A reporter from German TV station RTL apologized after smearing herself in mud before recording a report in a town devastated by floods this week.
Susanna Ohlen has been put on a leave of absence after she tried to fool audiences by suggesting she had helped with the clean-up effort in Bad Munstereifel following destructive flooding that took the lives of at least 128 people in Germany.
Later on, Susanna made an Instagram post apologizing for her shameful mistake.
She wrote the following:
“After I had already helped privately in the region in the previous days, I was ashamed in front of the other helpers that morning to be in front of the camera in a clean top.
Then, without thinking twice, I smeared mud on my clothes. As a journalist, I should have never done that. As a person who cares about the suffering of all those affected, I did that. I’m sorry.”
View this post on Instagram
A spokesperson for the TV station said:
“Our reporter’s approach clearly contradicts journalistic principles and our own standards. We therefore gave her leave of absence on Monday after we heard about it.”
“Sans réfléchir, j'ai étalé de la boue sur mes vêtements” : la journaliste Susanna Ohlen a voulu faire croire qu'elle venait d'aider les sinistré·e·s en Allemagne. Sauf qu'un habitant a tout filmé… Regardez : pic.twitter.com/k002D3jasV
— AJ+ français (@ajplusfrancais) July 25, 2021
RTL did not mention whether further disciplinary action would be taken against the reporter.
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