Greeting on the Tagesschau triggers discussions
A simple sentence is currently causing a great stir in the media world and everyone - at least in their own minds - has something to contribute to the topic. The bone of contention is the new greeting on the Tagesschau. Since it was first broadcast in 1952, the audience has been greeted with the words, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to the Tagesschau." Verbally received.
Now the chief anchor of the ARD news program, Jens Riewa, greeted the audience with a simple: "Good evening and welcome to the Tagesschau." This simple sentence is now the trigger for heated discussions on the Internet.
Outrage and enthusiasm - it's visibly hard to please everyone
Hardly any other topic is currently being discussed as much (and as passionately) as gendering. While many members of the LGBTQI+ community in particular support the change to gender-neutral address, there are at least as many who are completely unhappy with the linguistic innovation. Among the nearly 11.7 million viewers who watch the Tagesschau almost daily, there are supporters of both views. This is also reflected in the comments on social networks.
If you want to get a closer look, you should take a look at Twitter, among other places. The broad spectrum of opinions can be observed particularly well here. Some are in favor of the new greeting and emphasize the "linguistically elegant solution. Some critics also speak of gender mainstream in this context... A term that only sees a trend behind the new way of speaking and what can be associated with it.
In this context, it is particularly exciting that the new greeting may have come as quite a surprise to most. There was no major announcement or the like on the subject.
The editorial offices decide for themselves whether or not to use the opposite gender
ARD and ZDF let the individual editorial teams decide for themselves whether or not to use gender-neutral shouting or speaking. In social media, such as on Instagram, ARD has long since started using gender-neutral wording. The latest example shows that the whole thing is now being transferred to TV - at least in part.
With this innovation, the Tagesschau has taken another important step in the direction of equality. Now even more viewers, including non-binary people, for example, are likely to feel addressed. What is a "small thing" for some is associated with a high degree of tolerance for others.
What do Germans think about the topic of gendering?
As already indicated: Anyone who is currently in the mood for lively discussions with a lot of passion and emotion really only has to focus on the topic of "gendering" when talking to friends and acquaintances.
The various opinions are often directly opposed to each other - and in some cases could not be further apart: While some see gendering as a great way to exclude as few people as possible, others fear that it will deface the German language.
According to some surveys, however, many people simply "don't care" whether it is counter-gendered or not. This was also shown in a Forsa survey conducted on behalf of RTL and published in the summer of 2021. This revealed that a large proportion of respondents found gendering either "unimportant" or even "annoying" (especially in the media).
Expressed in figures, this means: At the time of the survey, just under 90 percent of respondents knew what gendering was all about in general. Slightly more than 80 percent were not comfortable with the new way of speaking. More than half felt that the famous "asterisk" was "not at all important".
At this point, however, a kind of generational conflict became apparent. Younger respondents were far more open to the topic than older ones.