Code Violation – Schilling Article: Press Council Condemns “Standard”

According to Senate 1 of the Austrian Press Council, at least one article in the extensive series against Lena Schilling violates the code of honor for the Austrian press.

Negative image drawn
The article reported that Lena Schilling, the EU’s top candidate for the Green Party, had allegedly spread serious rumors and untruths about several people in her circle of friends and in the political environment. The article contains numerous anonymized quotes, which generally paint a negative picture of Schilling.

Several readers contacted the Press Council and criticized this article as questionable in terms of media ethics, the committee announced in a broadcast. It was argued, among other things, that the information published in the article was not publicly relevant and that the quotes were all from anonymous individuals.

“Violation of conscientious procreation”
The Press Council followed this observation. It is considered “in principle permissible to report questionable, serious allegations that the leading candidate of an election party spreads or makes about fellow campaigners or journalists”, according to the decision published on Friday.

“From a media ethics perspective, it is possible to question the character suitability of a top candidate for politics and inform the public of reasonable doubts about it.”

However, the committee sees a “violation of the requirement of conscientious and correct presentation of news” (point 2.1 of the Code of Ethics). Essentially, it criticizes the anonymized quotes that are often cited as evidence.

Readers were left with the impression that the politician had a flawed character and possibly even psychological problems, which was an unusual accusation from a medium and was disproportionately serious. According to the Press Council, it would have been necessary to “avoid those anonymized quotes that only contain value judgments about Lena Schilling as a person and do not provide any context about specific events.”

Because it seems obvious that informants from Schilling’s environment among the Greens, from the left-wing political spectrum or the climate movement could pursue their own interests and their views are therefore shaped by competitive reasons or personal differences.

Anonymous quotes are not allowed in this case
The Press Council also sees a “violation of the requirement of conscientious and correct citation” (point 2.2 of the Code of Ethics). According to the control body, anonymous quotes are allowed for certain reasons, but a limit is reached where they only serve to portray a negative character without any accompanying factual basis. “With numerous quotes from the article, the Senate cannot recognize such a factual basis,” the Journalism Council ruled.

According to him, it would have been necessary to report “only on the concrete and proven allegations” and avoid anonymized quotes “which serve the sole purpose of giving unverifiable negative assessments of the character of the politician involved.” Otherwise, this would effectively open the door for the media to discredit public figures using statements that cannot be named.

“Standard” defends the approach
The “Standaard” defended its reporting in a statement published in the decision. The accusations made have political relevance and none of the accusations mentioned in the article have been disputed. The medium justified the anonymization of the quotes by saying that informants would otherwise have had to fear negative consequences.

The editor-in-chief emphasized that the allegations had not only been “scrupulously verified” but had also been “subject to extensive legal review.” You are in a position to “prove the truth in court on every point.” Several affidavits were obtained in sensitive cases.