Journalists Debate AfD Coverage and Neutrality at Hamburg Award Ceremony

ZDF journalists Dunja Hayali and Sarah Tacke received the Hanns-Joachim-Friedrichs Award on Thursday evening in Hamburg during a ceremony marked by intense debate over media neutrality and coverage of the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The annual prize, established in 1995 and named after the former Tagesthemen news presenter, recognizes critical and independent television journalism. Alongside the main award winners, NDR reporter Manuel Biallas received a sponsorship prize, while the editorial team of the NDR media magazine ZAPP was awarded a special prize.

Sarah Tacke, who leads the law and justice editorial department at ZDF, warned during a panel discussion against treating the AfD like conventional political parties. She stated that interviewing the party on routine topics risks normalizing an organization that is not normal, while acknowledging that excluding AfD representatives leads them to adopt a victim stance. Nikolaus Blome, head of politics at RTL and ntv, rejected normalization as a journalistic criterion, arguing that the party's size and political presence make it impossible for newsrooms to ignore.

Blome recounted that inviting AfD co-leader Alice Weidel to a televised debate before the federal election had triggered heavy public backlash. He added that while certain individual representatives are avoided due to past broadcast failures, AfD politicians should be included in factual debates whenever they make substantive contributions. Blome also criticized public broadcasting coverage of climate policies, contending that news outlets focus heavily on negative aspects even when national targets are reached, which he argued contributes to audience fatigue with climate protection measures.

Hayali countered Blome's stance on climate reporting, taking the position that public broadcasters must report on relevant events regardless of whether the topic is unwelcome to viewers. On the topic of political coverage, she rejected a general exclusion of AfD representatives, arguing that such an approach would be improper for public media, though decisions on timing, format, and frequency must be weighed carefully. She expressed skepticism toward calls to systematically expose the party, stating that its positions and activities have already been thoroughly documented.

Receiving his sponsorship award, NDR journalist Manuel Biallas argued against what he described as false neutrality, stating that no journalist operates without personal bias. He argued that the German Basic Law was conceived as an explicit response to National Socialism and is fundamentally anti-fascist, calling for professional courage rather than neutrality in current political reporting.

Written by Andreas Hofer andreas.hofer@alpineweekly.com