ARD questions all staff in Gaza after the ZDF scandal | EUROtoday

It is a course of that additional undermines the credibility of the ÖRR. After it turned recognized {that a} technician working for a ZDF associate firm was a Hamas terrorist, ARD had all of its staff reassure themselves that there was “no proximity to terrorist organizations.” The ARD Tel Aviv studio works with “a few individuals” in Gaza.

“The collaboration with these people has been trusting for several years and began before October 7, 2023. In a series of personal conversations and previous encounters, they have made it clear to employees of the ARD Tel Aviv studio that there is no proximity to terrorist organizations. They have currently assured this again,” mentioned Bayerischer Rundfunk, which is chargeable for the ARD Tel Aviv studio, in response to a WELT request, thereby confirming a report within the “Bild” newspaper.

In addition, additional measures had been taken at an early stage to confirm the data. For instance, social media profiles of the folks involved had been evaluated. All materials from Gaza is processed within the ARD Tel Aviv studio “according to strict journalistic criteria. This includes, among other things, comparison with other sources, such as international aid organizations and the Israeli armed forces,” in response to the BR.

However, the BR leaves a lot of WELT’s questions unanswered. It stays unclear precisely what number of ARD staff there are within the Gaza Strip, how they had been checked by ARD Tel Aviv and to what extent. In addition, the BR left unanswered the query of whether or not the “eyewitnesses” within the Gaza Strip, whose accounts the broadcasters relied on, for instance when reporting on the Al-Shifa Hospital, had been additionally “employees” and whether or not they had additionally been checked for doable Hamas affiliation.

ARD works with “individuals” in Gaza

All worldwide media depend on the so-called native employees when reporting from the Gaza Strip, as entry to the realm for worldwide media has been largely blocked by Israel since October 7, 2023. According to its personal info, in contrast to ZDF, ARD doesn’t work with different manufacturing corporations or media places of work within the Gaza Strip, “but only with a few individuals”.

At the start of the week, ZDF introduced {that a} technician from a manufacturing firm who was killed in an Israeli assault in Gaza on October nineteenth was, in response to credible Israeli info, a member of a sub-organization of the terrorist group Hamas. The station had beforehand denied Hamas membership. After the terrorist membership turned recognized, the broadcaster stopped working with the manufacturing firm till additional discover.