Germany's top ten 'forgotten stories' of 2017
February 19, 2018The exclusion of disabled people from the workplace, Portugal's economic recovery and a deadly monsoon in South Asia were not adequately covered by German media in 2017, according to a new report released Monday.
Cologne-based media watchdog Initiative Nachrichtenaufklärung's (INA) published its annual "Top 10 Forgotten Stories," which also found that German media failed to report on expensive life-saving drugs in developing countries and the humanitarian crisis in Chad.
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Which stories were in the top 10?
- Exclusion of disabled people from the workplace and the high unemployment rate among disabled people
- Portugal's earlier-than-expected recovery from the financial crisis despite its refusal to enact austerity policies
- The lack of press coverage of the 2017 monsoon in South Asia compared to the extensive coverage of the hurricane in Texas
- Precarious work conditions on container ships
- High prices for life-saving drugs in developing countries when many pharmaceutical companies are posting large profits
- Inadequate civil protection bunkers in Germany in the event of a major nuclear disaster
- Health risks associated with shift work and the lack of regulation of shift work
- Increasing rate of violent incidents against health workers in German psychiatric institutions
- The Czech Republic's refusal to compensate Roma women who were forcibly sterilized until 2007
- Humanitarian crisis in Chad in central Africa
Read more: Monsoon floods wreak havoc in South Asia leaving more than a hundred dead
Call to action: The watchdog's director, Prof. Dr. Hektor Haarkötter, said the German media had a "responsibility to society" to ensure that "prejudices against people with disabilities are overcome."
Who decides which stories make the list: The public propose stories from the previous year that they think the media under-reported or ignored. Students from multiple German universities analyze press coverage to check whether the suggestions are accurate. A jury made up of media academics and journalists finally decides which stories make the top ten.
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