German media as well as police underreport migrant crime
The German Sächsische Zeitung, based in the eastern city of Dresden has adopted a policy of reporting migrant crime. Since July of last year, its policy is to always report the nationality of people who commit crimes.
Published: April 2, 2017, 11:51 am
This was prompted by a reader survey carried out by communication scientist Lutz Hagen. He said that almost half of those surveyed thought that journalists had been ordered to leave out the ethnicity of criminals because of the current migration crisis.
Another survey is due to be conducted in a year’s time. Hagen’s hypothesis is that reporting about the nationality of criminals will result in readers’ being better able to more accurately assess the share of crimes committed by foreigners, expressing the hope that such crime would eventually be lower than expected.
The experiment could also have negative consequences, warned Georg Ruhrmann, an expert on the portrayal of migrants in the media. “Depending on the attitudes and routines of individual journalists, you could see more stereotypes or discriminatory statements filtering through,” he said. It could appeal to readers who hold “racist or anti-immigrant views”.
Last month the German Press Council — a voluntary, industry-run body — concluded that ethnicity could not be published “unless there is a justified public interest in doing so”. Journalists and the “Lügenpresse” (lying press) have however felt the pressure of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party.
The new wording replaces previous guidelines that said such details should only be published if there was a link between a person’s ethnicity or religion and the crime. But withholding such information left readers suspecting the media of covering up migrant crimes.
The thefts and mass sexual assaults of women during the 2015/16 New Year’s Eve festivities in Cologne were eventually young men of “North African or Arab descent” after the media deliberately avoided any mention of the crimes or ethnicity, citing “professional ethical guidelines”.
A recent study by the University of Munich showed that several weeks after New Year’s Eve, newspapers tended to mention the ethnicity of perpetrators much more than they did previously, because they were caught in a cover-up.
But the new media guidelines on migrant crime, might not be enough, because the actual number of migrant-related sex crimes in Germany is at least two or three times higher than the official number.
Only 10 percent of the sex crimes committed in Germany appear in the official statistics, says André Schulz, head of the Criminal Police Association. Strangely accurate statistics are notoriously non-existent in one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world.
According to Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) data includes only crimes that have been solved (aufgeklärten Straftaten). According to police statistics, on average only around half of all crimes committed in Germany in any given year are solved (Aufklärungsquote).
Moreover, BKA crime statistics do not include data from North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state in Germany and the one with the largest number of migrants, or from Hamburg, the second-largest city in the country.
An even more toxic practice is for police deliberately to omit any references to migrants in crime reports. This lapse makes it impossible for the media and therefore German citizens to understand the true scale of migrant crime.
Germany’s sclerotic justice system exacerbates the problem by imposing seemingly interminable delays of several months in bringing migrant perpetrators to justice. In all police files from January 2017, migrants have no stated ethnicity, but are either called “dark-skinned” or “southern looking”.
In a recent note for media editors by police it was stated: “The legal basis for publishing the surveillance photos has been dispensed with. We strongly urge you to take this into account in future reporting and to remove and/or make changes to existing publications.”
All rights reserved. You have permission to quote freely from the articles provided that the source (www.freewestmedia.com) is given. Photos may not be used without our consent.
Consider donating to support our work
Help us to produce more articles like this. FreeWestMedia is depending on donations from our readers to keep going. With your help, we expose the mainstream fake news agenda.
Keep your language polite. Readers from many different countries visit and contribute to Free West Media and we must therefore obey the rules in, for example, Germany. Illegal content will be deleted.
If you have been approved to post comments without preview from FWM, you are responsible for violations of any law. This means that FWM may be forced to cooperate with authorities in a possible crime investigation.
If your comments are subject to preview by FWM, please be patient. We continually review comments but depending on the time of day it can take up to several hours before your comment is reviewed.
We reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, contain slander or foul language, or are irrelevant to the discussion.
Europe
New App Helps Locate Sweden’s Historic Runestones
A new app called Swedish Runestones will help locate historical gems.
Swedish military wants to remilitarize the Åland Islands
The demilitarized autonomy has previously been known as 'the islands of peace.
