CSU media affair 2012

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The CSU media affair began with an allegation of attempted influence against the CSU press spokesman Hans Michael Strepp on the programming of various newsrooms in October 2012. Strepp - previously active as a public prosecutor and judge - denied the allegation, but resigned shortly afterwards. Subsequently, allegations were made against Markus Söder and his spokeswoman Ulrike Strauss.

The Strepp case

In October 2012, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that the CSU spokesman, Hans Michael Strepp, had called several media outlets to prevent a report on the state party conference of the Bavarian SPD. At the SPD party congress, the mayor of Munich, Christian Ude, was elected as the SPD's top candidate for the 2013 state election. In particular, Strepp called the ZDF-heute editorial team and announced “discussions” if ZDF was to report on the party conference. Previously, he had already contacted other people such as the head of the ZDF regional studio , Ulrich Berls , and the head of the main news department, Elmar Theveßen , and tried to influence the reporting. In addition, the head of the ARD capital studio , Ulrich Deppendorf , said that on the same day Strepp also sent a text message to a political editor sent to Berlin by the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation to inquire about ARD's plans to report on the state party conference of the SPD Bavaria . From this, Strepp had drawn the - ultimately wrong - conclusion that they were not planning any reports on the party congress. According to the reports, the ZDF editorial staff said they were surprised by the call and described it as a clear attempt to influence the station's independent reporting. The intention of the call was clear.

In the subsequent flare-up affair, Strepp's statement of the “discussions” was seen as particularly problematic. Strepps direct superiors, Horst Seehofer and Alexander Dobrindt are members of ZDF committees; Horst Seehofer on the ZDF board of directors and CSU general secretary Alexander Dobrindt on the ZDF television council, which monitors compliance with the program guidelines, and its chief editor-in-chief, which is responsible for the news programs in particular. Strepp admitted the call, but denied having tried to influence the reporting, which was not possible with the well-known objective reporting of the station. The day after the report, Strepp resigned as CSU spokesman. His successor was Jürgen Fischer. The Bavarian state parliament discussed the process in a special session. The SPD decided not to set up a committee of inquiry, which meant that no one came into being.

More allegations

Then it was reported that the spokeswoman for the then Environment Minister Markus Söder , Ulrike Strauss, had criticized a report on Bayerischer Rundfunk in March 2011 that contained statements from Söder about the Fukushima nuclear disaster . Strauss stated that she had found the report “not appropriate for journalistic and technical reasons”. The post was later replaced by another. Bayerischer Rundfunk stated that there was no connection between the call and this decision. Rather, for reasons of topicality, the Bavarian government's change of course in nuclear policy was discussed instead of the contribution, whereby the opposition's criticism of Söder was given great weight. Thomas Hacker , spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group that governed Bavaria in coalition with the CSU, criticized the CSU acting “according to the motto: patronize, influence, harass”. The FDP state chairwoman Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger demanded that the process be fully explained.

At the beginning of November it was reported that the CSU finance minister and then a member of the ZDF television council , Markus Söder , had intervened several times in writing with the then ZDF director Markus Schächter between 2003 and 2007, according to Spiegel . In a letter dated April 11, 2006, for example, he complained that the ZDF had not dealt with the CSU in the reports on Matthias Platzeck's resignation and that the CSU quotes had not been included in the broadcast. Schächter replied that the Chancellor had been quoted, which represented the entire Union. Söder replied that Merkel, chairwoman of the CDU, did not speak for the CSU.

Söder's spokesman described his writing as a “normal process” and referred to Söder's membership in the ZDF television council , whose tasks also include advising on programming issues and monitoring guidelines. Söder took “these control and supervisory duties very seriously” and did not interfere with the station's editorial work. The Nürnberger Zeitung commented that Söder's complaint was not a threat, and as long as politicians controlled public media that were supposed to report critically on them, a potential conflict of interest could always be deduced.

Shortly afterwards, another intervention on the part of the CSU became known: The Bonner General-Anzeiger reported on a complaint from Söder's spokeswoman Ulrike Strauss to Focus Online in March 2010, after the news portal received a comment from the deputy news chief Harry Luck about power struggles in the CSU. Central had published, which highlighted Söder's position within the party. Strauss suggested a conversation with the participation of a superior of the author in order to "clear up misunderstandings".

