Journalists contracts specify required political views

Posted by Martin Stabe on 11 May 2006 at 09:48
Tags: Journalism

The web site of the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel has posted the full transcript of an interview given by US President George W. Bush to Kai Diekmann, a reporter from Bild am Sonntag — a German paper roughly equivalent to the News of the World.

There’s an interesting exchange about journalists’ terms of employment at the redtop:

BILD: BILD has 12 million readers. It’s the largest newspaper in Germany. And there’s one thing which is really special about our newspaper — every German who wants to work for the newspaper, he has to sign in his working contrasts some beliefs — and there’s the belief you have to be for reunification, you have to be against totalitarianism from riots on the right side and the left side, and you have to be for the peace and for the understanding with Israel, and, since September 11th, we have a new belief — you have to be for partnership with America. Otherwise, you can’t work for us, you can’t come — you have to sign it in your contract.

Bush: My kind of guy. (Laughter.)

Tags: Journalism