Christoph Maria Fröhder

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Christoph Maria Fröhder (born September 23, 1942 in Fulda ) is a German investigative journalist , crisis reporter and foreign correspondent .

Life and professional development

Christoph Maria Fröhder studied at the University of Tübingen. He began his journalistic career with an internship at the Stuttgarter Zeitung . In 1965 he went to Wiesbaden for three years as the state correspondent for Hessischer Rundfunk , radio division . Since 1969 the journalist has repeatedly worked as a freelance correspondent abroad. a. in Vietnam , Afghanistan and Angola . In 1975, Fröhder was the only western television journalist to stay when the Khmer Rouge invaded Phnom Penh . He later smuggled his footage out of Cambodia in a false plaster corset .

In the 1980s, Fröhder mainly shot features and political documentaries for ARD , among others. a. about corruption in the nuclear industry . In the " Transnuklear case ", contaminated material was bribed to Belgium and dumped in the open.

In the 1990s he reported again from crisis and war zones, for example during the Gulf War in 1991 and the Iraq War in Baghdad in 2003 . In 1991 he was one of the few journalists who stayed in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. In 1992 he was beaten up by Serb soldiers while filming . Fröhder does not call himself a war reporter, but a crisis reporter: for him, political aspects are decisive, not the adventure value.

Memberships

Fröhder is a founding member of the research network for investigative journalism and has served on the board several times.

Prizes and awards

Criticism of television journalism, especially ARD

In a "symbolic resignation", which he wanted to be understood as a signal to younger colleagues, Fröhder accused " Tagesschau (ARD) " and " Tagesthemen " in particular for an inadequate journalistic environment: "structural agents" in the administration would "stifle" good journalism. Fröhder repeated well-known points of criticism: "It's mostly not about journalism or quality, it's just about power"; Career structures and competition between the ARD broadcasters ("small states") prevented a meaningful division of work between correspondent and reporter. In addition to linguistic "dilapidation", Fröhder noted quality defects as a result of structural problems. In this way, “apparently relevant facts are put together instead of questioning them”. External image material is not examined critically enough, there is a risk of being instrumentalized.

In another interview with Radio Eins , he explained the conditions under which meaningful crisis reporting would be possible in the age of the Internet. The main problem is the lack of independent research on site and of teams that work investigatively with the support of the editorial team instead of sorting material.

As early as 2011, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of " Panorama " , Fröhder had criticized that a "new, smooth generation of executives" was currently active in the network, "for whom peace with politics is more important than explosive revelation".

In an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau in 2011, he explained that in addition to a lack of financial resources, manipulation, embedding, a lack of professional training and support, and self-themed tabloidization, the political and professional attitudes of many journalists are problematic: the public broadcasters have no editorial teams "politically handpicked journalists" who considered subtle reports dangerous and lighter reports more sympathetic, "because they don't cause trouble". Then there is the "depoliticization of the next generation".

Fonts

  • A picture of the war. My days in Baghdad , Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-455-09419-8 .

Reviews

Hendrik Schmidt attests to Fröhder in his review that he has achieved something amazing. “For the interested reader it provides an excitingly written insight into the everyday life of a reporter during a war, and for journalists he presents instructions for the practice of crisis reporting as well as ethics for reporting under censorship conditions. Last but not least, he serves the media critics. Because what the author presents on the basis of practical examples about cumbersome decision-making structures and processes in the ARD can revive the debate about structural weaknesses in the public service community program. " Alexandra Senfft (FAZ) states that Fröhder laments the research deficiencies of the" moderator type "," the hardly leaves the press center and reports of a war, the events of which he learns about by fax from the home office ”. As the typical "lone fighter", Fröhder also criticizes the competition among colleagues. Basically, he doubts television as a medium for critical or even investigative reporting. The review by Deutsche Welle points out that Fröhder's publication offers rare insights into the otherwise closed section of the media business, which remains worth reading regardless of the topicality of the Iraq war.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ CORRUPTION: Happy nights . In: Der Spiegel . No. 30 , 1987 ( online ).
  2. ↑ a b Alexandra Senfft: How to make a bed, that's how you lie - review in the FAZ from September 15, 2003
  3. ↑ http://www.hanns-joachim-friedrichs.de/index.php/laudatio-1997.html
  4. ^ Colleagues scolding: ARD man Fröhder castigates "Tagesschau" and "Tagesthemen" - Spiegel, February 8, 2015
  5. ↑ http://www.wwwagner.tv/?p=26836
  6. ↑ Claudia Tieschky: So beautifully dramatic - ARD political magazine "Panorama" turns 50 - SZ, May 24, 2011
  7. ↑ Andreas Schwarzkopf: The offspring is apolitical - BLZ, March 8, 2011 - also published in the Dumont network under REPORTER CHRISTOPH MARIA FRÖHDER IN AN INTERVIEW: The offspring is apolitical - FRI , March 7, 2011
  8. ↑ Hendrik Schmidt: Wherever they are, politics has failed - BLZ, June 19, 2003
  9. ^ Diaries from Baghdad - Qantara.de , August 20, 2003

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Fröhder, Christoph Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist and foreign correspondent
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Fulda