Press Council reprimands “20 Minuten” and “Blick”
Published: Thursday, Nov 23rd 2023, 17:10
Updated At: Thursday, Nov 23rd 2023, 17:13
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The Press Council has approved two complaints against the media titles "20 Minuten" and "Blick". "20 Minuten" violated the duty to seek the truth, the duty to consult and privacy. "Blick" was reprimanded for violating the duty to seek the truth and the duty to correct.
"20 Minuten passed on false information that had been published in Spanish media without checking it, as the Press Council announced on Thursday. On June 10, 2022, the medium reported on an operation by the Neuchâtel police at the home of a Spanish citizen who is said to have brought her two children to Switzerland against the will of their father.
The editorial team should have verified this information, especially with the Swiss authorities, the Press Council wrote. Other media outlets had presented the case quite differently at the same time.
Furthermore, according to the Press Council, the editorial team should have sought the mother's opinion due to the seriousness of the allegations. "20 Minuten" also violated the mother's privacy by publishing her full identity and picture. According to the Press Council, "20 Minuten" had no "relevant reason" for this.
According to the Press Council, the publication of the picture also violated the special duty to protect children - even if they were only blurred.
"Precision is important for a global event"
According to the Press Council, "Blick" violated the Code of Journalism in the article "Worldwide exit from nuclear phase-out" from March 13, 2023, in which the medium wrote in connection with the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, that 20,000 people died due to a "nuclear disaster". However, it was correct that the people died because of the tsunami triggered by the Tohoku earthquake.
In an event that made headlines around the world, precision is imperative, wrote the Press Council. The facts have to be right for such important and controversial topics. This is important for the article itself and the entire discussion.
The Press Council also reprimanded "Blick" for not publishing a correction in the article in the print edition. Although "Blick" noticed the error after a few hours and corrected it online, it did not publish a correction in the paper edition. According to the Press Council, this would have been mandatory.
Confronting the teacher with accusations
The Press Council has partially approved a complaint against two articles written in French in "Blick" and the "Tribune de Genève" on 18 May 2022. The articles referred to a Geneva teacher who was reinstated after a year's suspension. She had allegedly made a Nazi salute in class.
The Press Council criticized the fact that the teacher was not given a chance to speak in the article. The media should have confronted the teacher with the serious accusations of Nazi sympathy. Furthermore, the facts presented in the article were not sufficiently substantiated with several sources, it said.
However, contrary to the complaint, the teacher's privacy was respected, according to the Press Council. Only the name of the school and the date of her return to teaching were mentioned.
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