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Yilmaz Gülüm, editor of "Report #56 Just more of the same? Have you heard that Corona is just a pretext to expropriate the middle class and make the rich much, much richer? If so, then at least not on ORF. What sounds illogical and raises more questions than answers is one of the more common conspiracy theories that the pandemic has spawned. Those who believe in such narratives are united by one thing: the rock-solid conviction that the Corona coverage in the established media is manipulative and that the "important" questions must not be asked.
This conviction also comes from the fact that many believe they are much more broadly informed than, say, just looking at ORF's news programme "Zeit im Bild": They consume various YouTube channels, land on the most diverse platforms via Google, and get information on Facebook that they don't read anywhere else. Often, however, this is only apparent diversity. The algorithms of these platforms only give their users what they assume will be well received by these users. "More of the same", in other words.

Today it's Corona, a few years ago it was the refugee issue and the "lying press" that was supposedly not allowed to report on the planned "great population swap". And as soon as the next socially dominant topic comes along, there will again be the narrative that in truth everything is quite different - and that the media are not to be trusted.
With smaller issues, this is constantly evident. How else could it be explained that many Turkish migrants, for example, have such a diametrically different image of Turkish President Erdogan than people who mainly consume Austrian media?

If we can no longer agree on central facts, then the foundations of our society and democracy erode. The ORF must therefore be given the legal means to comprehensively inform all people in this country. On whatever channels. Only when we are allowed to take to the field on the internet can we counter with what we do best: With serious, excellent journalism.