The left-liberal German local newspaper Lippische Landes-Zeitung has found a creative solution to the problem of uncomfortable statements from political opponents – they report their own interview subjects to the police.
The newspaper in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia interviewed AfD’s mayoral candidate Jirka Möller. But the editorial staff became so concerned about what the 53-year-old said that they both censored the interview and sent the deleted parts “to responsible authorities for review”.
Möller, a trained chef and family man, had according to the newspaper made statements that could be “unconstitutional” or could “show far-right extremist tendencies”.
When the interview was published, it was filled with the editorial staff’s own comments in italics. These were claimed to “put the statements in context”.
The newspaper dismissed, among other things, Möller’s claim that the German government is controlled by a “new world order” as a “far-right conspiracy theory without evidence”, reports the conservative Junge Freiheit.
“Presumably punishable statements”
The editorial staff also corrected his claim that AfD is no longer classified as “confirmed far-right extremist”. The newspaper was careful to emphasize that this classification has only been “publicly suspended” due to ongoing legal proceedings.
Other statements that received fact-checks concerned everything from entry rules at Swiss swimming facilities to alleged “Islamist invasion” on orders from Iran, as well as Möller’s comparison between gender-inclusive language and George Orwell.
As recently as August 5, the newspaper presented its new policy for handling AfD politicians. Going forward, all interviews will be commented on, allegedly false claims will be marked, and “presumably punishable statements” will not only be censored but also reported to authorities.
Was die Lippische Landes-Zeitung (LZ) mit einem Interviewpartner gemacht hat, ist ein eklatanter Verstoß gegen journalistische Prinzipien.
Nachdem eine Redakteurin mit dem AfD-Kandidaten für das Bürgermeisteramt in Extertal, Jirka Möller, gesprochen hatte, meldete die Redaktion… pic.twitter.com/XxSnt31UOP
— Janina Lionello (@janinisabel) August 13, 2025
Trend in German media
Lippische Landes-Zeitung is not alone in taking a very clear stance against AfD and other less immigration-critical parties. In Aachen, the similarly left-liberal Aachener Zeitung has, for example, organized 16 election debates ahead of the municipal election – but excluded AfD from all of them.
— We report objectively, as neutrally as we can, about everything that happens. But we comment very, very clearly – and that against AfD. Consistently. There is no colleague who doesn’t do it, explained an editor.
AfD’s local branch accuses the newspaper of controlling coverage “through a filter”, where who gets invited to debates depends on how favorably the editorial staff writes about each respective party.
According to the party’s representatives, there is hardly any room for neutral opinion formation when the newspaper has taken such an openly hostile stance against the party in question.
