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Journalist Alexandra Föderl-Schmid
Photo: Roland Schlager / picture alliance / APA / picturedesk.com
After the deputy editor-in-chief of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and former “Standard” editor-in-chief Alexandra Föderl-Schmid withdrew from day-to-day business following allegations of plagiarism, she herself asked to have her doctoral thesis checked. The University of Salzburg has now announced that “no relevant scientific misconduct” was found.
The work entitled “From Monopoly to Market. Ten years of the dual broadcasting system in Germany," which Föderl-Schmid submitted in 1996, was reviewed by the "Commission for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice." On the basis of the report, the university "as the responsible authority discontinued the proceedings regarding the annulment of the assessment of the dissertation in accordance with Section 73 of the University Act," according to the official statement. So she can keep her doctorate.
At the beginning of February, Föderl-Schmid was confronted with accusations of plagiarism against several articles as well as evidence of plagiarism fragments in her dissertation. According to SPIEGEL information at the time, this research into Föderl-Schmid was financed by the right-wing populist medium Nius, which commissioned a corresponding report last December. The Austrian “plagiarism hunter” Stefan Weber said at the time that he had received a low four-figure sum for his work.
The “Medieninsider” portal first reported on allegations against Föderl-Schmid last December. At that time, it involved, among other things, material from news agencies that the “SZ” deputy head used for articles but did not label. According to his own statements, Weber was not involved in this research.
ipp/dpa