Little Green Footballs - Profound Media Bias in Germany

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♻RetweetProfound Media Bias in Germany

Mon, Jan 31, 2005 at 9:42:27 am PST

Davids Medienkritik notes a study from a German media watchdog that comes to a rather amazing conclusion: Arab broadcasters report more positively on Iraq’s elections than German media.

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?”

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48 comments

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Powderfinger Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:43:17am

Europe is not our friend.

Mr Pol Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:43:23am

Media bias in the heart of the EU? Say it ain't so...

Poitiers-Lepanto Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:45:47am

Marxist-fascist 1
Islamofascists 0

The SuperToilet results, in the week before the SuperBowl.

Luigi Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:49:13am

They're in denial. If they let in all sides of Middle East opinion it will lead them right back to their culpability in the Holocaust.

truthsword Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:50:03am

OT(ish)

I don't know if anyone here is doing this... but I just sent my photo in (don't know when it will show up)...

[Link: www.gopbloggers.org...]

lancekates Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:50:21am

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Stupid Germans. GO back to social welfare or making cars and clocks.

csva Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:50:26am

Well the EU is in the Iran/Saudi/Syria region of influence so the sport of hating the U.S. is no surprise here.

Just 20 more years till the EU joins the Arab league, give or take a few.

Pro-Bush Canuck Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:54:52am

Islam itself is not the enemy.

Islamism combined with the global Left is the enemy.

Ted Rall is a far greater threat to you and your family than some farmer in Syria.

The Pulchritudinous Patriot Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:56:07am

Early OT, but these people really are monsters who will burn in Hell forever...

Bastards...

Disabled child used in suicide attack

Korora Mon, Jan 31, 2005 7:56:57am

Wohbanobongu! Surprise meter way up there; I didn't think it was possible to get more hostile than the Arab media!

scoreboard44 Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:00:54am

"Heute Journal"?
"Tag-est-hem-en"

Uh...eh...heh...heh...heh.. What the hell are they?

lancekates Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:00:58am

#8 Pro-Bush Canuck

Ted Rall is a far greater threat to you and your family than some farmer in Syria

I'll agree with that to a point, since that farmer hasn't heard of Waconia, Minnesota.

The Pulchritudinous Patriot Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:01:35am

OT Again-sorry but

Nancy Pelosi and gang are apparently taking Kosnning advice

Top Democrats speak ahead of State of Union

Coinendink?

The Real State of the Union

Ed Mahmoud abu al Qahool Martyr Brigades Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:01:53am

Judge (LBJ and Carter appointed) rules military tribunals at Gitmo unconstitutional.

Waiting for a link, but Drudge has a no details headline quoting unamed US official that Israel may be preparing attack on Iarn's nukes.

Ed Mahmoud abu al Qahool Martyr Brigades Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:03:00am

Iarn is Farsi for Iran.

Or maybe thats Gaelic.

kayawanee Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:03:00am

#2 Mr Pol

Media bias in the heart of the EU? Say it ain't so...

We need to export FOX News to them, just as we're now exporting it to Canada. I believe that a new source of information might help Germans to find a clue.

hans ze beeman Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:11:29am

"Tagesthemen" & "Heute Journal" are two perfect examples of media controlled by sophisticated European "do-gooders". Their complacent, sophisticated, critical attitude is so hard-wired that they are effectively unable to perceive the historic dimension of this election.

If I only followed the German media, I'd think the apocalypse has been invoked by Iraq's liberation. Fatal decadence at its best. The power of this cataclysmic cartel in charge of opinions in Germany must not be underestimated.

Baldy Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:13:15am

Awful state of affairs in Germany.

OT: Hillary Clinton Collapses During Speech (NewsAlert on FNC - that's all it was) No matter what I think about the Senator, I wish no ill on her. I hope it's not serious.

JimmyTheClaw Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:15:22am

hillary just collapsed during a speecg

Studsup Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:15:53am

Excuse me, except for the Democracy they have now because of the the sacrifice of lives and treasure of the USA and Great Britain, please show me what grand history of democracy that Germany can boast of. They have very little national experience with it and it does not surprise me that their media would treat fledgling efforts at democracy with disdain.