Reactions

The case was widely covered in the media and sparked a discussion about the influence of officials or leading members of political parties on the media , freedom of the press in general and the behavior of the CSU towards the public. In particular, it was criticized that Strepp did not complain about a production that had already been broadcast, but tried to influence the coverage of the political opponent. Representatives of the other parties condemned Strepp's actions. The parliamentary group chairman of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen in the Bundestag , Jürgen Trittin , described it as "simply inconceivable that Strepp acted on his own and only once". He blamed Strepps superiors Dobrindt and Seehofer for the fact that the CSU confused the ZDF with a state broadcaster and drew a comparison with the understanding of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of the role of the media in a democracy. The parliamentary managing director of the SPD parliamentary group Thomas Oppermann said on October 24, 2012: "Horst Seehofer could have learned from the Christian Wulff case that the attempt to prevent unpleasant reporting must fail."

The CSU chairman Seehofer criticized the report of the Süddeutsche Zeitung as inaccurate. Influencing the media would also not correspond to the self-image of the CSU. Nevertheless, the media discussed the question of whether the call was an individual action by Strepp or whether it was commissioned by CSU General Secretary Alexander Dobrindt or CSU Chairman Seehofer. The reason for this was the unanimous assessment of Strepp by numerous media representatives, who had perceived Strepp as a level-headed and competent press spokesman. Dobrindt in particular was identified in many media as the mastermind behind the calls, after Seehofer urged clarification immediately after the circumstances became known and distanced himself from Strepp, especially since he worked closely with Strepp as the direct superior of Strepp. This was denied by Dobrindt after Strepp's resignation. He did not know about the call and if he did, he would have forbidden him to make such a call. Opposition politicians countered that it was unbelievable that Strepp had acted of his own accord.

The former ZDF editor-in-chief Nikolaus Brender said in an interview with Zeit Online that at the beginning of his term in office it was common for politicians to call ordinary editors to put pressure on the reporting. "At that time, for example, I found out by chance that the then CDU General Secretary Laurenz Meyer tried to prevent a report that was unpleasant to him by calling the editorial staff." "I then threatened the ZDF supervisory bodies, which are known to have numerous politicians, publish further calls. After that it was quiet. ”An extension of Brender's contract was rejected by the ZDF administrative board, which was mostly made up of Union politicians; In 2010, this led to debates about the political influence of public service broadcasting.

The ZDF's reaction was sometimes criticized as being exaggerated. The broadcaster artificially exaggerated the call in order to highlight its own independence. The Frankfurter Allgemeine quoted the audience question in a ZDF special broadcast about why the SPD party conference in Bavaria, but not the CDU in Rhineland-Palatinate, had been reported, and brought this in connection with the Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Kurt Beck , who is also chairman of the ZDF administrative board. The media also criticized the parties, in particular the governing parties, having too much influence on public service broadcasting, especially on ZDF. The Frankfurter Allgemeine described the events as “a nice campaign topic, a penalty kick, a model in the political opinion battle that cannot be left behind” and as a distraction from how political influence on the media really works.

Regarding Markus Söder , it was sometimes noted that he (only) did what belongs to the agendas of party politicians. Mike Schier wrote in his commentary in Münchner Merkur :

“It is time to make the hysterical debate a little more objective: Of course, it is not okay for a CSU spokesman to try to prevent a television report on the competition. (...) The fact that Markus Söder's spokeswoman complains about a report to a broadcaster is by no means dishonorable. (...) The call from the CSU spokesman at ZDF was a scandal. But in trying to keep the topic boiling, the opposition must not overshoot the mark. The Greens (...) themselves recently complained to our newspaper about a comment. This is your right. But it also applies to the CSU. "

Wilfried Scharnagl , the former editor-in-chief of Bayernkurier , the party newspaper of the CSU, considered the accusation of an attack on freedom of the press to be absurd.

Commentator Detlef Esslinger wrote in the Süddeutsche Zeitung :

“Calls from press spokespersons in editorial offices are of course legitimate. Anyone who hypothesizes such an attack on freedom of the press is silly. The assessment depends on the individual case: who called where and with what purpose? For example, there is absolutely nothing to be said against it if a speaker complains in an editorial office because a quote or the facts on which a comment is based are incorrect. [...] That was not what Söder's spokeswoman was about. She called the editorial office and the head of the BR news program Rundschau because she basically didn't like a report about her minister; because she had decided in her office that this contribution was "inappropriate". [...] The Rundschau and its boss have made less headway than other parts of the BR in their efforts to break away from the decades of clinging to the CSU. [...] In the Rundschau, Strauss did not have to expressly request that a contribution be removed from the program. On that day in March 2011, Strauss had achieved her goal without having to say it. To assume anything else would be naive. "

