How should journalists deal with a far-right party, such as the “Alternative for Germany” (AfD)? There are proposals, no magic recipes… In Germany, the Constitution guarantees freedom of opinion and freedom of the press. The broadcasting landscape is based on two pillars: on the one hand, public broadcasting, which is mainly financed by citizens’ fees, on the other hand, private media, which rely on advertising revenue and sales of products and services.

A special case is Deutsche Welle, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Culture and the Media. Like all other public broadcasting networks, Deutsche Welle is obliged by law to provide complete and objective information.

The AfD is against “forced funding”.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party believes that public broadcasting has no future in its current form. In her election manifesto she states that “forced funding for public media must be abolished”, to be replaced by a new model of paid broadcasting.

The party considers that they are being discriminated against, both by public and private media. For example, AfD officials complain that they are not invited to talk shows as often as representatives of other parties. The truth is, however, that there is no legal claim to an invitation to a news show. Decisions are made exclusively by the journalists editing the specific show. This guarantee is an integral part of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press.

Extremism, espionage, polls

On top of that, complaints about insufficient coverage of the AfD’s activities are unfounded, especially in 2024. The German media often refer to the party, as opinion polls predict an excellent electoral performance for the AfD in June’s European and local elections. held in September in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg. However, there are also many references to AfD’s “special relations” with Russia, while members or associates of the party have also been accused of espionage in favor of China.

Judging by his extremist activity, the most well-known AfD politician is probably Bjorn Hecke, head of K.O. of the party in the East German state of Thuringia. In September’s elections, he aspires to win first place and succeed Thuringia’s leftist Prime Minister Bodo Ramelo.

Talking about the AfD or with the AfD?

The paradox is that outside of Thuringia, the media barely deal with Prime Minister Ramelo, while at the same time Hecke is omnipresent. But of course it is only present as an “object” of the report. As a rule, journalists talk about Heke, but they don’t talk to Heke himself. The same goes for his party.

A few days ago, Welt-TV, a private television network of the Die Welt newspaper, chose a different path, inviting Björn Hecke and Mario Voigt, who will be the candidate of the Christian Democrats (CDU) in the September elections in Thuringia, to a live debate. The organizers of the program had planned a 45-minute discussion, which ended up lasting more than an hour.

Was the decision correct? Is it better to isolate a party like the AfD? Opinions differ. The magazine DER SPIEGEL argued in advance that it was a “mistake” to invite the AfD. In a diametrically opposed approach, Oliver Lebke, professor of political science at the University of Bochum, tells Bild that “the constant attempt to avoid, expel, isolate the AfD, always using the same arguments, has led to Hecke being treated as a kind of sorcerer or dark knight…”.

“Journalistic virtues” are wanted

How difficult it is to properly deal with the AfD, the professor of Journalism and Communication, Bernd Gabler, points out in his studies for the Otto Brenner Foundation, which is close to the German trade unions. Gabler urges journalists not to fall into the “trap of AfD isolation”, but as he points out, “this does not mean that AfD politicians should be interviewed or invited to every public forum as often as everyone else politicians.

Beyond that, emphasizes the German expert, “there is no need for a special kind of journalism, specially adapted to the AfD. AfD is simply a challenge to recall and utilize the classical virtues of journalism…”.

Edited by: Yiannis Papadimitriou