One year after a cake attack on him, “Tagesschau” speaker Constantin Schreiber has published a non-fiction book about better debating. In the polemic “Let’s talk openly! Why democracy needs fearless debates” he argues for people to listen to each other more and tolerating discussions.
Was the cake the trigger for the book?
A year ago, the journalist was attacked with a cake at an event in a lecture hall at the University of Jena. Was the cake the trigger for the book? The 45-year-old told the German Press Agency: “No, the cake and the situation are no longer on my mind. It was more a number of reactions afterward.” One journalist told him that he had planned it that way and shouldn’t be surprised that it had happened. “Journalism never justifies being attacked. I found the statement deeply undemocratic.” Schreiber, who has already published numerous novels and books, including one about Islam, said: “My plea in the book is: You have to put up with discussions.”
The conclusion of the non-fiction book, which is around 140 pages long, states: “We have forgotten how to discuss things openly with one another.” Schreiber explained in an interview: “The openness to listen to one another has – I am sure of that – diminished.” He added: “Above all, this is due to the mechanism of delegitimization. In other words, something that one does not like is very quickly brushed aside, for example with the argument: This is hate and incitement.”
A “camp mentality” in the media?
In the non-fiction book, Schreiber also addresses the media and sees a “camp mentality”. Didn’t that exist in the past too? Schreiber said in an interview: “The difference could be that people argued in the past, but there was a common basis for reality and there were different perspectives on it.” Schreiber’s opinion: Today, we see that there are sometimes completely different representations of reality.
The journalist is already working on his next project: he is continuing to write his Egypt crime series.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240905-930-223678/1
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