well as in contradiction to their colleagues at Arab TV broadcasters from Al Jazeera to Al Arabia. That is shown by the current study of the media research institute Medien Tenor. The Bonn scientists found out that “heute journal” and “Tagesthemen” reported negatively nearly 80 percent of the time when the validity of the election was spoken about in cases evaluated in the time period that the study was carried out (17-26 January 2005). Marietta Slomka (heute journal anchorwoman, 19 January): “How should free, equal and general elections be held under these conditions?” ZDF correspondent Luc Walpot even doubted that the election was a decision on political goals: “In light of the daily threats, kidnappings, bombs and murders, the interest in the election programs is tiny. (…) The placards will not set the tone, fear will be decisive.” The “Tagesthemen” also expressed themselves very critically: The bombing terror threatens the election process, reported Joerg Armbruster.

A completely different picture was given to the viewers of the leading Arab TV broadcasters Al Jazeera, Al Manar, Al Arabia, etc. on the situation in Iraq. They chose different news from Iraq and, on the same day (19 January,) spread a positive estimate of the election’s legitimacy among their viewers in 100% of the cases. “The trend of the reports from ARD and ZDF (the two main state funded stations) correspond to the extremely one-sided pattern of reporting that we have observed in the public state-funded broadcasters since Schroeder’s political change of course towards the US in the end phase of the 2002 German national elections,” according to Roland Schatz, the Editor-in-Chief of Media Tenor International. “The German public is being presented a situation in Iraq twice as negatively portrayed as it was under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. Do dead Iraqis count for Tagesthemen and heute journal first then when Saddam Hussein isn’t responsible for them?” The long term analysis of the Bonn media researcher shows that since 1994, those responsible for the main news reports at ARD and ZDF, in their presentation of elections, for example in Russia or China, dealt far less intensively with issues of the guarantee of democratic standards. “As long as the same daily fare is offered from Baghdad, the viewers cannot come to an independent judgment about what has been achieved in Iraq in the first place,” so Schatz. Viewers would be closer to that point if both a wider variety of information was researched and if different regions were given more attention.

Beyond and above that, Medien Tenor compared the current reporting on the Iraq election in leading German, British, French, Spanish and Italian media with that of the presentation in the leading Arab media. There too, the analysis shows similar differences in the evaluation of the legitimacy. While the Arab media delivers a view already mentioned above, the Western European media have far more strongly questioned the legal legitimacy of the elections.

At Medien Tenor in Bonn over 140 analysts research on a daily basis the Arab, German, English, French and Italian news programs piece by piece for which topics, people, institutions and countries are presented.

Further information at: http://www.medientenor.de

That settles it, Luc Walpot of ZDF wins this years "Idiot Prediction of the Year" award. Here again is his statement: “In light of the daily threats, kidnappings, bombs and murders, the interest in the election programs is tiny." The interest is tiny? How bout them apples Mr. Walpot: Over 70% of Iraqis vote. The election is an enormous success. Freedom triumphed over fear. You may go back to drinking the Kool-Aid with Ms. Slomka now Mr. Crackpot...er Mr. Walpot.

(Correction: Voter turnout was around 58%. Still a remarkably high number in light of the threats, terror and dire predictions of pessimism by Mr. Walpot, Ms. Slomka and the rest of the German media crowd.)

This is stunning folks. The German media has an 80% negative quotient for reporting on elections that are an undeniable and historic triumph for democracy in the Middle East. They are either completely out of touch with reality, completely biased or both. I think the following statements from Mr. Schatz are particularly telling:

"The trend of the reports from ARD and ZDF (the two main state funded stations) correspond to the extremely one-sided pattern of reporting that we have observed in the public state-funded broadcasters since Schroeder’s political change of course towards the US in the end phase of the 2002 German national elections. (...)

The German public is being presented a situation in Iraq twice as negatively portrayed as it was under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. Do dead Iraqis count for Tagesthemen and heute journal first then when Saddam Hussein isn’t responsible for them?"

And then the same anti-American, left-wing cranks who run these profoundly biased German media institutions and who believe every word that comes out of them have the gall and the temerity to attack media networks like Fox News as biased!? This is not only hypocritical, it is disgusting.

In any case, it will be interesting to see how networks like ARD and ZDF reconcile the enormous success of the Iraqi election with their dire predictions of doom and failure. Will they ignore the success, talk up the terror or shrug it off as an anomaly? One thing is certain: They will never admit they were wrong.

(This piece published in German at Medien Tenor, special thanks and hattips to Michael Miersch and Stefan H.)

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Let the Countdown Begin! Tomorrow, February 1 at 6 PM Berlin time, 12 Noon EST: Davids Medienkritik will introduce a powerful new German-language blog:

MEDIENKRITIK ONLINE 

Stay tuned!

Predictable Bias of German Public TV Channel ARD

Germany's public TV channel ARD, 10.30pm news:

Interviews with Iraqis in Falludja - all pro Kerry. Brief mention that U.S. elite troops around Falludja prefer Bush - but no interviews.

Bias as usual.

BTW: ARD forecasts a 51/49 victory for Kerry, based on first exit polls.

