News from Duckburg
The editorial by *Werbewoche* Editor-in-Chief Anne-Friederike Heinrich from the June 2017 issue, dated March 24, 2017.
These days, Facebook is making a whole new form of "journalism" respectable: first write, then check; first post, then think. In the social media and in the tabloids, it has long been common practice to first loudly report news - and at best to publish a correction on page three the following day. At least Blick spoke to the dead man first. And it already has the sales in its pocket when it's time to backtrack.
We have become accustomed to the fact that social media portals have now established themselves as news distributors. Today, we no longer read it in the NZZ or the Tagi, but on Xing and Facebook. But what Facebook is now doing is causing stomach aches: since the beginning of March, articles have been posted on the portal of which one is not entirely sure whether the message is true. Or to be more precise: The articles where one suspects that the news could be a hoax are marked with a red exclamation mark and the note disputet news, "disputed news" - until the post has been checked by commissioned fact-checkers, which can take days. Well, I'll be. It used to be assumed that every now and then, despite careful checking, journalists would fall for a false report and spread it further. Most of the time, the hunt for the surprising story under enormous time pressure and with the editor-in-chief breathing down their neck led to such mistakes. And to great shame for the writer.
Today, the obligation to exercise due diligence, which is nailed down in professional ethics, is dispensed with quite simply by clicking a button. If someone complains that none of this is true, you can point out that you mentioned that what you reported could have no basis in fact. Dear Facebook, is it still possible? Check reports, or don't spread them at all. And please don't boast about undermining all journalistic principles in the fight against fake news. Trudi Gerster is a different profession!
Would you have an operation if the doctor pointed out before the operation that the operation could also lead to death? Would you entrust your money to an investment advisor who hands you the address of a debt counseling service when you sign a contract? Of course, life involves risks. But you can't shirk your responsibility by pointing out that everything can also be completely different from what was intended, desired, reported.
I prefer to stick with a class journalist of the old (not outdated!) school, the German ZDF presenter Claus Kleber. In the introduction to a "heute-journal" report on the production of Carl Zuckmayer's "Der Hauptmann von Köpenick" at the Altenburg Theater in eastern Thuringia, Kleber had said: "Altenburg recently attracted attention because of a march by the Pegida clone Thügida. Reporters noted at the time that black-white-red imperial flags were as present in allotments as the black-red-gold of the Federal Republic." The allotment gardeners got upset about this and filed a criminal complaint against Kleber. The chairman of the allotment gardeners told the Ostthüringer Zeitung that widespread xenophobia is alien to the allotment gardeners.
Kleber, however, was sure of what he was doing: There was nothing wrong with his moderation and nothing that could be put right, the moderator announced. Exactly. Because, as always, he had researched well and formulated cleverly. Finally, he quoted the impression of reporters, a source checked by Kleber and obviously considered trustworthy. The public prosecutor's office in Gera dismissed the allotment gardeners' complaint.
Imagine if Kleber had said on "heute- journal": "I'm not sure if it's true, I've never been to Altenburg. But someone told me that they're waving Reich flags there" - and a red exclamation mark would appear at the bottom of the screen with the words "perhaps fake news.
Wow! Today, everyone thinks they've mastered journalism, even Facebook and allotment gardeners. The only thing we can do about it is good journalism. At least our readers, listeners and viewers will appreciate that. And after all, that's what it's all about.
Anne-Friederike Heinrich, Editor in Chief
