KommAustria will now examine this. In the eleven-page presentation of the facts, the press club initially states that “an increasing number of references and complaints from its members about Servus TV’s reporting on the Covid 19 pandemic” were received.
“Der Wegscheider” in focus
Especially with the weekly program “Der Wegscheider”, which the director of the station, Ferdinand Wegscheider, designed himself, “especially through false or misleading statements, one-sided and unobjective statements and through impermissible interference in the legal sphere of third parties, repeated and serious violations against the provisions of the AMD-G “.
The Concordia press club lists several examples of Wegscheider’s statements that were considered problematic. For example: “Thank God the authorities are not quite as strict with expired gene vaccines and turn a blind eye when the expiry date is quietly and secretly extended.” A fact check by the news magazine “profil” already showed that this statement is incorrect. The extension is neither secret, nor problematic, nor extraordinary, since shelf life studies are initially only carried out for a limited period of time when approved.
Press club detects factual reporting
Elsewhere, Wegscheider claimed that the federal government based its decisions on “the assumptions of a few simulation researchers” whose “prognoses have never been correct in all that time”. According to the Concordia press club, it is “contrary to the facts” and a “targeted degradation of scientific methods”.
According to its own description, “Der Wegscheider” is a commentary. The journalists’ organization admits that a “very tough pace” is also allowed here. But a commentator “must in any case form his opinion on the basis of reliable, reliable sources and information, justify it with arguments that are as valid as possible and present it in a factual manner”. This is not the case with Wegscheider. Rather, many inadequately researched statements that are based on factual bases and dispense with argumentation have been observed, according to the Concordia press club.
In the spring, the show was still referred to as a “satirical weekly review”. If satire applies in this case, the limits of what is permissible would have to be interpreted even further. But the journalists’ organization doubts that the show could pass as satire. With the exception of a doll named Till, everything indicates that the statements were meant seriously. “Der Wegscheider” is also broadcast on Saturdays just before 7.30 p.m. and thus immediately after the “Servus Nachrichten”, giving the impression that it is a serious information broadcast that is based on facts, according to the Concordia press club.
Director of Servus TV
In the presentation of the facts, one can also read of “systematic deficiencies in the overall program”, which reinforce the “impression of a targeted strategic positioning of Servus TV to address science-hostile, vaccination and corona-critical target groups”. The Concordia press club complained that Wegscheider, as director, was explicitly addressing what the rest of the program implicitly conveyed. Wegscheider himself decided in the summer to the APA that the station was targeting opponents of measures and those who doubted the Corona.
(Those: APA)