Germany has no basis to be critical. They haven't proved that they can maintain their own Democracy without Uncle Sam's military umbrella and economic support over 50 years to back it up.

Pro-Bush Canuck Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:15:59am

NOTE TO CANADIANS

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (the "Canadian BBC") is attempting to stuff the election down the Orwellian memory hole.

Their main site: [Link: www.cbc.ca...]

And News site: [Link: www.cbc.ca...]

have virtually no coverage whatsoever of this historic event.

If you are Canadian PLEASE call the CBC immediately at:

1-866-306-4636

and let them know that leftist fascism and censorship of democratic revolutions will not be tolerated!

This is VERY IMPORTANT! Most Canadians are brainwashed by the likes of the CBC and our leftist establishment. The CBC is committing a journalistic crime today.

CALL NOW!

Ed Mahmoud abu al Qahool Martyr Brigades Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:17:21am

THURSDAY/FRIDAY COASTAL FLOODING WITH COASTAL STORM & HEAVY RAIN ON 1 METER SNOWPACK SEVERE RIVER FLOOD WATCH NEW YORK & NEW ENGLAND

AVN shows current Texas storm moving into Southeast, while the weekend storm heads northwest, with warm air/warm front approaching New England from the northeast (which is rather unusual, to have warm air coming from the northeast).

Get a load of the Environment Canada global model!

Into Friday night (Canadian).

Even though it doesn't get that warm, that kind of rain as shown by the Canadian, on top of a meter of snow, with frozen ground and ice choked rivers, could spell major flooding.

Pro-Bush Canuck Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:19:15am

Update:

I just noticed within the last hour they have added a story but it is buried far down the page. At least there is some response. When I called a while ago they had stopped responding to incoming calls.

Call anyway. These people are fascist scum.

Baldy Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:19:56am

Studsup #20

Germany has no basis to be critical. They haven't proved that they can maintain their own Democracy without Uncle Sam's military umbrella and economic support over 50 years to back it up.

Good point. They'd be speaking German if it wasn't for the US.

Q Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:21:18am

PBC:

Islam itself is not the enemy.

Expansionist islam is.

MJ Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:22:47am

Not surprising. This is, after all, part of the same EU media which has made Israel the aggressor for merely defending it's right to exist.

Look, these folks have a two thousand year old record in inversing reality- "The Jews are our Misfortune". It takes absolutely no effort for them to turn those who yearn for Democracy and freedom into fascists.

As usual, European ( and this just happens to be Germany ) ethics is just another excuse to promote their hatred...in this case, of Americans.

US out of NATO. Now.

Ward Cleaver Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:27:43am

Since the Arab media reported more positively on the elections than did the German media, and the Arab media's audience, the Arabs in Europe, are probably watching them, and not the German media, who gives a flip what the German media are saying?

If the Arabs in Europe are getting a positive message about the Iraqi elections from the Arab media, that's a good thing, right?

What are the Arab media (like Al-Jizz) saying about the elections, anyway?

blue_like_jazz Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:29:11am

#5~~ just colored me and my 4 children's fingers!

lonely German Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:46:34am

#16, 17

You are both very right.

I long for the day when FOX will be available in Germany. In the meantime, thank God for the Internet.

Dave the..... Mon, Jan 31, 2005 8:58:05am

Fox News has reported that Arab media (at least television) has done a decent job of reporting on the Iraq election.

Studsup Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:00:16am

#24 Baldy -- "Good point. They'd be speaking German if it wasn't for the US."

Clever. No Baldy, they'd be speaking Russian if it wasn't for the US. And, they'd have no experience at all in sustaining a Democracy. Now they resent the US and its contributions and they want us gone. Fine I say. Were it up to me, I'd dismantle our military bases and pull every last soldier out of that country. Let them maintain their democracy now on their own. I give Iraq better odds.

At The Gate Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:07:59am

On media bias:

Sir

I'd like to bring to your attention a graphic example of why the BBC receives much criticism with regard to its reporting on the Middle East conflict.

