Press Council reprimands Weltwoche for Roma cover picture
The Press Council has upheld a complaint against *Die Weltwoche* regarding its controversial cover image on the topic of the Roma. The weekly newspaper suggests to its readers that the child pictured is involved in Roma-related crime. The Press Council did not, however, rule on the article itself.
The complaint was prompted by a front page of Weltwoche last April, which featured a small Roma boy pointing a pistol at the viewer. The picture with the caption "The Roma are coming: Raids through Switzerland" illustrated a report on Roma crime. The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, a Bernese student and 41 co-signatories appealed to the Press Council. In its statement on Tuesday, the Press Council concluded that Weltwoche had not made the context in which the picture was taken visible.
The photo dates from 2008 and was taken at a landfill site on the outskirts of the Kosovan town of Gjakova. There was no reference to this on either the front page or the following pages, writes the Press Council. The newspaper should therefore have labeled the picture as a symbolic image.
Use in a "completely different context"
However, the weekly newspaper had not only omitted the declaration, but had also used the image in a "completely different context". In particular, the Press Council objected to the combination of image and text. In combination with the legends, the picture untruthfully suggested to the readership that the boy depicted was part of Roma criminality.
The ambivalence between the documentary and symbolic function of the image is particularly problematic. Weltwoche had argued that the picture symbolized the "connection between children, crime and neglect". In the Press Council's judgment, this interpretation is not "clearly evident" to the viewer - without knowledge of the background. According to the Press Council, Weltwoche "clearly goes too far" with the layout of the front page. The newspaper should have been careful not to extend the justified criticism of criminal tourists to "all Roma". The generalizing formulation "The Roma are coming" potentially portrays all Roma as criminals.
The picture sparked outrage and strong reactions in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. After several complaints of suspected racial discrimination were filed, the Zurich public prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings against Weltwoche in June, but discontinued them a month later on the grounds that the Roma were not being disparaged as a people. The Vienna public prosecutor's office also closed a similar investigation against Weltwoche in July.
