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At 25 Years of ZDF's Heute Journal, Slomka Warns of US-Style Media Fragmentation

She urges vigilance to preserve broad-reach public broadcasting.

Overview

  • Marking her 25th year anchoring Heute Journal, Marietta Slomka cautions that news choices in Germany could start signaling political identity as in the United States.
  • She warns that public broadcasters and press freedom are not guaranteed, saying even ARD/ZDF could be dismantled if legal safeguards and constitutional protections were undone.
  • Slomka describes coordinated online intimidation of journalists, including harassment and death threats, and says digital campaigns inflate errors to undermine trust.
  • She argues that wide-reach formats like Heute Journal help maintain a shared base of facts and notes the program still draws around four million viewers.
  • She keeps a low profile on social media and defends her probing yet courteous interview style, often described as a "feines Florett" that has left some politicians feeling "geslomkat."