Basler Zeitung wrongly accused Georg Kreis of "concealing" looted art case
The Swiss Press Council has reprimanded the Basler Zeitung (BaZ) for publishing false information in an article about looted art. In January 2018, the newspaper had claimed that Basel historian Georg Kreis had «swept under the rug» or «concealed» a major case of looted art dating from 1933.
The BaZ insinuated Kreis in the articleBaZ was accused of deliberately omitting a specific case of looted or stolen art from the Bergier Commission Switzerland - Second World War's study on looted art. The Press Council partially upheld a complaint against BaZ. The Basel Newspaper should not have written that the historian had "swept the case under the carpet" or "concealed it". She could only have stated that Kreis had not mentioned the case. And it should have asked Kreis about his motives. If he was not available by the editorial deadline, BaZ should have documented its efforts to obtain a statement in the article. (pd)
