(DEUTSCHE ÜBERSETZUNG HIER / GERMAN TRANSLATION HERE)
UPDATE: Victory for Davids Medienkritik: Stern Drops Hate-America Headline
Subject: Stern Magazine Online: “Americans Could Care Less About the Rest of Humanity”
To the editors and staff of Stern.de:
I am writing this letter to express deep concern about your series entitled “The History of the USA.” This series, which has been a feature on your website for several years, includes the following headline:
“The History of the USA: No nation has ever dominated the globe like the USA. And its people could care less about the rest of humanity.” (circled below)
This statement is particularly troubling because it demonizes an entire nation as indifferent, uncaring and unconcerned with anyone or anything beyond its national boundaries. The series headline, published for all of Stern’s readers to see, openly declares that all Americans could care less about the rest of humanity. Not only is it patently false for reasons too numerous to list here, it is also slanderous, bigoted and profoundly ignorant. In a legal sense, it may actually violate German laws against Volksverhetzung. Whatever the legal implications may be, one honestly must ask: How could any thinking person claim or even imply that all 300 million Americans, taken individually or as a whole, are indifferent to the fate of the rest of humanity? How can a publication like Stern Online, read by millions of Germans, allow such an obviously stupid and hateful statement to accompany a series on American history for years on end?
In closing, the above-mentioned headline is all the more troubling because your publication has a long and ugly history of exploiting anti-American sentiment to boost magazine sales and increase profits. Let me point out just a few recent examples (more here):
The incredible lack of journalistic integrity and responsibility displayed in Stern’s “The History of the USA” series and in many other Stern articles is deeply troubling to the readership of Davids Medienkritik. We ask that you remove the statement in question and offer your readers a full and public apology. We sincerely hope that, in the future, your publication will refrain from the opportunistic exploitation of your readership’s anti-American sentiments.
Sincerely Yours,
David Kaspar
Davids Medienkritik
Note to readers: Stern is one of Germany’s most popular, widely read weekly magazines. If you would like to join us in calling for the removal of the above statement, Stern can be contacted HERE. Instructions:
1. Select “stern.de” and click red Empfänger auswählen button.
2. Select “Kritik am Online-Angebot”.
3. Enter your first/last name (Vorname, Name), email address (Email), subject (Betreff), and message (Nachricht).
4. Click red “Nachricht absenden” button to send.
Feel free to write in the language of your choice and keep your comments civil and respectful.
