“We have to invite them” – Caren Miosga for more AfD politicians on talk shows

For talk show host Caren Miosga, there is no way around inviting AfD politicians: "It is the largest opposition party in the Bundestag. So we have to invite them, even if the party wants to abolish public broadcasting," she told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung".

But your editorial team is thinking carefully about "how often and why we do this. I can no longer accept the argument that they shouldn't be given a platform. They have their own platforms."

The ARD presenter added that it is important to accompany the show online with a fact check: "At best, I should immediately correct such false statements in the show, and we prepare ourselves so that we usually succeed. But if not, we provide it later. Both are important."

Miosga added that she often had the impression that representatives of the AfD were not really interested in a constructive conversation during the broadcast: "It is all the more important to correct false statements or decipher rhetorical strategies. Not in order to be morally outraged, but to clarify what the facts are."

The AfD had a parallel media strategy from the start, the moderator continued: "If you see how Ulrich Siegmund drove around on his moped and primarily spread a good atmosphere - that was primarily social media PR. It is well filmed, there are streamers who accompany it completely uncritically. It is all the more important that we report on their political content and goals in the classic media."