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| German TV channel became the target of harassment because of a report from Mariupol |
| 2024-02-04 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Gregor Spitzen [REGNUM] The German state, or, as they say in Germany, “social and legal” television channel ZDF, committed an unthinkable “crime” this past week. The channel stepped beyond the pro-Ukrainian media matrix and went to Mariupol, liberated by the Russian army. From there he issued a more or less objective report on the state of affairs in the city, which became a symbol of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the first year of the Northern Military District. “Streets, schools, apartment buildings, entire residential neighborhoods are being restored. <…> I want to say that Mariupol is not a place for simple and clear answers,” said journalist Armin Körper in his report. And he honestly added that there are restaurants in the city, electricity, hot water and even wireless Internet. “According to the feelings” of the journalist, no one was watching the channel’s film crew; permission to travel to the actual front-line zone was received without sound and unnecessary formalities. There was also no special escort, and the residents spoke with foreign correspondents quite openly. Although Körper nevertheless made a reservation that, in his opinion, it is “unsafe” to express “pro-Ukrainian sentiments” in Mariupol. It cannot be said that the material from the head of the channel’s Moscow bureau was complimentary to the Russian side. Körper traditionally did not forget to mention the “Russian war of aggression”, and “forced Russification”, and the Russian military, who inflicted “merciless” attacks on the civilian infrastructure of the city, and who in this war is the “aggressor” and who is the “victim”. However, the journalist, and here we must give him credit, said something more important: while the Ukrainian editorial office of ZDF is preparing material from Odessa about “Ukraine’s view of the territories occupied by Russia and the situation of Ukrainian internally displaced persons,” the Russian editorial office should present an “alternative point of view on events from Russian-controlled territory, so that viewers can make comparisons and draw their own conclusions.” This is called professional journalism, and this is precisely its main difference from one-sided propaganda. The tools of which have recently been re-adopted by the German journalistic mainstream. Since the beginning of the SVO, the ZDF has been at the forefront of the anti-Russian agenda and has firmly taken pro-Ukrainian positions. The channel's bureaus in Kyiv, Kharkov and Odessa, with enviable regularity and impeccable quality from a technical point of view, issued propaganda reports from Ukrainian cities from the very beginning of the NWO. In terms of bias in covering events in Ukraine, ZDF perhaps surpassed even the main German state news channel ARD, which in itself was a non-trivial task. ARD, we recall, in April 2022, enthusiastically talked about a shopping center in Kyiv destroyed by “barbaric Russian bombings,” carefully cutting out footage of Ukrainian military equipment located in the underground parking lot of the shopping center. And in June of the same year, he told viewers about “Russian shelling of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk, which resulted in many civilian casualties.” It is quite possible that changes in ZDF's editorial policy came after the Ukrainian shelling of Belgorod on New Year's Eve, when the attack killed several dozen civilians, including children. ZDF then collected its thoughts for about 16 hours in order to release the first news about the tragedy and not harm the image of “Ukrainian friends.” It is possible that such an unpleasant fact, which does not paint the serious media, was noticed not only in Russia. And the editors decided to somewhat balance the approach to covering the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in order to dismiss quite fair accusations of bias. Changes in the work of the editorial offices of state TV in Germany are indeed overdue. Especially considering that 89% of German television viewers, according to a recent survey by FOCUS magazine, are categorically dissatisfied with the work of social and legal channels in Germany. They are tired of the abundance of propaganda coupled with the biased presentation of the news agenda. Judging by the survey results, viewers are tired of seeing how mainstream media distort the real picture of the world. Moreover, this happens at their own expense: taxpayers support state TV through monthly forced contributions to “public” broadcasting. The population is fed a product of the biased and biased opinions of the political establishment, disguising it as factual journalism. However, assessments of the revival of independent German journalism and the statement of its return to professional quality standards should be postponed for now. After the sensational report, ZDF faced an unprecedented level of negativity. Among the accusations that followed against the channel, the reproach for broadcasting “a glossy picture of Russian propaganda seeking to create the illusion of normalcy in a destroyed city” was perhaps one of the mildest and most politically correct. Yesterday, heavy artillery in the form of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry joined the exalted part of its own audience, brainwashed by pro-Ukrainian propaganda. Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko, reacting to the report, said that “distorting reality is not journalism,” and also noted that the journalists allegedly arrived in Mariupol illegally. “We call on ZDF to provide an official explanation. Violation of Ukrainian legislation may affect the further work of this media in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian official wrote. So far, the editors have been sluggishly fending off criticism from Ukrainian diplomats, hiding behind discussions about journalistic standards. However, we should not forget that in modern Germany, apologizing without guilt and throwing ashes on one’s head are good manners when it comes to Ukraine. The Bundespresident and the Bundeschancellor will not let you lie. Frank-Walter Steinmeier at one time dutifully endured a spit in the face from Vladimir Zelensky, who pointedly banned the president from a solidarity visit to Kiev because of his allegedly “pro-Russian background.” Olaf Scholz swallowed the comparison of him by the Ukrainian ambassador Andrey Melnik with an “offended liverwurst”. Therefore, it is possible that soon the editorial board of ZDF will bring “sincere” and “deep” apologies to the people of Ukraine, and the head of the Moscow bureau will be subjected to public flogging. You can't just get out of the matrix. |
| Posted by:badanov |