A media scandal is rocking the left-liberal German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) after it emerged that bosses spied on their own staff and reporters to find a “mole” who had leaked info about the plagiarism affair of the deputy editor of the paper.
Süddeutsche Zeitung is now accused of bigotry and double standards when it comes to ‘whistleblowers.’ NGO Reporters Without Borders criticized the paper’s management and wrote that the protection of confidential sources is in danger.
The scandal has put the reputation of SZ seriously at risk.
The affair started last December when specialist magazine Mediainsider revealed repeated instances of plagiarism by SZ deputy editor Alexandra Föderl-Schmidt. Mediainsider also reported criticism voiced at an internal conference of the paper. These reports greatly upset the paper’s bosses who then decided to hack and screen all email and phone contacts of their staff to find the leak.
At an internal meeting last week, editor-in-chief Wolfgang Krach raged about a “mole” or possibly several “moles.” He called it a “breach of confidence” that SZ reporters had talked to Mediainsider. It appears that the SZ management was unable to find the persons who had leaked the information.
Among the reporters, many seem to be shocked at the news about the spy campaign against their own employees. SZ has generally prided itself on being an investigative news outlet to expose corrupt practices. However, when the own deputy editor-in-chief was accused of plagiarism, they tried to cover up the affair and punish the whistleblowers. SZ had previously called for better legal protection of whistleblowers. Now, they are even accused of Stasi-like methods to spy on their own staff.
The Munich-based paper is normally one of the favorites of the left-liberal establishment in Germany and is known for investigative efforts mainly against the Right. In the last six months, it has launched several campaigns against conservative or right-wing politicians, most prominently against Bavarian minister of the economy Hubert Aiwanger and also against AfD co-leader Alice Weidel because of alleged plagiarism, which ultimately failed.
On Monday, it emerged that Föderl-Schmid will take a temporary leave, in effect resigning from her leadership role at SZ. Several media reported that a plagiarism hunter had detected numerous counts of plagiarism in her PhD dissertation.