German BILD Wins “Europe Thistle” For Anti-Greek Reporting tagged: , , , ,

German BILD Wins “Europe Thistle” For Anti-Greek Reporting

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Very Mix

An English  ”Thistle” may be a German “Distel” but in Greek it is a modest “γαϊδουράγκαθο”, which translates into a  “donkey’s thorn”…. On of Greece’s biggest “fans”, populist and yellow-press BILD newspaper got an award over the weekend. The “Europe Thistle”, a award handed out by the EUD (Europe-Union Deutschland) for BILD’s blunder [ and slander, I hope] articles on Greece and “for creating divisions amongst European citizens.” so the EUD organisation.  BILD newspaper proudly accepted the award and deputy editor Nikolaus Blome did not miss the opportunity not only to justified the provokative anti-Greek reporting but also to stupidily claim, that it is the BILD newspaper that influences German Chancellor Angela Merkel in drawing her Greece policy. But, of course. If the majority of Merkels’ voters are naive BILD readers… why not? BTW:  I don’t know if the name “Donkey’s thorn” means that “Donkeys Eat It” or that it just pricks donkeys sillily and carelessly wandering around…

Here is the Open Europe report about the award and Blome’s speech:

Bild proudly embraces its ‘European Thistle’ award

Posted by Open Europe blog team on 28/11/11

Over the weekend, Europe-Union Deutschland (EUD) – a German EU federalist pressure group which argues for more EU integration – handed out its yearly prizes: a ‘Europe Lily’ for outstanding achievements in European policy, and a corresponding ‘Europe Thistle’ for those, who in the view of EUD, are responsible for the biggest blunder in the same area.
 
Bild won some notoriety for its headline last years calling on Greece to sell its islands in order to pay off its budget deficit. At the event, Bild‘s reporting was criticised for being “too emotional”, and creating divisions amongst European citizens in its labelling of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ EU member states.

While similar awards are usually boycotted by embarrassed recipients, Bild‘s Deputy Editor Nikolaus Blome actually showed up to collect the award  and moreover, he took the opportunity to deliver a speech in which he defended the paper’s stance and argued that while he supported the euro, the current rescue package is deeply flawed. Blome also has a piece in today’s edition entitled: “Despite our joke-prize this is why we stand by our views”, in which he argues that Bild‘s coverage has been justified, pointing out that:

We said: “Sell your islands, you bankrupt Greeks”, and as promised this is what is happening; 70,000 state-owned properties are available for sale in Greece, including a complete peninsula and a small mountain.

Blome points out that where Bild has led others have followed. It has also set the parameters of the debate in the German media; it points out that its descriptions of Greece as a land where no-one pays their taxes, or its calls for Greece to be thrown out of the euro altogether were subsequently picked up by more ‘respectable’ publications such as Suddeutsche, FAZ and Der Spiegel. Furthermore Blome points out that the possibility of a Greek exit from the euro was recently acknowledged by Angela Merkel – 18 months after Bild first raised it. Blome concludes by saying:

“We are proud of this award…Would Greece really be in a better state if we had kept our mouths shut?…Beheading the messenger is a well established tradition, however this will not bring back the old order of the European elites… the word ‘thistle’ derives from the old Indo-Germanic language and means ‘spiky’ and ‘pungent’: That is what we want to be. Be glad that we exist!”