Because of violations of the journalistic duty of care, the television broadcaster RTL is parting ways with its longtime presenter and reporter Maurice Gajda with immediate effect.
In an article in the tabloid magazine “Explosiv Weekend”, the 40-year-old journalist used an alleged tweet by the former AfD boss Frauke Petry, in which she made disparaging remarks about a Vietnamese singer. Petry never wrote this tweet. “The internal checks on his contribution to ‘Explosiv Weekend’ from August 5, 2023 have revealed serious misconduct by Maurice Gajda in the creation of the contribution, which is incompatible with the journalistic principles and guidelines of our company,” said the Cologne broadcaster on Friday morning . “In addition, the extensive tests have so far not found any indication that the tweet reproduced in the post ever existed.”
RTL News co-managing director Martin Gradl said of the incident: “We apologize to Dr. Petry. We met Maurice Gajda as a committed and passionate reporter. In this case, however, there are numerous blatant violations of journalistic due diligence. You damage the important and responsible work of our approximately 1,300 journalists. With its news and magazines, RTL News stands for journalistic credibility, truthfulness and diligence every day.”
Gajda has worked for various RTL information formats since 2019.
Transparency notice: The star is part of RTL Germany.
Source: RTL
