Freedom of the press in Saxony-Anhalt: It is reminiscent of Donald Trump

By God, it was difficult enough to report from Saxony-Anhalt. I know what I'm talking about. In the run-up to the election, I was informed that the police in Saxony-Anhalt had “security-related concerns” about me, and accreditation for the state parliament’s media hall was therefore refused. This all sounds like political influence, and we will definitely have it examined legally.

And now? Almost 44 percent of those voters who cast their votes on Sunday chose the AfD. And thus for anti-Semitism, for racism, for queer hostility, for the stigmatization of people, especially children with disabilities, for a violent force that wants to abolish democracy, against human dignity and, above all, against freedom of the press. Journalistic work in Magdeburg and elsewhere in this state has become even more difficult since election Sunday.

I saw a foretaste of what it could be like in Magdeburg: Not far from the banks of the Elbe, an AfD-voting couple looks at a ZDF camera team as they desperately tried to capture a few voices on the street. She leans towards him and says: “Stupid lying press, they will see where they are when our AfD is finally in power.” This scene happened when it was only 3 p.m. on election Sunday when the two history-forgotten AfDers did not know that their party would almost achieve an absolute majority.

The AfD already announced during the election campaign that it wanted to work on freedom of the press. In the past few weeks, for example, she has raised a loud voice against Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. Ulrich Siegmund asserted at many election campaign events that he wanted to abolish the MDR, withdraw from the State Broadcasting Treaty and create a “basic radio” out of it.

It's not possible to abolish public broadcasting overnight, but the AfD's plans could do them immense damage. And you could already see at the AfD election party on Sunday how the party dealt with press representatives: As usual, the AfD forced those journalists that it had to accredit for legal reasons, even though it actually despises them, into a small area of ​​the hall. The colleagues could not move freely, could not do their work freely. And that shows what importance press freedom has in the AfD's totalitarian vision: none at all.

This is all very reminiscent of the methods of Donald Trump, who got it twice. He uses the media to generate maximum attention for his election victories and then subsequently fights the same media, insults them and tramples on freedom of the press. In our neighboring countries Poland and Hungary we have seen how far right-wing extremists are willing to go to restrict the free press, spread state propaganda and divide society. The same thing could happen in Saxony-Anhalt. Difficult times lie ahead for (local) journalism there.

And what are some media representatives doing? The ARD and ZDF children's channel invites the AfD's top candidate and thus the top right-wing extremist in Saxony-Anhalt to a children's program shortly before election Sunday. In the election broadcasts on public television and radio he is presented as the normal winner of the evening, reporters describe that although the AfD is certainly right-wing extremist, its voters bear no responsibility for what is happening. One thing became clear last Sunday: in order to protect press freedom in Saxony-Anhalt and beyond, the press itself must first understand the seriousness of the situation.