In mid-November 2012, Seehofer criticized the ZDF again and at the same time called for more transparency in the public media. “No politician should be deprived of the freedom to tell journalists where they were wrong. The ZDF has inflated the incident. ”The affair with the resignation of Strepp had personal consequences. The media magazine Horizont rejected this statement: Strepp was not reprimanded for a subsequent request to speak, but for obviously exerting influence on reporting that had not yet taken place. The personnel consequences are also limited, as Strepp has only resigned as party spokesman, but remains planning chief of the CSU. According to the Handelsblatt, he will remain one of the most important employees of CSU General Secretary Alexander Dobrindt and continue to hold a central management position in the CSU.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Controversial call in the "Today" editorial team - "Pathetic understanding of freedom of the press" . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , October 24, 2012.
  2. Lisa Sonnabend, Mike Szymanski and Beate Wild: CSU spokesman Strepp resigns. Opposition speaks of the "Seehofer case". In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. October 25, 2012
  3. Frey: "We don't know Mr. Strepp like that" ( Memento from February 6, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ). In: Zdf.de , October 25, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2012.
  4. For the time being, no committee of inquiry into the CSU media affair . In: Berliner Zeitung , October 29, 2012.
  5. Another editorial call from the CSU: Söder spokeswoman denies influence ( memento from October 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: Tagesschau (ARD) , October 28, 2012.
  6. CSU is under pressure to educate people in the media affair . In: Reuters , October 28, 2012.
  7. Influence of the media: CSU ministerial spokeswoman intervened with the BR . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , October 27, 2012.
  8. The CSU media affair is expanding ( memento of October 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: Stern , October 27, 2012.
  9. a b report: Söder demanded from ZDF - reporting on CSU . In: Der Tagesspiegel , November 4, 2012.
  10. ^ A b c Veit Medick : Media affair: Söder intervened several times with ZDF . In: Der Spiegel , November 3, 2012.
  11. ^ A b ZDF affair: Söder apparently intervened several times with ZDF . In: Handelsblatt , November 3, 2012.
  12. ^ "Covered by the guidelines": Söder put pressure on ZDF . In: n-tv , November 3, 2012.
  13. Stephan Sohr: Complaint is not a threat . In: Nürnberger Zeitung , November 4, 2012.
  14. Harry Luck: Comment: Spy thriller in the Seehofer office . In: Focus Online , March 9, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  15. Alexander Marinos: New allegations: CSU media affair is expanding . In: General-Anzeiger , November 6, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  16. CSU confuses ZDF with a state broadcaster , press release by the Bundestag faction of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen from October 26, 2012, accessed on December 21, 2012
  17. Controversial call in the "heute" editorial team: ZDF demands an explanation from the CSU spokesman . In: Spiegel Online , October 24, 2012.
  18. CSU spokesman resigns. Wanted: the man behind Strepp . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , October 25, 2012. Accessed November 21, 2012.
  19. Wanted: the man behind Strepp . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , October 25, 2012. Accessed November 21, 2012.
  20. Seehofer passes the buck to Dobrindt . In: Die Welt , October 25, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  21. CSU General Secretary Dobrindt comes into focus . In: Stern , October 26, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  22. CSU General Dobrindt. Seehofer's breakdown secretary . In: Der Spiegel , October 26, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  23. "I would not have allowed such a call" ( Memento from October 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: Tagesschau.de , October 26, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  24. Lisa Caspari: "Conservative politicians are more brazen than others". In: zeit.de. October 25, 2012
  25. Lorenz Maroldt: CSU fails by exerting influence on ZDF: How brave are the Mainzel men? In: Der Tagesspiegel , October 26, 2012.
  26. ^ A b Michael Hanfeld: The ZDF affair: Heroes at work . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , October 27, 2012
  27. Steffen Grimberg: Karlsruhe should end the influence of politics: politicians out . In: the daily newspaper , October 28, 2012.
  28. ^ Christian Bommarius: CSU spokesman Strepp ZDF: Influence from within, not from outside . In: Berliner Zeitung , October 25, 2012.
  29. Münchner Merkur of October 29, 2012, p. 2.
  30. Scharnagl: Accusation of an attack on freedom of the press is "absurd" . In: Deutschlandradio Kultur , October 27, 2012.
  31. Detlef Esslinger: The CSU's influence on the media: Just give us a call . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , October 29, 2012. Accessed November 14, 2012.
  32. CSU: Seehofer brings Strepp back and takes action against ZDF . In: Horizont (magazine) , November 19, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  33. Strepp remains planning chief of the CSU . In: Handelsblatt , November 19, 2012. Accessed November 21, 2012.