Status: 08/31/2022 18:04
For a good week there have been publications in various media allegations against the political reporting of the NDR Schleswig-Holstein. Two employees have now been released from office until the facts have been clarified.
The director of the Landesfunkhaus Volker Thormählen informed the employees at a short-notice video conference that the editor-in-chief and former head of the television division, Norbert Lorentzen, and the head of the cross-media department for politics and investigation, Julia Stein, were released from their duties until further notice. That’s what the two executives asked him for, he told the dpa news agency a little later. He had complied with the request and thanked the two for the step. Thormählen emphasized that the presumption of innocence applies. The posts of Lorentzen and Stein are temporarily taken over by the deputy director and editor-in-chief Bettina Freitag and editor Andreas Schmidt from the “Politics and Investigation” department.
New allegations against NDR in Kiel
The case revolves around allegations in connection with political reporting by the state radio station NDR Schleswig-Holstein (NDR SH). In the past few days, the online medium “Business Insider” and then “Stern” had reported allegations that there could be a kind of filter by the superiors in the editorial office. For example, it was about an interview that an NDR journalist wanted to conduct, but his superiors refused. Lorentzen and the NDR had rejected the allegation of political influence. Today new allegations of the “Stern” were published.
State Radio Council has initiated an examination
The independent Landesrundfunkrat Schleswig-Holstein had already initiated an examination after the first allegations. At a special session on Monday, it was decided that there should be an objective and comprehensive review. According to the chairwoman Laura Pooth, a concept is first being worked on as to how the allegations should be checked. That is a very big responsibility.
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