Köppel's fatwa

Column First the assassination attempt on
concealed from the editor-in-chief of Die Welt for weeks and was then
Swiss media virtually ignored: On the logic of journalistic
Spiral of silence. Roger Köppel's telephone number searched for
was already in vain at Twixtel during his time in Zurich. Two years
after the move to the
Berlin carpet floor of the Springer Group, the former editor-in-chief of
magazine and Weltwoche now also has his nameplate on his residence in the
in the upper middle-class district of Charlottenburg. This
Ringier's Schweizer Illustrierte recently reported in
a home story about the
"Cocks in all journalistic chicken coops". That was after the
Köppel personally initiated the reprinting of the controversial
Mohammed caricatures in the Springer newspaper Die Welt, but even before the
motivated assassination attempt on March 20.

On this rainy Monday, a 28-year-old Pakistani man who lived in
Mönchengladbach studied textile management, the foyer of the
Springer headquarters, threatened the security staff with a kitchen knife
and demanded the "desecrator of the holiest
Islamic values" - and to kill them.

The lone perpetrator, who according to his friends and relatives had not been conspicuous until then, was overpowered and came home.
in custody, where in the morning he
of May 5 with its
hanged himself in sweatpants. The whole case was only made public two
Days later on Spiegel online. And that's only because the matter
Due to allegations of torture made by Pakistani parliamentarians against the German
justice system had now escalated into a state affair.

It is important to remember this story, because in this country
conspicuously little and if so, then only extremely superficially, about
was reported: On the Swiss Primeur in the SonntagsBlick of May 7
followed only a brief mention in an NZZ article on "Media
under Islamist pressure" (May 12, 2006). Another three days later
The Tages-Anzeiger also reported on this - but only about the
Martyr status, which the perpetrator has in his
home country. In the German press, however, the case
generated a lot of noise. Spiegel online alone reported three times
and provided numerous details, from the exact course of events to the
Analysis of the environment up to the (frighteningly normal) offender profile.

Until the suicide and its aftermath, however, there was also a strong
Rhine a "non-reporting pact". After all, everything happened
not only coram publico, but directly under the eyes of various
Springer reporters, who are known to never let a story go to waste.
Which makes it clear that, in addition to the lamentation of Roger Köppel in particular
lemming effect, a journalistic "spiral of silence" also exists.

Even more interesting than the findings, however, is the question of the
motives of the Swiss silence cartel in particular. Is it a question of
a collective solidarity with an industry favorite who himself
also takes no position on the de facto fatwa, which
various terrorists have imposed on him via the Internet?
Or do you not want to wake up any local "sleepers", as it is in the name of a
freedom of the press, which is understood in an absolute sense
could go? Presumably, however, it would like to
his colleagues, who are otherwise never at a loss for a sardonic side-swipe
avoid, for reasons of piety, to prevent the radical anti-statist Köppel from
remember that he of all people
now needs (state) police protection until further notice.

The Don Quixote of thought bans pays for his latest provocation
So there is a high price to pay - that of fear. It will be interesting to see whether and
how he copes with this fate journalistically. He could be trusted
a Rushdie interview, for example. But we like to be surprised.

Oliver Classen is press spokesman for the
development policy organization Berne Declaration. Previously
he worked as a media journalist for Werbewoche, among others.