Presserat rügt sensational representation of violence and violations of personal privacy
In a subsequent meeting on July 1, 2024, the German Press Council issued three reprimands.
The Deutsche Presserat reprimanded BILD.DE for a violation of Section 8, Guideline 8.1 of the press code for an article titled „Abuse! Teacher escorted during school break“. The article reported on the arrest of a PE teacher at a community school. Although the photo of the teacher was covered with a large eye bar, the suspect was clearly identifiable through information about his person and the circumstances – first name, abbreviated last name, age, name of the town, and the school – without any justified public interest.
BILD.DE received a reprimand for publishing an unedited portrait photo of a woman who fell victim to a homicide. Under the headline „Neuschwanstein Killer blames his victims“, the article was about a trial against a man accused of luring two young women into an ambush and raping and killing one of them. According to Section 8, Guideline 8.2, the editorial staff should have obtained permission from the victim’s relatives before publishing the photo of the deceased.
BILD.DE received a reprimand for publishing a mobile video showing a 12-year-old boy choking and repeatedly punching his classmate in the face. The Press Council considered the detailed scenes to be an inappropriately sensational representation according to Section 11 of the press code, as they made the victim a humiliated victim for the second time. The shown clips also violated the personal privacy of the underage suspect because his face was clearly identifiable unlike the victim’s. However, there was no public interest in his identity according to Section 8, Guideline 8.1 of the press code.
Statistics:
- 3 public reprimands,
- 7 disapprovals, and
- 8 notices.
15 complaints were considered unfounded. One complaint was justified, but no action was taken. In total, 34 complaints were addressed.
A list of the current reprimands can be found on our website:
https://www.presserat.de/ruegen-presse-uebersicht.html#2024
About the press code:
https://www.presserat.de/pressekodex.html
Contact person for the press:
Sonja Volkmann-Schluck
Referentin Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
DEUTSCHER PRESSERAT
Fritschestraße 27-28, 10585 Berlin
Tel.: 030/367007-19
Fax: 030/367007-20
volkmann-schluck@presserat.de
www.presserat.de
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