As I write this letter, the BBC has on its website, two articles about killings in the Middle East and Africa. One story, about a single Palestinian man killed while he approached a border fence is entitled "Israelis Shoot Dead Palestinian". The other story, about 100 people killed in a bombing raid by the Sudan government is entitled "Sudan Troops in Darfur Offensive". The details on the killings do not appear in the headline nor in the following paragraph printed in bold.

If this example of unbalanced reporting were an aberration, one might suggest that it was due perhaps, to poor discretion being exercised by BBC website editors on this occasion. This type of asymmetric reporting however, is routine for the BBC. When Israelis are involved in the deaths of Palestinians -- one in this case --, the BBC employs direct, active language in the headline and body of its articles to describe the incident and assign unambiguous culpability to Israel. By contrast, when reporting on the killings of Israelis by Palestinians -- or in this case, the murder of 100 civilians by the government of Sudan -- the language is typically passive and circumspect.

As a frequent reader of the BBC website (and a TV license payer in the UK), I find the BBC's bias transparent and deeply offensive. It also represents a clear violation of your public charter to be fair and balanced in your reporting.

Yours faithfully,

And the BBC's risible response:

Dear Mr ...

As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the conflict in Darfur take
place in completely different contexts, it is clear that different
editorial approaches need to be taken. The Middle East editorial team
tries - as far as possible - to address each deadly act of
Israeli-Palestinian violence in a balanced and objective way, with a
focus the team tries to apply to all the countries in its region, even
Iraq. That close-up focus is much less likely in African conflicts of
which Darfur is an example which are dealt with by the Africa editorial team.

In addition, Headlines are not to used to assign culpability, but rather to sum up the story in as brief a way as possible (in a template of 31-33 characters). This inevitably results in an avoidance of longer words, which may be why there may be a slight imbalance. Nevertheless a search through the BBC News website archive produces headlines where:

1. Palestinians are killed without mentioning an agent:

Five Palestinians killed in Gaza (30/12/2004)

2. Israelis are killed with an agent mentioned:

Suicide blasts kill 11 Israelis (14/03/2004)

3. And where there have been multiple (Palestinian) deaths which are not mentioned in the headline

Major Israeli incursion in Gaza (25/10/2004)
[Link: news.bbc.co.uk...]

Regards
BBC News Website

William Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:12:05am

Folks, recall that our own Hans ze Beeman was a victim of German media bias, and was a typical LLL poster here at LGF before being exposed to the facts, using his critical thinking skills to evaluate them, and making the lizardoid conversion.

He turned away from the dark side in sometime April 2003:

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

Facts and information are powerful things, for those willing to acknowledge them, and having the intellectual capacity to process them honestly.

Hats off to Hans, and others like him, for having the courage to face new ideas with an open mind.

mixa Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:12:30am

Stupid Germans. GO back to social welfare or making cars and clocks

correction

GO back to social welfare or making cars and cuckoo clocks

:-)

salt1907 Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:22:23am

I would like to see a comparison of Arab and our own MSM/DNC news coverage. MSM and DNC are different arms of the same beast. DNC/MSM is now a singular noun

alegrias Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:24:01am

#34 Mixa

Ja, but now ze cuckoo clocks are made in Korea! And ze cars in Slovakia.

Nothing for a djimmi Djerman to do but take a month or two vacation at the StaatSpa to think it over.

Baldy Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:27:28am

FLASHBACK: Helen Thomas at WH Press Briefing 2003

MR. FLEISCHER: Actually, the President has made it very clear that he has not dispute with the people of Iraq. That's why the American policy remains a policy of regime change. There is no question the people of Iraq --
Q That's a decision for them to make, isn't it? It's their country.
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, if you think that the people of Iraq are in a position to dictate who their dictator is, I don't think that has been what history has shown.
Q I think many countries don't have -- people don't have the decision -- including us.

There're boneheads everywhere.

