2023-09-18 18:40:37
Attitude journalism
ZDF journalist cries in climate report – “necessary distance is missing”
In a ZDF report on a climate demonstration, a journalist becomes emotional because a girl expresses fear for her future. The station is receiving criticism for this because it lacks journalistic distance.
Published18. September 2023, 8:40 p.m
In a report regarding a climate demonstration of the last generation, the ZDF journalist is visibly touched and bursts into tears.
ZDF
In a ZDF report, a journalist starts crying when a girl tells him why she is taking part in climate demonstrations.
The excerpt sparked heated discussions online. The reporter is accused of attitude journalism.
A media ethicist puts the whole thing into perspective. The showing of feelings in journalism must be differentiated depending on the context.
“In that case, I would have forgone this scene,” she says.
The German public television station ZDF published a report from the series “37 Degrees” entitled “The Climate Dispute”. An excerpt from the film is now causing discussion.
A girl who loves her father to a climate demonstration accompanies, tells why it does this. When she says it’s regarding her future, the journalist becomes emotional in front of the camera. He starts crying and says he thinks it’s cool that she’s running. “This shows us older people how important this is.”
The clip was shared hundreds of times on Twitter is heavily criticized. The “public display of one’s own emotion” is “the next level of attitude journalism”. In other words: The journalist takes too many sides with his emotions and is not objective. In addition, some people don’t understand why the part wasn’t cut out of the report. Especially because it is a public broadcaster.
“I would have done without this scene”
Marlis Prinzing is a communications scientist, ethicist and professor in Cologne, Zurich and Freiburg. “If the necessary distance is missing, this can be at the expense of critical observation and indirectly undermine the credibility of journalism,” warns the expert. But that is not a question of whether it is public or not.
“In this case, I would have forgone this scene,” says Prinzing. The focus is on the journalist, not the event or the attitude of the interviewees. The girl and her father also have to deal with the journalist’s feelings – ultimately he demands compassion here. “I would limit myself to an accurate presentation of participation in the demonstration.”
Expert sees two aspects
However, Prinzing sees two aspects in the discussion regarding attitude journalism.
“On the one hand, it is a positive development that feelings are increasingly playing a larger role in information journalism – in relation to certain events and to people involved.” This is human and actually part of many events. But: Professional criteria apply to reflecting feelings in reporting: “Don’t play with feelings, don’t stage them, don’t show people regarding their feelings.”
“An often discussed borderline case”
“On the other hand, attitude journalism goes beyond showing feelings and shows a certain attitude towards a topic – in the example of the ZDF report, the reporter’s fear of the consequences of global warming, illustrated by crying.” Thematically, this is an often-discussed borderline case because it involves a globally very consequential problem.
In general, you always have to differentiate – in relation to the topic and the context: “Is it regarding the basic pillars of our coexistence, such as human rights or the preservation of democratic authorities? Or is it regarding a political stance on a specific issue? Do journalists report from contexts that are associated with strong feelings, such as war, earthquake or flood zones, where feelings are always part of the reality that can be observed?
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