“Winnetou must not die” is the headline of a major German tabloid. A title with which this newspaper arouses an enormous amount of emotion and also strikes a chord with tradition and fear of loss. It's about the discussion that has been going on for days that Winnetou is "colonialist" and "racist" and should therefore be banned.

We will not go into the allegations here, but rather look at the allegations themselves and take a further look at the phenomenon of the “phantom discussion”. This phenomenon is not new, but it can be completely applied to the discussion about Winnetou and Karl May and makes it clear why there are currently so many false claims about the books and films.

There is no “Winnetou ban”

But let's start with the basics. Let's start with the question of whether "Winnetou" has been banned, whether Karl May books are subject to censorship or whether ARD has taken the films out of the program out of premature obedience.

Were Karl May's Winnetou books banned or censored?
No. There are no bans around these books. Even more: Karl May's fictional works are not even remotely affected. Essentially, it's just about the Winnetou children's books with the title “The Young Chief Winnetou” and the associated merchandising. A publisher has withdrawn this. Der Spiegel writes that the stopped items are, according to the information, licensed titles. There is a children's book for ages eight and up, a first-time reader's book, a puzzle and a sticker book.

Did ARD then throw Winnetou films out of the program?
No. The Winnetou films from the Karl May series were not thrown out of the program by ARD. ARD can't do it either, because it hasn't had these films in its program since 2020 due to expired licenses. Instead, ZDF continues to have licenses and also broadcasts the films. The T-Online website did more detailed research and found that various films from the “Winnetou” cosmos are often shown on Second German Television.

Most recently, two Karl May classics were shown in June: “The Oil Prince” and “The Treasure in the Silver Lake”. The next broadcast is already in the program calendar for October 3rd: “Winnetou and the half-blood Apanatschi” is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. on the public broadcaster from Mainz.

Source: https://www.t-online.de/unterstellung/tv/id_100044368/-winnetou-ban-bei-der-ard-das-steckt-dahinter.html

Where do these claims about Winnetou come from?

If you look closely, it quickly becomes clear that a scandal has been created here that only exists for its own sake. Because neither Karl May books, nor Winnetou or any actors from the existing films will “die” or be banned. No, this scandal can be traced back to tabloid headlines, which various newspapers are likely to carry with profit-making intentions.

Because one thing is definitely certain: this topic stirs up emotions, this topic brings clicks, the topic drags a popular enemy image into the crosshairs and, above all, the topic brings something very important: it brings money into the coffers! Let's remember again:

The original was a children's book. Instead, the tabloid media suggested that the original Karl May books were affected and that there was a “Winnetou ban”. This is exactly how emotions are created in older generations and at the same time the enemy image of so-called “political correctness” is created, which wants to rob the older generation of their childhood and youth, and even their identity.

In order to manifest this Winnetou ban, various tabloid media then suggestively questioned multipliers (celebrities/politicians) about a Winnetou ban on the basis of misinformedness. Due to a lack of knowledge about the situation, these celebrities or politicians sometimes spouted nonsense that was then printed or broadcast.

On the other hand, incorrect conclusions were (consciously?) drawn at the interpretation level. Because of these interpretations, further suggestive headlines emerged, which, if not carefully followed, tipped the situation even further into the absurd (don't forget: it's actually about the Winnetou children's books with the title "The Young Chief Winnetou"). An example : ““Cowboy and Indian” singer Olaf Henning: Will his biggest hit be banned?” we can read as a headline in this context. This song, like so many other speculations in this context, was in no way affected by the voluntary withdrawal of the children's book. This is also a phantom discussion for its own sake. Of course, this results in attention and clicks and advertising revenue can then be generated.

It was precisely from this situation that the previously mentioned nonsensical statement arose that ARD had removed Karl May films from its program because of the subject matter. The recently published headline with a paywall “Pierre Brice’s widow pleads in picture – Winnetou must not die” must also be seen in this context. Nobody plans to let the Winnetou actor, who died in 2015, die again.

Communication strategies and media failure

But this headline works because on the one hand it creates emotions, at the same time it creates an easy-to-consume black and white image and harbors an image of the enemy. Certainly, no one wants Hella Brice to see Pierre Brice die again. The problem, however, is that apart from the media that produces these headlines themselves, no one lets Pierre Brice die again in literary terms. Only emotions are created here. Positive emotions towards Hella Brice, negative emotions towards the enemy image of so-called political correctness.

What is happening here is a more or less strategically designed “popular disinformation”, to partially adapt a term that is also often used by the leading German tabloid newspaper. It is a pure phantom discussion that is being pushed forward with ever-increasing anecdotal evidence, suggestive formulations and deliberate misinterpretations.

Mirko Lange, strategy consultant for content and online marketing, describes this media strategy in his article “ The Invented Shitstorm: Chronology of a Media Failure ” and gets to the point with the sentence “Our media system is broken.” Basically, misleading and sometimes false headlines were created about Winnetou from the start. These false headlines were used to (deliberately?) paint a false picture of the situation. At this point, I strongly recommend reading the article mentioned, which presents the process chronologically and also shows how misleading reporting can be extremely successful (also economically).

Phantom discussions

Phantom discussions are topics and contexts deliberately created to promote a specific discussion and the associated fears. This phenomenon is not new and we have observed it frequently in the past. Thematically, these discussions mostly revolved around fear of loss. The focus was on fear of loss in relation to traditions and identity.

Whether it's the abolition of St. Martin ( compare ) or the renaming of the Easter Bunny: all of these topics only exist because of their conversation value on social media. And many people also see the discussion about a supposed Winnetou ban as having a connection to fears about the loss of tradition and identity.

In a thread on Twitter, the television and radio presenter Nils Bokelberg sharpens his statement with the phrase “It’s all about nostalgia and the impossibility of letting go of your own childhood.” He takes the view that the supposed Winnetou ban is simply a matter of fears of an older generation, that younger generations would have little interest in Karl May and his books and would therefore not even think about banning these books. It simply doesn't affect them.

It is therefore important to look at the topic objectively. Nobody wants to ban, censor or even burn Karl May's fictional works. The media phantom discussion is based solely on suggestive representations, targeted and tendentious interpretations and a bunch of nonsensical statements from people who only reflect on the topic through the phantom discussion itself.

Cover photo: Image by Sam Williams on Pixabay 


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