Der Spiegel's ivory tower
Germany's most prestigious newspaper's reputation has taken a hit in recent years.
1. Der Spiegel’s ivory tower
It’s just over two years since Germany’s most influential political magazine was caught in the biggest scandal to have hit journalism in years. But it doesn’t seem like Der Spiegel really meant its promise to be more humble in the wake of its star journalist making up prize-winning reportage upon prize-winning reportage.
A bit of self-reflection would have been appropriate. After all, Claas Relotius managed to get away with writing fiction disguised as journalism for years because his thrilling stories stroked the prejudices of the magazine’s editorial board.
The first signal that nothing much had changed behind the scenes came last summer, when their US correspondent wrote a bizarre article in which he announced that he’d no longer report objectively. Former US president Trump was such a liar that untruth had to be fought with untruth… or at least we assume that’s what this garbled obituary to neutral news reporting was trying to say.
Now they’ve done it again. In an interview with the country’s most influential virologist, Dr. Christian Drosten, the magazine demanded that he denounce two prominent colleagues.
"Over the past year experts like Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit and Hendrik Streeck, who’ve repeatedly argued against scientifically-sound measures, have probably done more damage than corona deniers,” the interviewers told Dr. Drosten.
“We often hear them say that the priority has to be to protect risk groups. But it has long been clear that this doesn’t work when the infection rate is high. When are you going to explode?" they demanded to know.
Dr. Drosten didn’t take the bait, instead questioning why they were trying to lure him into an ad hominem attack.
But the bizarre assertion that the public utterances of qualified scientists have been “more damaging” than the rants of conspiracy theorists led to a stinging backlash.
Alexander Kekulé, another leading virologist, called Spiegel's attack “a defamation” that was aimed at suppressing serious debate.
Bild Zeitung, Spiegel’s Endgegner in the circulation battle, spotted its chance for a kill. Asked by the tabloid to provide evidence of when Drs Streeck and Schmidt-Chanasit had made unscientific pronouncements, der Spiegel couldn’t come up with a single example - but still refused to back down.
The lesson the storied magazine should have learned from the Relotius scandal: when an editorial board is so puffed up on its own self-importance that it can no longer tell the difference between fact and fiction, something very wrong has happened. Now we have definitive proof: the glitzy offices on the Hamburg waterfront might look like they're made of glass, in fact they’re wrought from ivory.
J.L.
2. Mr Ramelow’s secret crush
One would think that years of secret surveillance by Germany’s domestic spy service would have given Thuringian minister president Bodo Ramelow a sixth sense for when someone might be eavesdropping on him.
But the politician from the left-wing Linke Partei, who in 2012 won a court case against the invasive - and seemingly baseless - surveillance by German spooks, could still learn a bit of tact when it comes to discussing his private gaming habits.
While chatting with the youth wing of the Social Democrats on the new social media platform Clubhouse, Mr Ramelow apparently confided that he’d completed 10 levels of Candy Crush during a Ministerpräsidentenkonferenz - the meetings between Angela Merkel and the state leaders at which lockdown measures are thrashed out.
The user conditions of Clubhouse state that the conversation is only allowed to be recorded or quoted with the consent of the participants. Unfortunately for Mr Ramelow, a journalist for Die Welt decided that public interest trumped the app's user conditions. The next day his gaming habits - and his reference to the Chancellor as “das Merckelchen” (little Merkel) - were all over the national press.
Mr Ramelow has since said that his comments were taken out of context. The lockdown talks dragged on over hours; he would play the addictive smartphone game during breaks “in order to get a clear head”, he explained.
But it's not just opponents who’ve seen fit to comment. His own interior minister, Georg Maier, said his boss should “reconsider his behaviour” adding that “the situation is too serious” for a sly bit of gaming.
The Ministerpräsidentenkonferenzen were already controversial, with critics complaining that the executive get-together has neutered state parliaments.
The liberal Free Democrats said Mr Ramelow’s comments “show what level of discussion there is in these bloated meetings” and that it was “completely unacceptable that the functions of the parliaments have been transferred to this backroom assembly.”
The Thuringian state leader’s popularity is partly based on the fact that he speaks his mind. When he gave an AfD politician the middle finger during a debate last year he probably didn’t do his reputation any harm. This latest slip up may be rather more damaging.
J.L.
3. Beating the Landesvater
Fans of state elections are in for a treat in 2021. Alongside the federal election in September, six states are voting for new legislatures - a fact that has led to an inevitable Americanization. It’s a Superwahljahr!
First up are elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Pfalz on March 14th. The former is particularly enticing, not least because the CDU are getting a dose of their own medicine. Used to leaving the Social Democrats to attack a government they've been involved in as the junior partner, the CDU now find themselves as the side kick to the Greens in Baden-Württemberg.
Having to convince voters that the larger party in the government is doing everything wrong, while your less visible ministers are getting it right is no easy task. And it is only made harder by the fact that the paternal state leader Winfried Kretschmann is one of the most beloved politicians in the land.
It will also be new CDU leader Armin Laschet’s first chance to persuade fans of his beaten opponent Friedrich Merz that he can stand up for family businesses. Merz was the candidate of choice in Baden-Württemberg, the home of the famed German Mittelstand, medium-sized enterprises which have managed to compete on global markets in sectors such as machine building. Mr Merz’s popularity was grounded in a growing fear that Germany’s status as Exportweltmeister is being eroded by over-regulation from Berlin.
Speaking to the local party conference on Sunday, Laschet tried to reassure them he was an industry-friendly guy. “Businesses don’t want subsidies, they simply want to be left in peace,” he said.
If he and state CDU leader Susanne Eisenmann pull off an unlikely victory over the Greens in March then they’ll have to be greener than Kretschmann and schwärzer than Merz. If they pull that off, their chances at the federal election would seem very rosy indeed.
J.L.
Like what you’re reading? German current affairs and news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to get the Hochhaus newsletter:
Who we are:
Jörg Luyken: Journalist based in Berlin since 2014. His work has been published by German and English outlets including der Spiegel, die Welt, the Daily Telegraph. Formerly in the Middle East. Classicist; Masters in International Politics & Arabic from St Andrews.
Axel Bard Bringéus: Started his career as a journalist for the leading Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet and has spent the last decade in senior roles at Spotify and as a venture capital investor. In Berlin since 2011