NOAA Predicts Zero Sunspots for Almost the Whole 2030s
CLIMATEThe United States' government scientific organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), predicts zero sunspots from 2031 to 2040. This is an extreme situation that has not occurred in as long as humanity has been counting sunspots, and it leads us into uncharted territory in terms of our solar system. However, this prediction aligns with the warnings of the world-renowned solar researcher Valentina Zharkova for many years, who indicated in 2019 various signs of this catastrophic phenomenon, including the extreme hailstorms we have seen in Europe and the world this summer. The forecast and various observations this year give cause for very significant concern. In this unique analysis, Free West Media explains why.
European Nationalist Parties Forge Cooperation Ahead of EU Elections
EUROPEAN ELECTIONSOn Saturday, August 26, representatives of six European nationalist parties gathered in Budapest. The meeting was initiated by the Hungarian party Mi Hazánk and took place in the national parliament. Representatives of the parties signed a joint declaration that not only reaffirms the parties' friendship but also their unity on a range of complex political issues. A surprisingly clear and radical manifesto was established. The hope is that this cooperation will lead to success in the EU elections and eventually result in the formation of a group in the European Parliament. For Swedish nationalism, this meeting marks a success as Sweden, for the first time, has a party represented in a leading nationalist cooperation in Europe. Free West Media was present at this historic event.
Turkey Believes Sweden Hasn’t Done Enough
Sweden will have to wait a bit longer for NATO membership, according to Turkey's Justice Minister Jilmaz Tunc. First, Sweden must extradite the "terrorists" Turkey wants and stop the desecration of the Quran.
Swedish Weapon Takes Down Russia’s Best Attack Helicopter
The Russian attack helicopter Ka-52 is considered one of the world's best and has struck fear in Ukraine, where it has hunted down tanks and other armored vehicles, often beyond the range of many light anti-aircraft systems. However, it has met its match in the Swedish air defense missile system RBS 70, which has quickly led to significant losses for the Russian helicopter forces.
The Sun Drives Earth’s Climate, Not Carbon Dioxide
Top Researchers Push Back Against Climate Lies."The correlation is as clear as day," explained the Israeli astrophysicist Nir Shaviv, who was hailed by the establishment, before his interview with Forbes was hastily deleted. What he says contradicts the climate narrative, which points to humans as responsible for Earth's climate. Shaviv firmly asserts that it is the sun that controls the climate, something that can be scientifically proven in many ways. Contrary to the popular belief, the sun's influence on Earth has, in recent years, caused unusually cold and rainy weather, a trend that solar researchers warn will worsen significantly in the coming decades. The sun has exhibited an unusually low activity since 2016, during Solar Cycle 24, which was the weakest in a century.
Strong Confidence in German AfD
Alternative for Germany (AfD) held a party conference on July 29-30 to select candidates for the upcoming EU election next year. EU Parliament member Maximilian Krah, belonging to the party's more radical, ethnonationalist faction, was appointed as the top candidate. The party's two spokespersons delivered powerful speeches criticizing the EU's failed migration policy and trade sanctions that isolate Europe and Germany from the rest of the world. They argued that it's time for the EU to return a significant portion of its power to national parliaments. However, they have dropped the demand for Germany to exit the EU.
The Establishment Wants to Ban Germany’s Second Largest Party – for the Sake of Democracy
The rising popularity of AfD has raised strong concerns within the establishment. Despite lies and demonization in the media and isolation from the overall political establishment, the party continues to grow. Certain representatives of the party are accused of becoming increasingly "extreme," and in an unusual move, the influential weekly newspaper Der Spiegel demanded that AfD be "banned."
Dutch FvD break through the media blockade
What is happening in the Netherlands? It is often difficult to follow events in other countries, especially when distorted by system media. We give Forum for Democracy (FvD) the opportunity to speak out on the political situation in the Netherlands and the staunch resistance they face in trying to save the country.
One comment
“”1984″”
By submitting a comment you grant Free West Media a perpetual license to reproduce your words and name/web site in attribution. Inappropriate and irrelevant comments will be removed at an admin’s discretion. Your email is used for verification purposes only, it will never be shared.