Editorial RT DE
Generally speaking, no one should honor their critics by taking their accusations too seriously, especially when they are speculative.
But out of a single sense of duty to our readers, we are obliged to understand the events of the last days.
It's no secret that RT DE is expanding and is going to launch its own TV channel in the near future.
This news has obviously excited competitors who want to prevent this from happening.
After all, if there is anything that should not exist, it is an independent Russian TV channel in Germany.
Der Spiegel magazine (whose motto is "Speak as it is") has published an article that says nothing more than that RT DE is doing its job, namely asking questions and questioning what is believed to be true.
What all journalistic media should do.
The alleged "revelation" proved to be a failure.
Commerzbank recently announced the end of its partnership with RT DE and the Ruptly media agency.
Coincidence?
Also on russian.rt.com The Russian Foreign Ministry called the refusal of German banks to cooperate with RT DE unacceptable
The German Journalists' Union (DJV) has issued a commentary claiming that RT DE is "putting pressure on politics and journalism."
Putting pressure on politics should be part of the journalistic identity.
As for the pressure on journalists, it is obvious that the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper is concerned about RT DE's participation in press conferences of the German government and that RT DE is "abusing" the government's willingness to share information - again by asking questions.
To my attentive fan @M_Simonyan: We know what you are up to and we are prepared to counter your propaganda.
Not just as a newspaper, but as free societies.
Stay tuned for unprecedented revelations regarding your malign network's activities and practices.
PS: #Russia without Putin pic.twitter.com/Vecz67mt9O
- Julian Röpcke (@JulianRoepcke) February 16, 2021
The current developments culminated in the so-called "leaks" spread by Julian Röpke, a journalist for the Bild newspaper, which received the most complaints from the German Press Council last year.
She uses the following techniques:
Take an employee - we have a valid contract with Mr. Lange, who so far has only orally announced his intention to quit his job - his supposedly scandalous book (what a coincidence that it is being published today, simultaneously with the Bild article) and excerpts from internal communication of the editorial office, which he managed to intercept.
Now all this needs only to be mixed with each other and distorted.
And now the requests of lovers of dirty linen have already been satisfied.
The "high-class journalist" also does not hesitate to openly call for attacks on RT DE: They know how to resist the so-called "propaganda" not only as a newspaper, but also as "free societies".
And we can be sure that there is still a lot of interesting ahead of us: He promises "unprecedented revelations."
His questions to RT DE say a lot about his views:
"Is it true that the leadership of RT DE made efforts in August and September 2020 to spy on Alexei Navalny and two of his associates in Berlin in favor of Russia?"
"Is it true that the aforementioned RT DE leadership passed information on to the Russian special services and government ministries?"
"Is it true that not a single detail of the two employees' multi-week investigation made it into any RT DE publication or other Russian state media?"
I would like to oppose all this with the decisive "Are you absolutely all right, Mr. Röpke"?
RT DE does not spy on anyone or conduct any investigations, but reports events like any journalistic media.
At that time, the story with Navalny was the # 1 topic in Germany.
It is quite natural that RT DE also carefully studied and covered it in its materials.
No more, no less.
And what happens when the apparently resentful director Daniel Lange and his recently fired cinematographer Manuel Mader now start promoting Lange's book and go all out?
Of course, Bild does not provide any evidence to support this bold thesis.
Even their key witnesses do not claim this.
But why then bother making all these supposedly efforts?
From the very first glance at Bild, there would be no need for any persecution, because Bild reporters accompanied Navalny at every step, and also spread information about how much his stay at the Charite clinic cost.
So, if the FSB of Russia were interested in this, it could very well have received all the necessary information directly from Bild.
Well, then why do we need spies at all?
One thing is for sure: this campaign will continue and possibly become even tougher.
But we promise you: RT DE will continue to fulfill its journalistic duty in good faith regardless of these difficulties and inform that otherwise will go unnoticed.
After all, who ultimately determines RT DE's success and our reputation?
It is you, our readers, who decide what is more important to you - a pluralism of opinions or a monotonous media landscape, and whether it is important for you to have an alternative point of view along with what sounds like an old worn-out record.
It's up to you to judge.