Dhe German Press Council has reprimanded the publisher of the “Berliner Zeitung”, Holger Friedrich, for violating Section 5 of the Press Code, which formulates the protection of informants. However, the Press Council rejected complaints about the publication of text messages by Springer CEO Döpfner in the “Zeit” and on Zeit.de as unfounded.
“Trust in the press damaged”
According to Section 5 of the press code, the press does not reveal informants without their express consent, the press council announced. As a publisher, Friedrich is “part of the press, regardless of whether he holds other business functions”. The members of the Complaints Committee are “the majority of the opinion” “that it is irrelevant whether the protection of informants was expressly agreed”. The “protection of whistleblowers” is “a central component of press freedom”. If “whistle-blowers cannot rely on this, trust in the press and its overall credibility will be damaged”.
Friedrich announced that he had been offered internal Springer material by the former “Bild” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt. He destroyed it and informed Springer about it. Reichelt had denied having offered internal Springer documents. However, this did not prevent the publisher from filing a complaint against him for alleged “fraud” a little later. In the legal dispute before the labor court, too, Springer cited the publisher Friedrich as a witness for alleged violations by Reichelt of his termination agreement. Springer demands 2.2 million euros from Reichelt. Reichelt’s lawyer Ben Irle rejected all allegations and called Friedrich’s statements demonstrably “untrue”. However, the publisher Friedrich from the German Press Council has now written in writing that he has betrayed an informant and violated a central principle of journalism.
“Overriding public interest”
The Press Council does not reprimand Die Zeit. According to Section 8 of the Press Code, there is an overriding public interest in the content of the messages sent by the Springer boss to executives. The members of the complaints committee had agreed that the passages published by “Zeit” contained “political and journalistic-editorial assessments that Döpfner wrote as CEO and publisher of one of the largest media houses in Europe”. “There is a public interest in his way of thinking and his world view”. In part, “the news also linked to the public discussion about the dismissal of the former editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt”. Also relevant is “the contradiction between Döpfner’s role as CEO and publisher and his statements published by “Zeit”. The “documented attempts to influence reporting” are “in conflict with the ‘Code of Conduct’ of Springer-Verlag, which emphasizes editorial independence from management”. Three people complained about the publication of the chat messages. Cathrin Gilbert, co-author of the Zeit text, said: “We see our work as validated by the decision. The instructions and messages from Mathias Döpfner are of public interest and must and may be reported on. The decision of the press council is also groundbreaking for future reporting.”
The chat messages, behind which Springer is likely to suspect the former “Bild” boss Reichelt, had brought sharp criticism to Döpfner. Especially his statement about the supposedly lacking democratic attitude of the East Germans: “The ossis are either communists or fascists. In between they don’t. Disgusting,” read one quote. And: “The ossis will never become democrats. Perhaps the former GDR should be turned into an agricultural and production zone with a standard wage.”
Döpfner also made negative comments about the former Chancellor Angela Merkel (“the nail in the coffin of democracy”) and asked for journalistic support for the FDP. In an internal memo and in the “Bild am Sonntag” he apologized for his words. According to the internal memo, he “of course has no prejudices whatsoever against people from East Germany”. However, he has been “disappointed and concerned for decades that not a few voters in the new federal states have swung from the far left to the far right. The success of the AFD worries me.”
