CDU politician sees “clear left-wing twist”: Maaßen calls for a test of sentiment for ARD journalists – politics

The CDU Bundestag candidate Hans-Georg Maaßen sharply criticized the media in Germany in a television interview. He focused on the public broadcasters and especially the ARD. He requested a character test for journalists from the ARD “Tagesschau” on the “TV Berlin” channel – and thus triggered sharp criticism.

“The North German Broadcasting Corporation is responsible for the ‘Tageschau'”, said the former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. “If you can see that there are also connections between the ‘Tagesschau’ or between people who work for public broadcasting and the ‘Tagesschau’ and the left and extreme left scene, then that would really be worth investigating,” said Maassen. He did not give any specific examples or allegations.

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Maaßen, who is running for the CDU in constituency 196 in southern Thuringia, is controversial because of his stance on the federal government’s refugee policy, among other things. Politicians from the SPD, the Greens and the Left have repeatedly accused the CDU of fishing with measures on the right.

In the interview, the CDU politician further demanded “that the biography of some editors should also be put to the test to see whether these people have the character traits that accompany the ‘Tagesschau’ through editorial work”.

Maaßen accused the public service broadcaster of a “clear left twist”. You can read that more than 90 percent of the ARD volunteers sympathized with links, red or green or red-green. In addition, more than 70 percent of journalists have a tendency to be left and green. It remained unclear here whether Maassen was referring to ARD only or to all journalists.

ARD does not deal directly with measures

ARD did not want to respond directly to Maassen’s accusation that journalists from the “Tageschau” had connections to the left or left-wing extremist scene, or to his request for a review of the ARD staff. At the request of the Tagesspiegel, Barbara Jung, as the press spokeswoman for the North German Broadcasting Corporation (NDR) currently responsible for ARD, only said: “The Tagesschau has high demands on objectivity and diligence in reporting. When selecting news, she strictly follows journalistic criteria. The Tagesschau thus stands for balanced, comprehensible and fact-based journalism ”.

Frank Überall, the federal chairman of the German Association of Journalists (DJV), had already spoken out on the Maaßen cause on Saturday. “Journalists with“ connections to the left-wing extremist scene ”in the @ tagesschau editorial team? What behaviorally original statements, Mr. @HGMaassen! Or do you have proof of this? @DJVde “wrote everywhere via Twitter.

Maaßen: manipulation of published opinion

There is a “manipulation of published opinion” in political reporting, Maaßen said. He no longer sees balanced reporting there. The State Treaty prescribes balanced reporting for public broadcasters. But there is a lack of sanction options such as fines or criminal proceedings.

In public broadcasting one can “ignore all regulations, it does not result in any sanctions”. And no one among the professional politicians wants to mess with the broadcasters for fear of getting into the focus, said Maaßen.