Video exposes false statement "That's nonsense" - Lanz takes AfD woman von Storch to task
There was an open exchange of blows on the ZDF program "Markus Lanz": Presenter Markus Lanz sharply rejected accusations made by Beatrix von Storch. The AfD politician had claimed that Schleswig-Holstein's head of government Daniel Günther had called for a media ban.
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- Beatrix von Storch accused Daniel Günther on the ZDF program "Markus Lanz" of calling for a ban on the portal "Nius".
- Presenter Markus Lanz clearly disagreed and spoke of "fake news".
- A video clip later showed that Günther's statements had been abbreviated and misunderstood.
A debate about freedom of expression escalated on Markus Lanz's ZDF talk show. It was triggered by Beatrix von Storch's accusation that Daniel Günther had spoken out in favor of banning the online portal "Nius".
The platform is an online medium that was founded a few years ago and is classified as right-wing populist and right-wing conservative in the style of Fox News.
"Where did you see that?" the presenter Lanz asked the politician von Storch several times. Whether in the ZDF media library or on "Nius" itself?
Von Storch was unable to specify, but repeatedly pointed out that Günther had called for such a ban. Lanz finally interrupted her: "No, that's wrong. That's fake news."
The background to this is an earlier appearance by Daniel Günther on Markus Lanz's show, which had sparked a heated debate due to various clips. In the program, the CDU politician spoke about the influence of social media on the political debate.
"Nius" edited together the conversation
In this program, Lanz asked Günther whether some media should be censored or even banned. "Yes", he replied and shortly afterwards specified: "Social media should no longer be made accessible to under-16s."
Daniel Günther then made it clear that he was only interested in a social media ban, as already exists in Australia, for example.
The editors of "Nius" later edited the interview. In it, the statement came across quite differently. Günther's statements were edited to give the impression that he wanted to censor and ban "Nius" and other right-wing media.
According to Daniel Günther himself, this was never his intention. In a later interview, he clarified that he had not called for a ban or censorship of media portals.
In the current talk show, presenter Markus Lanz finally showed both the original clip and a video of "Nius" that was later distributed. It became clear that Günther's statements had been edited together in a shortened form.
Beatrix von Storch then conceded that the clip had been misleading - but continued to criticize Günther's handling of so-called "alternative media".
In conclusion, Markus Lanz struck a fundamental tone: Freedom of expression is not an instrument that people interpret differently depending on their political position. This is precisely what he has "a big problem with".
