The Southgerman newspaper did not violate the journalistic principles of the German Press Council with its articles about the leaflet affair of the Bavarian Minister of Economics Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters). The Press Council decided and publicly declared this on December 5, 2023, and the SZ reported on it that day. The Press Council’s detailed justification for some of the rejected complaints is now available. You can read in detail why the Press Council made such decisions in these cases. The SZ documents this justification at sz.de/presserat. There is further justification for the remaining rejected complaints. The Press Council has rejected all complaints.
The Press Council is a voluntary self-regulation of the printed media in Germany and their online presence. The Press Council is supported by the two major publishers’ associations and the two journalists’ unions in Germany. How this self-control works in detail is below www.presserat.de readable. Anyone who believes they have cause to complain about newspaper articles can contact the Press Council. This then checks whether the contributions in question are against the Press Code violated, which can be found on the Press Council’s website. The Press Code is an ethical standard for journalism.
The allegations were in blatant contradiction to Aiwanger’s offices
The Press Council received a total of 18 complaints about SZ reporting on the Aiwanger case. The SZ was accused of violating the provisions of the press code, such as protection of personality and the presumption of innocence. The Press Council has looked into this in detail and now explains in its first justification why the SZ complied with the press code.
In its first justification, the Press Council writes that there was “significant public interest” in the published suspicion that Aiwanger had written an anti-Semitic leaflet in his youth. The allegations were in blatant contradiction to Aiwanger’s positions as Economics Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Bavaria. Aiwanger was not yet of legal age at the time the allegations related. However, the allegations were so serious “that his protection of personality had to take a back seat to the public interest in accordance with Section 8 of the Press Code.” This is the first paragraph of the justification, which is followed by ten further paragraphs.
The complaints dealt with in the Press Council committee concerned the articles “Aiwanger is said to have written an anti-Semitic leaflet as a student”, “The Auschwitz Pamphlet” as well as “Lies, Silence, Hiding” and “Söder’s Dilemma” in the South German newspaper or on sueddeutsche.de. They were published between August 25th and 28th, 2023. According to the Press Council, the justification now available concerns the first two articles mentioned.