They too should be able to be heard



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When the American president made a statement, several American television stations removed Donald Trump from speaking. Such behavior is presumptuous and not a journalistic feat.

The Donald Trump show runs on almost every channel.  CNN stayed live, other stations withdrew.

The Donald Trump show runs on almost every channel. CNN stayed live, other stations withdrew.

Hannah Mckay / Reuters

When the current US president reported live from the White House on Thursday, a Donald Trump was alive and well. More than 68 million US citizens voted for him again, significantly more than in the elections four years ago. Still, he will probably have to admit defeat to challenger Joe Biden. Donald Trump hates nothing but defeat, which is why he groaned and raged, speaking of illegal voices. What else was said was hidden from viewers on major broadcasters ABC, CBS, CNBC and MSNBC. They interrupted the broadcast and declared that Trump’s statements were lies. Then they caused a low point in political information.

“We will not allow this to continue”

What are the characteristics of a conversation between adults, a conversation that tries to understand the arguments and statements of the other? That is what you can talk about. The actions of ABC, CBS, CNBC and MSNBC were immature, reckless, intrusive. The journalists took sides and made use of their discursive sovereignty. Under the guise of an alleged attitude, they exercised a disenfranchised paternalism. They deprived the audience of the opportunity to see for themselves and the president their right to freedom of expression. Nothing, really nothing, would have spoken against critically evaluating the speech, classifying it, tapping on the pros and cons, but only if you have listened to it in its entirety together. Instead, prosecutors acted as judges and kicked Trump off the discursive playing field.

The MSNBC moderator interrupted Trump after 36 seconds: Now you are again in the unusual situation of not only interrupting the president of the United States, but also having to correct them. Of course, there cannot be a need. Whether there were irregularities in this election is a question that should definitely be discussed in a free society, after hearing aside. MSNBC was at this point the show of force more important than education.

The CNBC colleague was a little more patient with Trump before declaring: “We are interrupting this because what the president of the United States says is largely false. We will not allow this to continue. “Have you ever heard of parliamentary debates or press conferences with leading German, Austrian or Swiss politicians whose broadcasts were canceled because a false statement was made? Surely one would find reason to object.

FDP politician Marco Buschmann is wrong

In this sense, the praise that American journalists received for their domineering behavior is strange. An Austrian journalist wrote on Twitter that independent journalism was “perhaps the most important tool of a democracy, thank you MSNBC.” The phrase of the moderator of CNBC that Trump should have his ears removed was recognized by a Viennese press club with the affirmative exclamation: “Committed to the truth.” A political scientist from Göttingen commented: “This is how journalism works,” wrote a radio host and DPA employee, “The reaction from CNBC (and some other television stations) was” excellent, by the way, “announced a member of WWF Germany’s address: “It is good journalism to simply interrupt a live broadcast of the President of the United States because it consists only of lies.” The first parliamentary managing director of the FDP parliamentary group, Marco Buschmann, also did not keep his enthusiasm in check: “Hats off! Serene, sure, fact-oriented. This is world-class journalism. The CNBC host shows how it works when someone wants to destabilize the institutions of liberal democracy.”

No. It is the opposite of prudence to deceive people and impede freedom of expression with the power of the technical apparatus. A counterpart that is itself the opposite of prudence and maturity must also contradict itself in an adult way. Otherwise, in the end there will be only righteousness and monologues.

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