Update: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blue chips fell on Tuesday in a sharp reversal that trimmed gains in other indexes as Internet sites suggested exit polls had Sen. John Kerry ahead of President Bush in key states in the U.S. presidential election. ... Lisa Hansen, head trader at Transamerica Investment Management, said, "Apparently the blogs are saying that Kerry is ahead in one or two of the swing states and that's why the market dipped."

Well, a caveat is in order:

... the early exit polls in 2000 looked a good deal bleaker than what we are seeing today. For example, early exit polls in 2000 showed us (Bush) down by four in Arizona; we won by six. Early exit polls in 2000 showed us even in Colorado; we won by nine. And early exit polls in 2000 showed us down by three in Florida; we ended up slightly more than even.

(The Corner, via LGF)

Der Tod der Saddam-Söhne: was haben die Amis da wieder falsch gemacht?

Fr Jul 25, 12:51:02 PM
Die vielleicht sympathischste Meldung zum Tod der Saddam-Söhne Uday und Qusay erschien in der Überschrift der englischen SUN: Brothers were killed in loo (Brüder im Kloo getötet). Man kann sich schwerlich eine gerechtere Strafe für die beiden Massenmörder vorstellen, als ein Ende "in a filthy loo".
Und natürlich beginnt in deutschen Medien schon wieder die Suche nach den schuldigen ... Amerikanern. Die "Tagesthemen" der ARD gruben Freimut Duve aus, einen notorisch erfolglosen ehemaligen SPD-MdB, der nun sein Gnadenbrot als "Medienbeauftragter" der OSZE verzehrt. Duve vermochte es, sich in die Gehirne der Iraker zu versetzen. Was fand er dort? Überraschung: Kritik AN DEN AMERIKANERN! Duve: "Vor Gericht stellen und ein Gerichtsverfahren machen, bedeutet viel mehr für die irakische Bevölkerung, die lange unter der Diktatur gelebt hat, als dieser Umgang mit Bildern". Man kann sich richtig vorstellen, wie die irakische Bevölkerung geduldig abwartet, bis Uday und Quesay sich über Jahre durch alle Instanzen einer noch überhaupt nicht existierenden demokratischen irakischen Justiz geklagt hätten. Dabei würde dies den Irakern so viel bedeuten... Übrigens regt sich Freimut Duve auch über andere Themen auf, z.B. über Berlusconi, über zu wenige "kritische Stimmen" gegen die US-Regierung nach dem 11.9.2001, über das schlechte Vorbild der USA, das den Russen die Misshandlung der Tschetschenen erlaubt, usw...usw...

AP findet nach einer Meldung der Financial Times Deutschland mit dem Landauer "Politologen und Medienwissenschaftler" Ulrich Sarcinelli einen geschichtlich dramatisch kenntnisreichen - ja, was wohl? - US-KRITIKER. Er erkennt "in dem demonstrativen Zurschaustellen der getöteten Feinde Merkmale eines primitives Rituals, das einem überholt geglaubtem Menschheitsstadium entspreche". Dahinter, so Sarchinelli, "steht offensichtlich eine dramatische innenpolitische Glaubwürdigkeitskrise der Kriegsparteien USA und Großbritannien". Aber hoppla, wer hätte das gedacht - die Tötung zweier Sadisten und Menschenschänder als Indikator innenpolitischer Krisenlagen bei den Angelsachsen!

Die Financial Times Deutschland veröffentlicht - for good measure - gleich eine ganze Seite mit kritischen Pressestimmen. Wem wohl gegenüber kritisch? DEN AMERIKANERN! Im Zitatendschungel der FTD ein Juwel des Welt-Blattes Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung: "Zu sehr riecht es nach Inszenierung. Die missratene Brut des Saddam Hussein wird genau in jenen Tagen zur Strecke gebracht, in denen Bush und sein britischer Waffenbruder Tony Blair wegen ihrer unseriösen Informationspolitik unter Druck stehen. Was für ein Zufall. Und dann all die Ungereimtheiten in dieser Geschichte: Wenn die Kommandos der Heeres-Spezialkräfte zugreifen, dann ist der Spuk normalerweise in Sekundenschnelle vorbei. Schwer vorstellbar, dass solche Profis mehrere Stunden gebraucht haben sollen, den fetten Kusai, den verkrüppelten Udai und zwei Begleiter niederzuringen." Tja, die Spezialkräfte der NOZ hatten sicher in "Sekundenschnelle" ihren tendenziösen, anti-amerikanischen Kommentar geschrieben. Die NOZ veröffentlicht dazu noch eine dpa-Meldung, die den Medienwissenschaftler Siegfried Weischenberg zu Wort kommen läßt. Weischenberg kritisiert...wen wohl? Richtig: DIE AMERIKANER! Weischenberg: "Auch Verbrecher haben eine Menschenwürde".

Es geht doch nichts über deutsche Gutmenschen und ihre anti-amerikanischen Reflexe - und über deutsche Medien, die ihnen ein Forum verschaffen. Wir aber wollen nun die Verbrecher mit Menschenwürde in unser Gebet einschließen (und Josef Stalin und Adolf Hitler und Idi Amin und Pol Pot und ...)