Relotius 2.0…Spiegel caught lying about Louisiana conservatives…paranoid, “Fox News-brainwashed” residents
NIUS’s Julian Reichelt exposes lies about Louisiana conservatives by Spiegel reporter Jonah Lemm. Image cropped here.
Germany’s NIUS has video report titled: “The Fairy Tale Reporters: Police video exposes how the mirror manipulates!” which critically examines a report by the news magazine Der Spiegel and accuses the outlet of spreading untruths to serve a specific ideological narrative.
Spiegel reporter’s false claim
NIUS anchor Julian Reichelt claims Der Spiegel “invents” or massively distorts stories to fit a narrative of a “dark, racist America” under Donald Trump. The focus is on a report by Spiegel journalist Jonah Lemm about a small town in Louisiana (Winfield). In his article, Lemm described a threatening atmosphere in which he was allegedly driven out of town by paranoid, “Fox News-brainwashed” residents and the police.
Police footage contradicts Spiegel claims
But Reichelt presents US police bodycam footage that shows this was not the case.
Winfield residents became suspicious because Spiegel reporter Lemm had filmed underage cheerleaders and later drove past the home of one of the girls.
The footage then shows officers speaking politely with the Spiegel reporter, offering advice, and even offering him protection should he feel unsafe.
And while Lemm’s article mocks the religious faith of the residents, he is shown on-site in the NIUS video telling the officers that he thought the prayer before the football game was “cool” as he is a Protestant himself.
Intentional propaganda …”one of the worst journalistic pieces”
In his report, Reichelt concludes that the Spiegel story’s angle was predetermined before the trip to Louisiana even began, and that facts were deliberately omitted or twisted to confirm clichés about Southerners.
The Sheriff of Winfield, Josh McAllister, is quoted in the video describing the Spiegel article as one of the “worst journalistic pieces” he has ever read. He emphasized that Lemm drew attention not because of his nationality, but because of his suspicious behavior toward children.
Der Spiegel stated upon inquiry that no misconduct by the reporter was identified and that the cheerrleader recordings were intended solely for documentation purposes, not for publication.
NIUS interprets this as evidence of a lack of “error culture” at the magazine.
NIUS’s Reichelt sharply criticizes Der Spiegel and views the Lemm misreporting as an example of how Spiegel creates propaganda to spread “fake news” about conservative parts of the United States.
Also read NIUS article here.
Jonah Lemm – – “Bless his little heart!”