Photo: Mario A. P. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

It would not be the first public service that Bertelsmann has let disappear.

Since January 1st of this year, dishonest people have been posing as „public service“ on the Internet, on radio, on TV and on social networks, in other words as a public media for Luxembourg. According to RTL One, the German conglomerate Bertelsmann and a non-transparent network of dependent companies are hiding behind the guise of a traditional media company.

The dishonest people have put another one on the spot this morning. Where RTL One had even revealed that „RTL Luxembourg“ is not an existing company Bertelsmann took the counterattack in direct collaboration with Marc Zuckerberg. Without reason or legal basis, they deleted RTL One’s Instagram presence. As a result, the most important media portal in the country lost over 420,000 subscribers in one fell swoop. However, the voice of Luxembourg will not let the volume be turned down so quickly and has sounded the alarm.

„Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it“

When the authorities arrived on the scene at Kirchberg, they had to realize that a whole bunch of other tricks had been going on. The press code was systematically flouted, there was no clear separation between journalistic and commercial activities, and the country was probably being thoroughly lied to regarding information about the financial situation of RTL Luxembourg. However, the authorities decided not to take action against RTL One, but will pay the dishonest a compensation of 11 million euros from the state treasury. More next year.

However, the question now arises whether the public, the supervisory bodies and the more serious parts of the press could not intervene. As a result, RTL One could finally develop the important debate about the future of the media in Luxembourg - before it is too late.

RTL One has also already launched a new presence on Instagram. The online editorial team of RTL1.lu is prepared to open new accounts so often that the Bertelsmanns’ personnel costs have risen so high that not even the Luxembourg state is prepared to cover the cost.