Despite warnings, media attention appears to be strengthening the AfD. How should the media and politics react?
Berlin – The AfD is celebrating its eleventh birthday and is more present in the media than ever before. Despite ongoing warnings about the party from politicians and the media, attention seems to be drawing more and more people to the AfD. The old saying “there is no such thing as bad advertising” seems to apply to the AfD. Other parties are therefore calling for different media coverage of the self-proclaimed Alternative for Germany.
FDP politician Kemmerich: “The AfD is often reported too one-sidedly”
Thomas Kemmerich, Thuringia's FDP leader and short-term Prime Minister through votes from the AfD, speaks to our editorial team about the role of the media. “Reports about the AfD are often too one-sided.” Kemmerich resigned a few days after the 2020 election due to the AfD votes and handed over the office of Prime Minister again to Bodo Ramelow (Left). There will be state elections again in Thuringia in the fall, as well as in Saxony and Brandenburg. According to surveys, the AfD is leading in all federal states. The pressure on the other parties is increasing.
Kemmerich calls for reports about the AfD to focus more on their specific political positions and their impact on people. An analysis by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) shows that the AfD's own supporters, who often live in structurally weak regions with low or middle incomes, would particularly suffer from the AfD program.
“We make too many mistakes in dealing with the AfD, and by that I also mean us as politicians. As a society, we have to approach the issues addressed by the AfD differently,” said Kemmerich. “It is not enough to focus on the AfD’s eternal stigma as a right-wing extremist.”
AfD with “real chances for power in Saxony and Thuringia”
Hajo Funke, right-wing extremism expert and professor emeritus at the Free University of Berlin, shares this assessment. He has been involved with the AfD for years and describes it as a “right-wing extremist party that wants to know and that has a real chance of gaining power in Saxony and Thuringia.” According to Funke, AfD politicians “have little in mind for this republic and instead want a ethnic, national one”.
“That’s why it makes sense not to demonize the AfD, but rather to make it clear what danger it poses,” said the expert. What this means specifically for the media is that it is not enough to simply describe the AfD as a right-wing extremist party. Instead, there should be more discussion about their plans for Germany. For example, about the “well-tempered cruelty” that Björn Höcke calls for when dealing with refugees. Or about deportation plans for people who have lived and worked in Germany for decades. But also about the possibilities in which the AfD could reshape the judiciary in its favor if it wins elections in Saxony and Thuringia. “It is based on illiberal structures like in Hungary and could quickly implement measures to dismantle democracy even at the state level,” said Funke.
Demands from the SPD: Talk less about strategy and more about people
Henning Homann, state chairman of the Saxon SPD, also wants to focus more on content in political discourse. “Last year I conducted two interviews on the topic of wage inequality and 50 on the AfD,” said Homann. “We don’t talk about the people out there. We are turning our attention to ourselves.” The Social Democrat advocates less discussion about poll numbers and strategies. “Interviews are not about the fact that the average Saxon earns 700 euros less gross per month than his West German colleague.”
The demand from politicians is: look more at the people, less at the AfD. For extremism researcher Funke, however, this is only half the story. He also sees the strong support for the right-wing party as being due to the “pathetic image” that the other parties at the federal and state level are currently often portraying “because they only argue publicly.”
The role of the media is not the only reason for the AfD's high approval ratings
However, criticism of the contending centrist parties and the media is not the only reason for the AfD's high approval ratings. An extensive study on the AfD by the Otto Brenner Foundation last year showed that 90 percent of AfD voters in the 2021 federal election said they felt well represented by the party. It is no longer enough to just swing the right-wing extremist club. According to political expert Funke, the governing parties in particular need to make better policies.
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