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Germany: NDR employees raise serious allegations against their broadcaster


Keel - The pressure on the NDR is growing. 72 employees of the public broadcaster have made serious allegations against their bosses in a fire letter and are demanding complete clarification, the letter is in front of Stern. The background is the accusation by the journalists against their superiors that they are not allowed to report impartially.

The Schleswig-Holstein State Broadcasting Council is now launching an independent review of the allegations. “We, as the sole responsible control body, will carry out this check and, where necessary, call in external expertise. We take the allegations made very seriously," emphasized the State Broadcasting Council after a special session.

The allegations weigh heavily: the state government, in particular Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU), was deliberately protected by benevolent reporting. For example, the NDR did not report on a drunk driving accident involving the former CDU MP Hans-Jörn Arp. Arp had rammed two cars in 2019 with 1.6 per thousand intus. He was considered a close confidant of Schleswig-Holstein's Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU).

NDR bosses declare themselves biased
"For me, the extent is frightening," said MEP Patrick Breyer (Pirate Party) in Stern. If the NDR is "a propaganda department or the government's court reporter," it really loses its right to exist. It's a "much bigger scandal than wasting public money trying to gain personal gain," Breyer continued.

The NDR rejected the allegations. There is no lack of distance and there has been no "politically motivated influence" on the reporting. NDR editor-in-chief Norbert Lorentzen and the editor-in-chief of “Politics and Research”, Julia Stein, have meanwhile declared themselves biased in the matter. From now on, they will no longer accept posts that deal with the allegations against the broadcaster.

The German Association of Journalists (DJV) North has also called for the unreserved clarification of the allegations against the leadership of the NDR state radio station in Kiel. The impression created alone is a shame for the broadcaster, whose capital is the trust in independent quality journalism, the association announced on Tuesday. The DJV Nord welcomes the commitment of the NDR state broadcasting council to ensure such clarification.

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