Pope’s obituary published too early: Press Council issues 17 complaints

The Press Council, the self-regulating body of the German press, issued 17 public reprimands and 32 disapprovals in the first quarter. 65 of the 160 complaints were dismissed as unfounded.

A complaint for a serious breach of the duty of care was made to Taz.de. On its website, the “Taz” had the obituary of the emeritus Pope Benedict XVI. published before his death. Apparently it was an editorial mistake, the obituary was quickly deleted.

The Springer tabloids “Bild” and the online portal Bild.de received most of the reprimands. Bild.de was reprimanded eight times, the “Bild” newspaper received four reprimands.

The Press Council saw it as defamatory in a reprimand that “Bild” and Bild.de described the Deputy Prime Minister of Lower Saxony Julia Willie as a “car hater” without providing “sufficient evidence” for this.

In several cases, the two publications are accused of violating the protection of victims. Bild.de was criticized for a “prejudiced headline”.

The Council recognized a violation of the truthfulness requirement in a Bild.de report in which climate activists who occupied a lecture hall at the University of Frankfurt were described as anti-Semites. One person had distributed flyers hostile to Israel.

There is always a problem: victim protection

focus.de was also reprimanded for a lack of victim protection. It was about a report on an act of violence among young people, in which the editors published excerpts from a mobile phone video of the act.

Complaints were also sent to the online edition of “Nordkurier”, the magazine “Gault & Millau”, Express.de and the magazine “Closer”. They are accused of surreptitious advertising in one form or another.

In the Magdeburg “Volksstimme” a freelancer had reported under a different name on court proceedings in which he had been involved as a plaintiff. That was also criticized. In a live ticker on May 1, 2022, the “Berliner Zeitung” cited in great detail serious allegations against a union official named by name. The allegations were neither classified nor was the accused heard.

The “Traunsteiner Tagblatt” was reprimanded for a report in which the editors had published memories and letters from the time of the Second World War. The editorial team was criticized for not having sufficiently distanced itself from the National Socialist and war-glorifying formulations.

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