The West German Broadcasting Corporation misquoted the Union's candidate for chancellor, Armin Laschet, with a statement on the admission of refugees from Afghanistan and - left the quote for alleged reasons of transparency.
Michael Hanfeld
responsible editor for features online and "media".
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"Union Chancellor candidate @ArminLaschet does not want to accept refugees from Afghanistan in Germany: 'I believe that we should not send out the signal now that Germany can basically accept everyone who is now in need.' Laschet spoke out in favor of on-site help “: This is the tweet that WDR currently posted on Monday morning.
Laschet had said: “I think the signal must now be to provide humanitarian aid on the ground. I have just described a group - namely women who were particularly involved in this Afghanistan, which was hoping for freedom. That is something like a contingent, which is called there. But I don't think we should send out the signal now that Germany can basically take in everyone who is now in need. Instead, the focus must be on providing humanitarian aid on site this time in good time, unlike in 2015. And the people who find the safe way from Afghanistan to a neighboring country, to give them opportunities to live, to provide education for the children and much more that was neglected in 2015. "
The WDR had picked out a sentence from Laschet's statements at a press conference for the tweet. And the other one, in which the CDU politician describes something like a "contingent" and - even if he remains unclear - so does not say that he does not want to take in "no" refugees, is left out.
The WDR recognized the mistake and apologized on Twitter: “It is our mistake that our tweet allows the interpretation that Laschet does not want to take in refugees at all. The dpa announcement that he does not want to be accepted has been shortened. We didn't delete it to make the discussion transparent. Because many ask for it, here is Laschet's wording. ”In a second tweet it says:“ To clarify: @ArminLaschet does not want to give a commitment to accept Afghan refugees. The phrase 'do not accept refugees' was misleading. Laschet expresses himself in detail in this thread. "Reference is made at this point to a tweet by Laschet, in which he explains:" The mandate for the evacuation operation of the Bundeswehr must not only apply to German citizens, but must also be particularly endangered mayors,Representatives of NGOs, lawyers, teachers, artists and human rights activists. ”The WDR leaves the entire process, including the shortened and therefore incorrect quote. And this continues, as is the case with Twitter, without everyone noticing the subsequent correction by the WDR. It remains accessible and usable for everyone in the digital world.
Upon request, the broadcaster announced quite succinctly: “The first sentence of the tweet shortened the lead sentence of a dpa report. The editors then posted additional information and the original passage from the video and made it clear that it was a mistake to formulate it in such abbreviated form. The tweet was not deleted to keep the discussion about it transparent. The correction took place directly in the thread and is therefore always visible to all users. "