This past 10th of July, a video of Merkel shaking in public widely circulated through the net, raising outrage against publications sharing it.
Artículo disponible en Español | Article disponible en Français
The current German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has been seen shaking at various occasions over the past few weeks, raising questions about her health, both in Germany and in other European countries. The incident taking place this past 10th of July was the third time she was seen shaking in public in recent weeks, with the leader commenting in a press conference that she was fine, and people should not worry.
The two previous incidents to this one took place on the 18th and the 27th of June, while in presence of other important political figures, such as Ukraine’s new president.
Whether for good or for bad, Angela Merkel has been the German chancellor since 2005, and is now on her fourth term, due to finish in 2021, an impressive feat for any political leader democratically elected. Even if her policies were at times criticized by both Germans and foreign citizens from other European countries, it is hard to deny that she managed to maintain stability in her country for nearly 15 years now. But, as her last term approaches the end, with the political leader announcing her intention to retire in 2021, as previously mentioned, various events seem to be interfering with the development of her last few years, such as what would seem to be personal health issues.
The past few events were widely covered by the press, always looking for the next big thing to exploit. This same mainstream media will then complain about a lack of trust and interest from the public, wondering why more and more people hate them. While the intend of these questionable practices is understood, as the public does have the right to at least know an important political leader seems to be having some health issues, the execution in this case is plain horrible, with one example being the BBC, one of UK’s many tabloids, receiving a huge amount of backlash over their 1 minute clip of Merkel trembling in public. In this absolutely disgusting video, shared on social media platforms such as Instagram, the journalist/paparazzi zooms and focuses on the German leader and her hands for longer than necessary, instead of focusing on the ongoing event. Not much else is needed to be said, with the top comments reflecting the general opinion of the public on the matter:
We’ve decided to not embed nor directly share the video on our article, although we are aware linking to the source is needed, for those interested in verifying our claims.
Meanwhile, in Germany, the only few “news outlets” talking about the matter were the usual garbage tabloids, such as Bild, which is the equivalent to The Sun, The Daily Mail or Daily Express in the UK, essentially questioning Merkel’s health, with the only goal of stirring trouble and fear in order to sell more.
The comments on the BBC post seem to correspond more or less to the opinion of Germans, with a survey conducted in the past few days for the regional newspaper “Augsburger Allgemeine” showing nearly 60% of Germans believe Merkel’s health issues are private.
Mainstream media should start questioning their ethics, with too many similar articles published on a regular basis, undermining the public’s trust and eroding their interest, pushing them to consume alternative media or give up entirely on keeping up to date on important events concerning all of us, such as important political events, advances in technology and medicine, and many other subjects worth keeping track.
More on this subject:
