Money from Russia to journalists: book sales stopped
In response to media reports about alleged payments from Russia to the award-winning journalist Hubert Seipel, the publishing house Hoffmann und Campe has stopped selling his books about Vladimir Putin. At the request of the German Press Agency, the Hamburg publishing house announced on Tuesday: "Hoffmann und Campe Verlag has decided to no longer offer Hubert Seipel's books for sale due to the report published by "Der Spiegel" and ZDF." The publisher had no knowledge of the facts described. In recent years, the author and journalist has published two non-fiction books about Russian President Putin.
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) also announced on Tuesday evening that it was considering legal action. The Grimme Prize-winning journalist reportedly produced a documentary about Putin for the ARD broadcaster in 2012 and conducted interviews with the Russian president and whistleblower Edward Snowden, who had fled the USA, in 2014.
Previously, "Spiegel" and ZDF had reported on alleged payments of hundreds of thousands of euros to the journalist, which are said to have been intended for book projects. The media referred to confidential documents from Cypriot financial service providers. Together with the "International Consortium of Investigative Journalists" (ICIJ), corresponding data leaks had been evaluated. dpa asked Seipel for a statement on the reports and the alleged payments on Tuesday afternoon. He had not responded by the evening.
"Spiegel" and ZDF reported that the journalist had made a statement to them. According to a YouTube post by ZDF "frontal", he is said to have stated that he had never received money from third parties for films or television interviews. At the same time, according to "Spiegel", he is said to have acknowledged support with regard to book projects. The contract in question therefore stipulates that the author has no obligations to the sponsor in relation to the project - "...(neither in relation to the content or composition of the book or in any other respect) or its completion", "Spiegel" quotes.
The NDR statement said that the broadcaster had contacted the author and those responsible at the production company. "Seipel admitted to NDR that he had received money from Alexey Mordashov via two "sponsorship contracts" in 2013 and 2018 and explained that it was for two book projects." Mordashov is considered a Russian oligarch. He has been a major shareholder in Tui for many years. The EU placed Mordashov on its sanctions list at the end of February 2022. dpa asked Mordashov for a statement - initially there was no response.
NDR went on to say: "Seipel did not disclose the conclusion of the contracts to NDR at the time. The broadcaster sees this as a significant conflict of interest that casts doubt on Seipel's journalistic independence." The journalist should therefore have disclosed the contract to the production company and the broadcaster. Seipel last worked for the public broadcaster NDR in 2019.
NDR director Joachim Knuth was quoted in the press release as saying: "There is a suspicion that we, and therefore our audience, have been deliberately deceived. We are now investigating this and considering legal action." The processes surrounding the commissioning and realization of the films that Seipel made for NDR will be thoroughly investigated. Former "Spiegel" editor-in-chief Steffen Klusmann has been engaged for this purpose. NDR requires in production contracts and compliance rules that possible conflicts of interest are disclosed and that the journalistic work is carried out free from the influence of third parties, the statement continued. None of Seipel's films are currently in the ARD media library.
In light of the controversy, several literature publishers might reconsider their relations with Hubert Seipel, given the allegations of financial support from Russian figures for his book projects. Furthermore, media outlets that have collaborated with Seipel on broadcasting, such as ARD, may re-evaluate their ethics guidelines regarding disclosure of sponsorships to ensure maintaining journalistic integrity.
Source: www.dpa.com
