Press Council: Blick and Sonntagsblick violate duty to tell the truth
Blick and Sonntagsblick did not take the truth too seriously when reporting on cases of measles in the environment of the Organic Christ Generation. They gave the impression that the infections occurred because of the sinister cult fair.
In April of this year, both newspapers reported that six children of a family had been infected during a church service. This alone did not violate the duty to tell the truth, even if the connection could not be directly proven, the Press Council found in a statement.
He had written it on the basis of a complaint from the leader of the Organic Christ Generation.
However, Blick and Sonntagsblick went too far by suggesting to the readership that the measles infection had something to do with the sinister content of the sectarian fair, as the Press Council noted in its statement published on Friday. In addition, at the request of the complainant, Blick would have been obliged to correct this inaccurate factual representation.
The Press Council also found that the two newspapers made the family concerned recognizable beyond their immediate social environment. However, the prerequisites for identifying reporting were not met, according to the statement.
The prohibition of discrimination, on the other hand, has not been violated by the designations Sektenguru and Sekten-Messe, since religion and sect experts do not see the Organic Christ Generation as merely an alternative religious community. Blick and Sonntagsblick may base their reports on this critical image, writes the Press Council. (SDA)
