'It is not in the US interest that a prosperous, cooperative relationship between Russia and the EU exist'

Gabriele Krone-Schmalz is a German broadcast journalist and author with an academic background in Eastern European history and political science. She is the author of several books on Russia and today works as a freelance journalist.

This article originally appeared at Telepolis. Translated from German by Hugo Chavez

At a recent launch in Hanover of her book, “Understanding Russia - The battle for the Ukraine and the arrogance of the West”, Gabriele Krone-Schmalz, the former Moscow correspondent at the German ARD broadcaster, raised the topic of Russia's never-ending demonisation in the German media and signalled a warning about the increasing loss of democratic values in the German media industry.

Krone-Schmalz pointed out how rare it has become to find reports which are not extremely critical of Russia and argued in favour of a more moderate and understanding position on the country. She also called for higher professional journalistic standards in Germany.

There is now such a significant gap between public and published opinion in Germany that she has become seriously concerned about its democratic institutions. She received vocal public support and applause during the sold-out lecture being held at the Decius book store.

“Increasing numbers of people no longer see their views represented in the pluralist media landscape”, Krone-Schmalz criticised. This leads to frustration and stokes extremism. “Should it remain like this we'll soon be reduced to viewing our system in a museum.” The journalist was especially critical about the coverage of international topics.

Extreme black or white Russian themes

The German media has, for years, demonised Russia through the use of extreme black or white themes. Double standards are often used, she explained during the lecture from her book, “Understanding Russia”, that has also been available in the Russian language since September.

German media regularly complained about “armed Russians standing around everywhere” during the Crimea Referendum in March 2014. “What are we then supposed to make of voting decisions in the Kiev Parliament, subsequent to it being stormed and taken over by armed gangs?” This topic was never discussed.

Russia is criticised when Ukrainian broadcasts are taken off the air in the Crimea yet at the same time the German media mostly ignores it when Russian broadcasters are switched off in Ukraine. This and many more such examples show that countless top-journalists only feel themselves bound to (impartial, journalist - Ed.) “values” when it suits them. “The Odessa massacre story had the potential for a 'ARD Focus' or 'Today Special' broadcast”, said Krone-Schmalz. Yet, no special programs were made because it was politically inconvenient for the West to show the responsible perpetrators, namely Ukrainian Nationalists.

“What kind of impression does this create on people in Russia and the Ukraine?”, asked the Eastern Europe historian. In Russia, this one-sided attitude from the German media is widely recognised. She is often asked why Germany allows itself to be used as an instrument of US foreign policy.

During subsequent conversations with Russian interviewees of German media programming, Krone-Schmalz often heard how upset they were upon seeing how their contributions were edited and reconstructed.

Manipulation of words

Krone-Schmalz explained that the German media makes use of manipulative and misleading language when dealing with Russian topics. After former Ukrainian President Yanukovych was deposed by the Maidan coup, Turchinov, his successor, was named as the “interim president” while the new head of government in the Crimea was described as an “illegitimate prime minister”.

Even though it was not known who had shot down flight MH-17, media headlines screamed that a “Russian BUK” was responsible. The combination of many such deceptive subtleties have an impact, the journalist summarized.

Every week a new demonisation or misleading article about Russia might appear in the German media. She personally experienced how interviews in which she participated were blocked from appearing in German newspapers by media executives and how her contributions to TV-reports were cut from programming. “It then always annoys me how people here in Germany complain about the supposed lack of press freedom in Russia”, Krone-Schmalz said.

It is unpleasant that propaganda-coloured news is presented in Russia, yet, over there one also finds live-broadcasts in which journalists ask extremely critical questions of high-placed politicians, Krone-Schmalz explained.

“Something like this would be scarcely imaginable in Germany.”

Correspondents judge more than they report

“Today, German foreign correspondents often spend more time judging instead of reporting”, the former Moscow correspondent criticised during a follow-up conversation with Telepolis. “Due to technical advances they can now, unlike in the past, produce fast and unsophisticated contributions. Unfortunately there is now less time to conduct thorough research and interview people. It is insufficient to only conduct research on Google”, she emphasized. Journalists dare not only rely on press agency reports. “I also miss hearing critical questions from colleagues. Many questions are simply not being asked any longer.”

Krone-Schmalz is very critical of the media's obsession with perpetuating personality cults. “We moved very quickly from Gorby-euphoria to Putin-phobia. The demonisation of the current Russian President has a lot more to do with playing politics than it has to do with explaining politics. The German media wants to collectively present a one-dimensional picture of Russia, they criticise it to maintain an image of a Cold War enemy,” she explained.

Cooperation with Russia is necessary

The global state of political affairs makes cooperation with Russia even more urgent. “All the corners of the world are burning. It would be intelligent to involve Russia internationally. The war in Eastern Ukraine could have been prevented had Moscow been consulted early on”, believes Krone-Schmalz. “Instead we now have a Western sanctions regime in place against Russia in which the German government is complicit.”

Previous Federal German Republic politicians such as Konrad Adenauer (visited Moscow in 1955) or Willy Brandt and Egon Bahr (change through rapprochement) did not cave in to Western pressure and acted in the German national interest.

After Germany's re-unification, Russian politicians harboured hopes that Germany would advocate in Russia's favour inside the EU, particularly considering the Russo-phobic views which exist for historical reasons amongst certain EU members. Whilst Chancellor Merkel has dismissed some of the more trivial anti-Russian decisions, she has generally towed the NATO line.

“The EU urgently needs Russia as a partner, otherwise Europe will be crushed between the major world powers”, Krone-Schmalz emphasized. “However, it is not in the US interest that a prosperous, cooperative relationship between Russia and the EU exists. The US makes no secret of this fact, it is written in their official documents.”

We need a thaw in political relations. Unfortunately it is now very difficult because Russia has been thrown out of many institutions such as the G8. The NATO-Russia Council was suspended. “Just how many things have been broken?”, she asks. “The media have quite an opportunity to mend relations again. For example, in Russia there are many politicians who are doing their best for their regions and who unceremoniously fulfil their tasks. It would be worthwhile for the German media to sometimes recognise and support the work of these people but unfortunately they are not as telegenic (and sensational - Ed.) as Pussy Riot.”