The danger of giving free publicity to the far-right

BarcelonaIf there is one thing the far-right does well, it is to play the victim. Since they present themselves as anti-establishment, they take advantage of any criticism they receive from the media to claim that the establishment is persecuting them, etc., and this is usually a discourse that resonates with their followers and from which they profit. A textbook example happened these days in Germany, when the magazine Der Spiegel published a cover with a close-up photo of the candidate of Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, and the headline: "Germany's most dangerous man".

The magazine lists the reasons why it considers Siegmund a danger, but the fact is that the AfD has found its campaign made for it, and at every rally they exhibit the cover as proof that the establishment is trembling at the possibility of them coming to power. The elections in this state are on September 6, and polls predict that the neo-Nazis are close to an absolute majority.

This is why the media and journalists find ourselves forced to tread carefully with the far-right. The dilemma is as follows: how to provide journalistic coverage of them, i.e., critical when necessary, without it becoming ammunition for them. The answer is not at all easy. At ARA, many readers complain that we give excessive coverage to Aliança Catalana, and that this benefits them, while others consider that we do not give them enough voice. If a strict journalistic criterion is applied, the phenomenon of AC is news, and it also generates interest (i.e., visits), but our function is not just to be a transmission belt for their messages because as journalists we have a civic and social responsibility. It's complicated, as I said. Of course, we have learned enough by now not to do a cover like that of Der Spiegel.