SonntagsZeitung may call Daniele Ganser a conspiracy theorist
The SonntagsZeitung has called Daniele Ganser a conspiracy theorist. Is it allowed to do that? Yes, if it adheres to the journalists' code, says the Swiss Press Council. That's what the authors did, even if they made it quite easy for themselves.
On March 11, 2018, the SonntagsZeitung about an event in Basel at which four "conspiracy theorists" had appeared, among them the historian Daniele Ganser. A public complaint to the Press Council claimed that Ganser had been defamed as a conspiracy theorist in the article and that statements had been put into his mouth that Ganser had not made. In addition, Ganser's pictures of the moon landing and of vapor trails were used in connection with "completely different, very controversial topics," according to the complainant.
The Press Council now writes in a press release: It is not its task to judge whether Daniele Ganser is a conspiracy theorist or not. It has to judge whether the SonntagsZeitung adhered to the journalists' code of conduct. It had done so by allowing an expert to speak at length. The expert explains in the article what is typical for conspiracy theorists and why Ganser belongs to them. However, the journalists only rely on this one expert, which is somewhat meager. Moreover, they did not question Ganser about the accusation. But at least they have reproduced one of his most important arguments: He only asks questions, Ganser says again and again.
The Press Council was ultimately unable to establish that the SonntagsZeitung Ganser would have put false statements into the mouth. And the pictures of the moon landing and the contrail belong to a listicle on the same double page. This would also be about conspiracy theories, but the pictures were optically clearly separated from the article about Ganser.