True German Ally Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:27:42am

Medienkritik is not wrong but actually I have seen quite a bit of positive reporting as well, even in the Spiegel.

True German Ally Mon, Jan 31, 2005 9:31:45am

Or, to put it that way, German reporting has been more optimistic than the reactions of prominent members of the Democrats.

Baldy Mon, Jan 31, 2005 10:08:51am

Studsup - Sorry. I wasn't trying to mock you. It was my feeble attempt at humor. I was serious about you having a good point, though.

sawadee63 Mon, Jan 31, 2005 10:19:40am

Why would Germany be so mean now? They learned a lesson in 1918 and they've been peaceful ever since. Just like their Arab friends.

Terrye Mon, Jan 31, 2005 11:28:20am

The Le Monde did better than the Germans. I think they might discover they are out of step on this issue, even in Europe.

SlothB77 Mon, Jan 31, 2005 11:31:28am

The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing;

According to today's USA Today article by Greg Toppo.

I have one argument against this student 'belief'. German Public Television.

mixa Mon, Jan 31, 2005 11:43:57am

#36 alegrias

NO! You mean Triberg is out of action?

cuckoo clocks

Oh well.

Studsup Mon, Jan 31, 2005 11:59:33am

#40 Baldy,

Sorry I took it the wrong way. I don't think my "Russian" observation is too far off the mark either. But for the US presence in Europe for the 50 years after WWII, I rate the chances that Germany would exist in its current condition as about 0.

ajackson Mon, Jan 31, 2005 1:27:57pm

Europe is not our friend Neither is NPR - turned on NPR this morning on the way to work. (Yeah, I know - I just wanted to see how they'd spin the Iraq election). Anyway, their Iraq election coverage consisted of some reporter from the LA Times out in some town in the middle of the worst part of the Sunni Triangle. Reported that nobody voted in the town. Therefore, all the Sunni's in Iraq were disenfranchised. Therefore the election was illegitimate. Went on like this for about ten minutes. And by the way, some Iraqi's may have voted in other parts of Iraq. Then on to a discussion of Americans, Brits, and Iraqis killed yesterday. At that point I turned it off ...

EE Mon, Jan 31, 2005 3:27:16pm

#41 sawadee63
It turns out that Bush was right and those with Bush Derangement Syndrome were wrong. The people of Iraq were ready and eager for democracy. The leftists with Bush Derangement Syndrome were hoping that the election attempt would fail, so that they could say "I told you so", and continue with their Bush Derangement Syndrome madness.

The Euros who say that "Bush=Hitler" are projecting Euro ways and Euro leadership onto a country where such things do not happen. Hitler was a European leader. The Nazi "thousand-year Reich" was a European phenomenon. The Holocaust was a European phenomenon.

In France, there was a book published that claimed that Bush was responsible for planning the terrorism of 9/11. It was called "The Big Lie". It was a fast best-seller in France, and it has been marketed in Europe. A Fox News anchor, John Gibson, went to visit the author of this libel. The proof, said this Frenchman, is that Hitler was responsible for the fire in the Reichstag. In other words, he starts with the assumption that Bush=Hitler, and with circular reasoning ends with that conclusion. It's projection of European ways. And it is done against the liberators of Europe, because if there is one thing that Europe cannot forgive America for, it's the fact that America was instrumental in liberating Europe. It embarasses the Europeans, and lowers their ego and self-esteem. So they do Liberation-Inversion, making the Americans into the Nazis and the terrorists into the liberators. It makes the Euros feel better about themselves.

leo (dissident view from Berlin) Fri, Feb 4, 2005 4:14:45am

#47 EE -

The proof, said this Frenchman, is that Hitler was responsible for the fire in the Reichstag.

What an idiot. Such as the 1938 Munich beerhall bombing, the 1933 Reichstag fire was sparked by an alone communist. The Nazis projected a communist conspiracy and persecuted the Communist Party and Communist International just like the perpetrator, while these organizations reacted with another conspiracy theory saying that the Nazis themselves had completely orchestrated the event, which this author seems to have swallowed hook, line and sinker.