"There is a lack of spine in Germany," stated Ralf Schuler, the now-dismissed journalist of the German daily newspaper Bild-Zeitung, in an interview with Mandiner As head of the paper's parliamentary bureau, Schuler was one of the most important political journalists in Germany, but now he has resigned, accusing his publisher of enforcing ideological conformity.
When asked why he resigned, he replied:
The reason is because the Springer publishing house always states in public that it opposes thinking subordinated to ideology, but it itself, based on the company's strategic considerations, was obviously on the side of the rainbow movement.
Although Schuler is also on the side of democracy and the transatlantic alliance, and stands up for the right of the State of Israel to exist, he objects to the fact that not only a rainbow flag is flying in front of the publisher's headquarters, but as part of internal communication and the way employees are treated, such an atmosphere an atmosphere has emerged, based on which everyone must now stand firmly on the side of the LGBTQ movement.
According to the journalist, the publishing house must conform to a certain ideology.
In this regard, he mentioned that more and more of his colleagues are displaying the rainbow flag on their social media profiles and sharing their pictures taken at the Pride parade, but it is difficult to say how much of this is conviction or how much it is due to them just joining the queue. He added:
Journalism is not about supporting a particular social movement or standing firmly on the side of what was said at the time. Journalism always serves to look for the underlying cause of what is happening and, where appropriate, formulate a position that is contrary to them.
At the same time, Schuler also reported that the case is not unique, the compulsion to identify is widespread in the German media. He said that the trend came from America, where it became commonplace above all in the creative industry, from actors to various artists to journalists. According to Schuler, the economy is also adversely affected if they oppose the zeitgeist. In this connection, he mentioned that a large agency recently announced that the critical online publication Achse des Guten (Axis of the Good) should not receive any more advertisements because they represent "incorrect" positions.
This is exactly how the freedom of expression is endangered: if they try to use financial means to create a unanimous opinion
he said.
He added: Axel Springer has always opposed such phenomena, which is why he considers it sad that he now has to experience such trends in-house. The German journalist also reported on how his resignation was received. He said that the publisher's management insists that he continue to work until the end of the normal notice period, until March 2023, and he also reported broad support:
I have received hundreds of e-mails, text messages and phone calls, without exception, with a positive tone, in some cases even from very high-level active politicians. Even from people who might not be so clear in public.
He added: “They were happy that I stood up for my convictions. I was impressed that I received so many and such positive messages, which also showed that my step is only an exception, while we can increasingly observe a lack of backbone."
Source: Hungarian Nation
Photo: wikipedia
