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Cabaret artist Fitz: "Pharmaceuticals wet dream"
Photo: SWR
With some delay, the Südwestdeutsche Rundfunk (SWR) comes under pressure because of an appearance by cabaret artist Lisa Fitz on the comedy show »Spätschicht«.
Fitz had claimed in the edition broadcast on SWR on December 10th that in the EU alone "the consequences of the Covid 19 vaccines" were fatal for 5,000 people - an untenable misinformation that was not covered by the facts.
The first broadcast of the program on Friday before last caused only a few public reactions - for example, SPIEGEL journalist Markus Feldenkirchen commented critically on Fitz's appearance on Twitter, but without addressing the alleged number of vaccine deaths. Yesterday, Friday, the »Tageszeitung« (»Taz«) reported on the statements of the 70-year-olds on the occasion of the upcoming repetition of the broadcast on 3sat on Saturday night, the author of the article drew attention to this on Twitter:
The broadcaster 3sat, jointly sponsored by ARD and ZDF, reacted immediately to the article and the following broad discussion on social media: Instead of the latest "Spätschicht" edition, the broadcaster also broadcast a 45-minute recording by cabaret artist Florian Schroeder from October.
The "Taz" quotes a ZDF spokesman that the program will not be placed in the 3sat media library as usual.
In fact, it cannot be found there - but it can still be found on the SWR website for the broadcast and in the ARD media library.
Schroeder is also the host of the "late shift".
He had already distanced himself from Lisa Fitz's contribution in his introduction: »Diversity of opinion counts here.
And that's why there is now an opinion that I personally do not share and that is still allowed to take place here. "
Does that count towards diversity of opinion?
This line of argument is now also followed by SWR in a »classification« published on Saturday lunchtime - although the broadcaster, unlike Florian Schroeder, speaks less of allowing diversity of opinion out of conviction and more out of fear of public reaction: The »text by Lisa Fitz« is » admittedly difficult in its effect ”.
The editorial team, however, "deliberately decided to broadcast the text" when weighing a possible and expected accusation of censorship (if the editorial team rejects the submitted text) versus freedom of expression in public service broadcasting, "to avoid the plurality of opinions to prove in the ›late shift‹. "
However, the spread of false facts does not fall within the scope of diversity of opinion, which many journalists can confirm, whose articles and contributions had to be corrected or even withdrawn entirely if they contained false facts - even if they concern comparatively harmless things like whether a television broadcast was live or recorded. Chan-jo Jun, a lawyer known as an expert on hate crime, sees Fitz's testimony unprotected by freedom of expression:
Apparently, the SWR was also aware of the problem, as can be seen from its statement: The number of vaccine deaths comes from a motion for a resolution that had been tabled in the EU Parliament and that Lisa Fitz had submitted to the SWR before the broadcast.
The SWR continues: "In the meantime it has been found that the numbers of vaccination deaths named in this application are in all probability not reliable."
That is to say the least.
The motion for a resolution was introduced at the end of September by Virginie Joron, who sits in the EU Parliament for the French far-right party Rassemblement National.
The application in turn relies on information from the European Medicines Agency Ema, more precisely: on their regularly published safety reports on Covid vaccines.
In fact, these "Safety Updates" mention a total of around 8,000 reported deaths in connection with the vaccines - however, followed by a bold paragraph emphasizing that a death (or a medical complication)
after
a vaccination does not mean that it was
caused by
the vaccination. This note can already be found directly above the links to the safety reports on the Ema page.
In addition, the safety reports show that these figures are based on the suspicious activity reports that are sent to the respective national authorities - and that all vaccinated persons are expressly requested to do so, who in turn are in most cases medical laypersons.
In Germany, for example, these reports can be sent to the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices - using a simple online form, by anyone.
Reports also from medical laypeople
This alone makes it clear that the stated number of 8,000 reported vaccination deaths - as well as the 5,000 claimed by Lisa Fitz - can in no way represent the number of verified and confirmed deaths due to a Covid vaccination. The Paul Ehrlich Institute, which reports in its latest safety report of around 1,800 deaths reported in Germany in connection with a Covid vaccination, emphasizes that a temporal connection does not mean that the vaccination was the cause.
Given the diversity of opinions, one can certainly defend most of Lisa Fitz's statements in the youngest »late shift«. For example the whispering about the "one percent alarmists who control 99 percent lemmings" - directed against the scientists who warn of the corona dangers. Or the image of compulsory vaccination as a “wet dream of pharmaceuticals” - which sounds a lot like paid politics in the context. Or the corruption of the next »zombie variant«, which might then come from »Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and then something we know« - even if it reflects contempt for distant, poorer parts of the world. One can be happy or annoyed about it, excited or agree, one can find that tasteless and also highly irresponsible. But it's an opinion.
This does not apply to incorrect information about the number of corona vaccination deaths.
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