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Moments in TV history
Shut down. When Margarethe Schreinemakers disappeared from the scene
Margarethe Schreinemakers in the seconds before she took her station Sat.1 off the network.
© Photo report SAT.1/ / Picture Alliance
It was an outrageous event on German television: In order to prevent Margarethe Schreinemakers from commenting on a private tax matter, Sat.1 quickly cut off its presenter.
“Now the moment has come that many of you have certainly been waiting for. And I can guarantee you, probably even more so.”: With these words Margarethe Schreinemakers announced on August 22, 1996 in her Sat.1- Show “Schreinemakers live” addresses a topic that is very close to her heart. But before she can address it, she suddenly disappears from the scene.
At that time it was political reasons that led to the demolition. And this time? Sat.1 journalist Ulrich Meyer, who is now live, provides information about this, providing a “situation report” and referring to Schreinemaker’s dispute with the German tax authorities. At the time, the presenter was under investigation on suspicion of tax evasion. Schreinemakers saw himself as an innocent suspect and suspected an act of revenge by the then Finance Minister Theo Waigel. His former wife had recently appeared on her show and also talked about the divorce.
Margarethe Schreinemakers has announced statements
And so she announces in advance that she will comment on the matter in her broadcast. But she doesn’t get the opportunity to explain her point of view. Ulrich Meyer now has the floor, and he dutifully reads out the broadcaster’s statement: “The broadcaster generally does not interfere in the tax matters of the presenters,” it says. “Another question, however, is whether the moderators should be given a forum to discuss their own issues in the programs they create themselves.”
“‘We are of the opinion that a presenter cannot and must not make this topic the subject of the broadcast,'” Meyer quoted the Sat.1 management as saying. “This contradicts the journalistic principle of not using one’s own medium for personal interests.”
At the same time, Meyer promises on behalf of Sat.1 that “Schreinemakers live” will be broadcast again on a regular basis next week. The station keeps its word: the show will continue until the end of the year.
Even though Margarethe Schreinemakers lost out in the conflict with Sat.1, she emerged as the winner in the long term: the investigation was closed in 1998 and the presenter has since worked for numerous broadcasters, including RTL and ARD.