German media dismiss Schroeder’s criticism

BERLIN – Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, breathing fire after staging the most remarkable election comeback in German history, has wasted no time unleashing his wrath on the country’s media.

Just moments after Schroeder succeeded in turning what in June had looked like a sizable impending defeat into a photo finish in last month’s general election, the chancellor went before cheering supporters and a national television audience. “I’m proud of the people of our country who weren’t shaken by the media’s manipulation and the media power,” Schroeder said of the result which gave his Social Democrats 34,3 per cent, just behind the Christian Democrats (CDU), who got 35,2 per cent.”Those who tried to bring about a change in government have failed grandly,” Schroeder shouted as he punched the night air on September 18.Schroeder’s explosive attacks on the media are still making waves, although he and the CDU have lowered the volume in their wrangle over the right to lead the government.Leading German news organisations and professional journalism groups have rejected Schroeder’s charges that there was a media campaign against him.German publishers and broadcasters said there was no truth to his heated accusations that they tried to influence the election outcome by writing him off beforehand or that they had played a partisan role supporting his conservative challenger.”What more can you say about a politician who starts off as a ‘media chancellor’ and then ends his career as a media critic?” Michael Backhaus, political editor at Bild newspaper, told Reuters, dismissing Schroeder’s accusations as absurd.’UNHOLY ALLIANCE’ Independent academic analysts also reject the charges of blanket bias and said it was ironic that Schroeder, who has deftly used the media to his advantage throughout his career, was now attacking them after narrowly losing the election.”When someone who’s been the media’s darling for years suddenly complains about the media, it’s news,” said Lutz Erbring, a communications professor at Berlin’s Free University.”Schroeder never complained before when he got favourable media treatment.(Conservative leader Angela) Merkel didn’t get as much critical cover simply because she wasn’t important enough.Complaining about bad press is what politicians do all the time.I think he’s out of line.”Erbring and some top journalists said there were some examples of less-than-impartial coverage ahead of the election, but the majority of reports were even-handed.He said mass circulation Bild had apparently tried to whip up public fears against Schroeder’s bid to woo a relatively small number of ethnic Turkish voters who live in Germany.”It was an irresponsible attempt to drive undecided voters into Merkel’s camp by appealing to xenophobic sentiment against Turks living in Germany,” Erbring said of a page one headline in Bild, with 12 million readers, four days before the ballot.It asked: “Will the Turks decide the election?” WHIFF OF DICTATORSHIP? The government’s press office announced plans to hold a conference on the coverage entitled ‘Media and the election’ but dropped the idea in the face of criticism that such an investigation smacked of dictatorship.”It’s inconceivable for me how Schroeder could universally condemn all 70 000 journalists in Germany of being biased,” said Michael Konken, chairman of the German association of professional journalists (DJV).The Berlin chapter of the DJV said it would hold a conference called: ‘The fourth estate or the fourth election loser? The media and the election campaign’.Claus Leggewie, a political scientist at Giessen’s Centre for Media, also called the attacks ridiculous, noting Schroeder endured less critical coverage than his predecessor Helmut Kohl.”It’s the duty of journalists to cover the government critically and that’s exactly what the left-wing press did when his government made mistakes,” said Leggewie.Schroeder also said broadcast coverage had been “partisan”.Some commentators say the German broadcast media exposes itself to such broadsides because parties have an influence on networks and a say in appointing reporters with party membership cards to key posts.Erbring said publications that tend to lean to the left were especially critical of Schroeder, who has in the past largely ignored attacks from conservative media.”That’s evidently what triggered the outburst.There might have been a bit of a tabloid slant against him but in the past the slant mostly went his way.”- Nampa-Reuters”I’m proud of the people of our country who weren’t shaken by the media’s manipulation and the media power,” Schroeder said of the result which gave his Social Democrats 34,3 per cent, just behind the Christian Democrats (CDU), who got 35,2 per cent.”Those who tried to bring about a change in government have failed grandly,” Schroeder shouted as he punched the night air on September 18.Schroeder’s explosive attacks on the media are still making waves, although he and the CDU have lowered the volume in their wrangle over the right to lead the government.Leading German news organisations and professional journalism groups have rejected Schroeder’s charges that there was a media campaign against him.German publishers and broadcasters said there was no truth to his heated accusations that they tried to influence the election outcome by writing him off beforehand or that they had played a partisan role supporting his conservative challenger.”What more can you say about a politician who starts off as a ‘media chancellor’ and then ends his career as a media critic?” Michael Backhaus, political editor at Bild newspaper, told Reuters, dismissing Schroeder’s accusations as absurd.’UNHOLY ALLIANCE’ Independent academic analysts also reject the charges of blanket bias and said it was ironic that Schroeder, who has deftly used the media to his advantage throughout his career, was now attacking them after narrowly losing the election.”When someone who’s been the media’s darling for years suddenly complains about the media, it’s news,” said Lutz Erbring, a communications professor at Berlin’s Free University.”Schroeder never complained before when he got favourable media treatment.(Conservative leader Angela) Merkel didn’t get as much critical cover simply because she wasn’t important enough.Complaining about bad press is what politicians do all the time.I think he’s out of line.”Erbring and some top journalists said there were some examples of less-than-impartial coverage ahead of the election, but the majority of reports were even-handed.He said mass circulation Bild had apparently tried to whip up public fears against Schroeder’s bid to woo a relatively small number of ethnic Turkish voters who live in Germany.”It was an irresponsible attempt to drive undecided voters into Merkel’s camp by appealing to xenophobic sentiment against Turks living in Germany,” Erbring said of a page one headline in Bild, with 12 million readers, four days before the ballot.It asked: “Will the Turks decide the election?” WHIFF OF DICTATORSHIP? The government’s press office announced plans to hold a conference on the coverage entitled ‘Media and the election’ but dropped the idea in the face of criticism that such an investigation smacked of dictatorship.”It’s inconceivable for me how Schroeder could universally condemn all 70 000 journalists in Germany of being biased,” said Michael Konken, chairman of the German association of professional journalists (DJV).The Berlin chapter of the DJV said it would hold a conference called: ‘The fourth estate or the fourth election loser? The media and the election campaign’.Claus Leggewie, a political scientist at Giessen’s Centre for Media, also called the attacks ridiculous, noting Schroeder endured less critical coverage than his predecessor Helmut Kohl.”It’s the duty of journalists to cover the government critically and that’s exactly what the left-wing press did when his government made mistakes,” said Leggewie.Schroeder also said broadcast coverage had been “partisan”.Some commentators say the German broadcast media exposes itself to such broadsides because parties have an influence on networks and a say in appointing reporters with party membership cards to key posts.Erbring said publications that tend to lean to the left were especially critical of Schroeder, who has in the past largely ignored attacks from conservative media.”That’s evidently what triggered the outburst.There might have been a bit of a tabloid slant against him but in the past the slant mostly went his way.”- Nampa-Reuters