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Steffen Klusmann

Photo: Marcus Brandt/dpa

A commission team is to independently investigate the allegations against the deputy editor-in-chief of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, Alexandra Föderl-Schmid, regarding her handling of sources in journalistic texts. The "SZ" editor-in-chief announced: "The former SPIEGEL editor-in-chief Steffen Klusmann, together with the head of the German Journalism School, Henriette Löwisch, and the Eichstätt journalism professor Klaus Meier, are said to be investigating the allegations against the deputy "SZ" editor-in-chief Alexandra Föderl. Clarify Schmid.”

Accordingly, the three-member commission should examine whether Föderl-Schmid "handled sources improperly when writing texts and thereby violated journalistic standards." Several media outlets had previously reported on this.

Mishandling admitted

The "Süddeutsche Zeitung" announced on Monday that Föderl-Schmid was temporarily withdrawing from day-to-day business due to allegations and that an external commission had been commissioned to investigate. The allegations about her handling of sources in her articles arose in December, and the industry service “Media Insider” reported on them. The editor-in-chief had admitted that Föderl-Schmid had handled things incorrectly.

The national daily newspaper also announced on Monday that Föderl-Schmid had asked the University of Salzburg to review her doctoral thesis, which she submitted in 1996. The background is allegations that arose from a plagiarism check by the communications scientist Stefan Weber. The right-wing populist portal “Nius” around the former “Bild” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt is Weber’s client.

Steffen Klusmann was editor-in-chief at SPIEGEL for several years until May 2023. During his time, the scandal surrounding fake texts by the award-winning SPIEGEL journalist Claas Relotius was also dealt with. Klusmann received respect from the media industry for his handling of the review.

Klusmann recently investigated the case for the ARD broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) surrounding the controversial award-winning journalist, Putin biographer and documentary filmmaker Hubert Seipel, who received payments from Russia. This is now the next public order for Klusmann in the media industry.

kim/dpa