MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Namely, people increasingly express their protest against what they deem as inappropriate coverage and sweeping conclusions about the tragedy by the tabloid, which circulates over 2 million copies daily.
“With his article in the Bild on March 25 about the terrible crash of the Germanwings flight in the French Alps on March 24, Mr. Wagner went too far. His lines are disrespectful and silly and have nothing to do with journalism,” the petition text on Change.org said, demanding that the article by Bild journalist Franz Josef Wagner be deleted.
Some of the German retailers went further and declared a boycott against the newspaper.
On March 27, ARAL petrol station in western Germany ceased to sell Bild over its questionable coverage of the events surrounding the crash. ARAL said on its Facebook page that it hoped for customers’ understanding in its stance against the “hate campaign” that Bild was conducting.
The announcement inspired other retailers to join the boycott. On Monday, Post Rutesheim, not far from Stuttgart, announced its decision to stop selling the tabloid. The movement was quickly picked up by a number of separate retailers.
To date, the initial ARAL statement gathered over 100,000 “likes” on Facebook.
According to the free press activists on Facebook, Bild targets “lazy Greeks, war-oriented Russians, Hartz IV recepients who are not willing to work.”
Bild is notorious for its scandalous revelations and images. In 2012, a massive political scandal broke out in Germany after Bild revealed information alleging that Germany’s then-President Christian Wulff had potentially been involved in a corruption deal. Wulff reportedly called the newspaper’s editor-in-chief and threatened consequences should the article be published. The incident and subsequent media hype prompted Wulff to resign.
