Press Council reprimands Weltwoche for US election coverage

The Press Council complaint was triggered by a Nov. 19, 2020, article titled "Stop the Theft!" In this article, the lead stated that "apparently masses of ballots had turned up", 100 percent of which had gone to Joe Biden.

A reader contacted the Press Council because the alleged "election falsifications" were false and unconfirmed at the time of publication.

The Weltwoche defended itself with the argument that this was not a statement of fact. After all, the text contained the word "apparently". The readers could therefore easily have recognized that it was a reproduction of allegations that had not been confirmed.

In this respect, the Press Council is of the same opinion as the Weltwoche. The word "apparently" had been used in the lead and in the introductory sentence. However, he is bothered by the sentence "Not even Saddam Hussein falsified so brazenly."

Thus, the allegation of electoral fraud is presented as fact after all, which is not admissible. The Weltwoche had thus violated section 3 (processing of sources) of the "Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Journalists". (SDA)