Source: Xinhua| 2017-07-21 19:40:07|Editor: ying

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BERLIN, July 21 (Xinhua) -- German newspapers did not cover the refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016 with sufficient criticism and objectivity. This is the central finding of a new study that the Otto Brenner Foundation will publish on Monday, German newspaper Zeit reported Friday.

The study criticizes German mainstream media for their unconditional support of Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy.

The authors of the study, conducted by the Hamburg Media School and the University of Leipzig, claim that during the refugee crisis of 2015 and 2016, important German daily newspapers failed to report in a critical manner.

Not only had the mainstream media backed Merkel's refugee policy without question, they had also adopted the "slogans of the political elite" and spread a "euphemistic-persuasive diction" of the concept of "welcome culture".

The German "welcome culture has been glorified into a kind of magic word" with which "the services which can be voluntarily provided by the citizens could be morally requested," the study concludes.

The head of the study, Professor Michael Haller, voiced his concern that an "identity and structural crisis" has hit the media sector. "Many journalists have misunderstood their professional role and neglected the informative function of their media."

According to the report, several thousand articles from German newspapers WELT, Bild, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Sueddeutsche Zeitung as well as numerous regional newspapers were analyzed from February 2015 to March 2016.