Supporting irrational fears and clichés
The rape and murder of the student in Freiburg was stirring and shocking from the day on it became known. When her presumed murderer was arrested, the discussion got even more fervid than it was before: it was a unaccompanied, minor refugee. One topic of this discussion was the Tagesschau’s decision not to report about the arrest. Just to note: This decision was an absurdity. This case kept the people in Germany occupied for weeks. And the motivation that it was a „regional thing“ is even more absurd.
But what bothered me most concerning this case was the news coverage in German television. Of course you have to mention who the offender was; it’s part of the case. But there also should have more often been a sentence like: „It does not matter, where the offender comes from.” Because it is completely irrelevant if he was a refugee, a German, a tourist or whatever. I’m sorry for the word choice, but there are arseholes in every culture, every country, every city. Not to say clearly and precisely that it does not matter where the offender comes from supports the irrational fears and clichés that have been expressed consistently by the so called „concerned citizens“ and the members of some political parties, the „Alternative für Deutschland“ (AfD) for example. And, furthermore, it encourages this populist party. That mistake was repeated in the news coverage about the security model for the upcoming night of New Year’s Eve in Cologne. There was often a retrospection on last year’s party around Cologne’s cathedral and sentences like: „Women were molested; many of the offenders were refugees from North Africa.“ (Here the link to a video of ARD’s Mittagsmagazin. The word choice in this broadcast is even more awful: http://www.ardmediathek.de/tv/Mittagsmagazin/Die-Sendung-vom-12-Dezember-2016/Das-Erste/Video?bcastId=314636&documentId=39464882. The host says something about immigrants who were “hunting women”.) Subclauses like these also support these irrational fears and clichés that all refugees are rapists. The offender‘s nationality or origin is completely irrelevant. In this case, they should not have been mentioned at all. I would have wished more circumspection on the part of the German television. Parties like the AfD are dangerous and do not need even more support by imprudent news coverage.
Closing, I want to bring up the irony in the news coverage of the Bild Zeitung concerning these cases. On 7th December, Tim Wolff, who works for the satirical Titanic-Magazin, posted a collage on Facebook that catches that irony quite well:
Note: Facebook deleted this photo for a few days, because it shows breasts. Shortly before, Wolff posted on his Facebook profile: Wenn Facebook den Post jetzt noch löscht, weil darin eine nackte Frauenbrust zu sehen ist, dann ist die Idiotie des Sexismus komplett abgebildet.
( https://www.facebook.com/tim.wolff.773/posts/1341548809231454?pnref=story)
Again, a well-catching statement. At this point, one could talk about why Facebook is deleting pictures showing breasts instead of populist, inhuman, homophobic or any other way awful postings, but this shall be part of another entry.
