At the beginning of December, an episode of Böhmermann's “ZDF Magazin Royale” was removed from the internet by decision of the television board. Now, individual commission members are calling for the program to be reviewed again.
Of course, Jan Böhmermann is used to criticism and threats of legal action. However, at the beginning of December, the ZDF television board reacted in an unusual way to this and subsequently removed an episode of its program “ZDF Magazin Royal”, from September 8 of this year, from the media library. The aforementioned issue of the magazine dealt with conspiracy theories, harmful forms of therapy and supposed occult sects; Böhmermann called this “ritual violence.” It was also about the systematic sexual abuse of children and young people.
The Independent Commission for Understanding Child Sexual Abuse, among others, lodged a complaint about the program with the broadcaster. The issue shows a “lack of differentiation”, quotes “Spiegel” from the complaint, and promotes public opinion against people affected by sexual violence.
At the fourth meeting of the ZDF television board this year, at the beginning of the month, there was extensive debate about the episode. With a narrow majority, members decided to agree with one of the complaints. The episode was removed, an exceptionally drastic step.
Emotions take center stage
A representative of the German Association of Journalists (DJV) criticized the committee's decision at the time: “The discussion was only secondary to ZDF's programming principles. Instead, the focus was on the emotional impact of Böhmermann's contribution on those affected. The (narrow) majority considered them more important than freedom of satire.”
Now the ZDF television board members are following suit. According to “Spiegel”, four members ask that the program's complaint be dealt with again at the next meeting in March 2024, including vice-presidents Christoph Becker and Katrin Kroemer. This is the result of a request addressed to the president of the commission, Marlehn Thieme.
The letter criticizes, for example, the fact that it is not the television council's task to “decide on the suitability of themes, such as satire”. This is protected by freedom of broadcasting. The board can only verify compliance with program guidelines. External circumstances would also have made voting more difficult, with some members unable to travel due to a railway strike. No digital voting tool was used. These council members also share the opinion of the journalists' association, according to which a decision by the television council must “comply with the guidelines and be based on facts and not on emotional reactions”. (Evdin)
>> Report in “Spiegel”