Games 'Kids' Play

It's a fairly stupid discussion, but German public TV....Channel One (ARD)....stepped into another mess, intentionally.

US President Donald Trump went to Davos and delivered a speech.  You can go to YouTube and listen to it.  Note, this version is the unaltered version.

So, we come to this amusing and juvenile-like game that ARD played.  With multiple mics spread around the room...the game was played this way.  Shockingly enough....applause came with various Trump comments.  Even CNN noted this and felt absolutely shocked that learned individuals and people interested in economics....applauded Trump.  Patiently, ARD waited and then a few boos occurred. 

On the unaltered version of the video, you do barely hear them, and it's a minor deal.  On ARD's version....played to the German public, the boo-level is pumped up.  At some point during the day, as this tape is played over and over for the ARD news audience....people went and compared the sound levels and then came back to ask ARD questions, and criticize the juvenile behavior.

The crew in charge of the ARD coverage at Davos?  The Tagesschau folks....the late-night news team.

Tagesschau came back later to defend itself....saying 'yes'....they made the sound from certain corners of the room and pumped up the sound to a higher level.  Then they state their position: "Only in this way can we reflect what our correspondents have reported. The microphone in the room was mostly recorded by Trump and little of the atmosphere in the hall. "

At some point in the Twitter criticism that followed....it became a curious jab at ARD.  The comment that triggered the boos centered around 'fake news', and Trump had made another statement dumping on fake news.  Someone by the name of neythoas on Twitter then leveled a five-star blast at ARD...."Do you notice something else? You confirm exactly what Trump accuses you all. "

The Tagesschau then stood around defended various blasts coming from Germans, who note that they are fairly fed-up with the public TV news department.  As Tagesschau did note correctly....you have newspapers who often go and use a color-filtered or particular photo to demonstrate some negative aspect on some individual.  So it's within the right of Tagesschau's journalists to perform the same type 'trick'.

I sat and paused over this journalistic battle that ensued.  Yes, boos did occur....on most all recordings....a handful were noted.  The idea that more than half the audience uttered a boo?  No...it's probably six to ten individuals.  I looked at the video of the room and would judge there were a minimum of 500 folks sitting there.

As for ARD and the Tagesschau team?  The juvenile game played out actually made them more of the news, than the Trump speech itself.  If you alter the sound or image, is that factual or altered news?  Is it fake news or manipulated news?  Where else does manipulation occur on a frequent basis?  This drives the general public to question the ethics of the journalists. 

In a way, this little visit by Trump and a 30-minute speech to a room of dull economic experts....has set up a confrontation with the German public and ARD's Tagesschau crew.  It was a simple game that Tagesschau wanted to play, and they got caught....oddly, they desperately want to defend their game....which only makes the frustration of the public that much worse.