The Swiss publisher Michael Ringier defends former chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD). Of course one could criticize his role in connection with Putin and Gazprom. However, anyone who only portrays him as a greedy pariah loses “all political and journalistic decency”.

The Swiss publisher Michael Ringier has written a remarkable text in which he defends former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) against the sometimes massive criticism he is facing in Germany. At this point, FOCUS Online publishes the article “The arbitrariness of benevolence” that was written in April and originally appeared in the current issue of Ringier’s company magazine “DOMO”.

It took some effort, but then my wife and I decided to spread “Inventing Anna” over three evenings instead of pulling in the Netflix production in a single series marathon night. The film about Anna Sorokin, who was convicted of serious fraud, has absolute addictive potential.

I recently read the latest from Anna in the renowned art newspaper “Art Newspaper”. There she was celebrated as the star of an exhibition in a New York gallery. Works that she had drawn in prison were shown. Price according to “Schweizer Illustrierte”: from 10,000 francs. Whether this is really art was not discussed further.

Another criminal was artistically ennobled by journalists, who affectionately dubbed him “master forger”. Wolfgang Beltracchi – sentenced to six years in prison for commercial gang fraud – made a meteoric career after his early release. There were various TV documentaries about him and his counterfeiting manager and wife Helene. Prominent contemporaries such as the actor Christoph Waltz, the comedian Otto or the extreme mountaineer Reinhold Messner had their portraits taken – under the spotlight and in front of the cameras of the cultural broadcaster 3sat.

But alleged or convicted murderers can certainly count on sympathy from the media. O.J. Simpson was an American football superstar and even made it into the cult comedy The Naked Gun. In the mid-1990s, an American grand jury acquitted him of the murder of his ex-wife for lack of evidence. In the civil trial, he was subsequently sentenced to pay more than $30 million to the bereaved. However, that didn’t stop him from appearing on television and writing a book called If I Did It. The publication was banned, but the online version can still be downloaded today.

In the case of Patrizia Reggiani, on the other hand, the evidence seemed clear. That’s why she was sentenced to 29 years in prison for the contract killing of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci in the late 1990s. After her dismissal for good behavior in 2016, she gave various interviews. From the trivialization of her act to jokes about it, everything was published without too much inquiry and a photo of her with a parrot on her arm was diligently printed. The film about her and her crimes, starring Lady Gaga as the murderess, has already grossed over $150 million.

All of these stories went through my head as I read the coverage of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder over the past few days. After all, one of the most successful German politicians of the past few decades, from whose reforms Angela Merkel, according to her own statement, has benefited greatly.

There was talk of Putin’s errand boy and a joke figure, the “Bild” called him “Gazprom-Gerd” and accused him of only traveling to Moscow to collect his money from Putin personally as a member of the supervisory board.

The former Juso chairman and current general secretary Kevin Kühnert, whose life’s work so far has mainly consisted of a brash mouth, proudly announced that the mugs with Gerhard Schröder’s picture had been removed from the SPD shop. Exclusion from the party is under discussion as I write these lines, he has returned honorary citizenship to the city of Hanover himself, and honorary membership of the German Football Association is also in the past.

The pressure on his employees, including the threatened loss of pension, was immense, and the siege of journalists, including the children, is now part of everyday life.

So that’s the reaction to someone who supposedly sits on the wrong board. Of course one can criticize Gerhard Schröder’s role and condemn him for it. However, anyone who denies him any honorable intentions and only portrays him as a greedy pariah loses all political and journalistic decency – especially in view of the fact that Gerhard Schröder was probably the only person in the first weeks of the war who did not bother with either side as a politician, but could communicate as a friend.

But the digital world demands attention and not deliberation. “Thinking is difficult, that’s why most judge.” Unfortunately, this statement by the psychiatrist C. G. Jung is more relevant than ever.

About the author:

Michael Ringier was born on March 30, 1949 in Zofingen (Switzerland). He is married and has two daughters. Together with his sister Evelyn Lingg-Ringier, he is the owner of Ringier AG, which owns around 100 media and entertainment brands in Europe, Africa and Asia, including “Blick”, “Bilanz”, “Cash”, “GaultMillau” and “Schweizer Illustrierte”. “. Michael Ringier began his journalistic career in 1973 with the “Münchner Abendzeitung”. Among other things, he worked for the economics department of “Stern” and designed the magazine “impulse”. In 1983 he moved to Ringier’s management board and is now President of Ringier Holding AG.