Source: GilPe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What does Monique Kater have that Marc Thoma doesn’t? That’s right, a job at RTL.

Not on my fancy terrace

Monique Kater, a long-time journalist at RTL Luxembourg, takes your problems seriously. „Imagine, you’ve just bought a fancy apartment, between Hollerich and the train station, you’re sitting on the terrace and suddenly it starts to stink really bad.“ she writes for example, so that even people of her status understand that wastewater does not belong in the Pétrusse. The NIMBY classics of high-voltage power lines and wind turbines should of course not be missing, with a report about a newly founded non-profit organization called „Energiematverstand“, which could just as well be a username in the RTL comments. For example, they spread false information about infrasound caused by wind turbines and its supposed negative consequences for humans, which is mainly based on a study that was withdrawn in 2021 due to serious errors. These are concerns that, if Monique Kater is to be believed, must be taken seriously.

Freedom for Cattenom

Speaking of electricity production. In the report „Breaking the atomic energy taboo – Lëtz Atom raises awareness of nuclear energy“ she reports on the Luxembourgish group Letz Atom’s information stand at the Knuedler. Here, an uncritical report is made about a lobby group that downplays the problems and risks of nuclear power, and actively advocates for these technologies and against environmentally friendly renewable energies. The bigger problem with this report, however, lies in the details: anyone who looks closely can see on the information stand who co-organized it: Roy Reding’s conspiracy party Liberté - Fräiheet. Is this a political advertisement that is not marked as such? This small detail is not mentioned in the report at all.

Monique Kater must have missed it: the logo of „Liberté – Fräiheet“ (Screenshot RTL)

The American pro-nuclear activist Mark Nelson also gets an interesting description, quote: „Mark Nelson was on the Knuedler; he stands for nuclear energy, sells it - not for a lobby - but because he has studied it and is convinced of its advantages.“ That he, as CEO of Radiant Energy, a pro-nuclear energy lobby group, should not be considered a lobbyist, is at least questionable.

A viewing platform with a good view from the right

As for the arrangement of her interviewees, Mrs. Kater does not always take her work so precisely. The article „The Vauban walls of the past in the steel of today, an idea by Gérard Philippe“ for example reports on an architectural idea that was probably simply sent to her – apart from this article, there is little to be found about this project – probably not by an architect, but by ADR politician Gérard Philipp, seen here in an election advertisement. It’s hard to find out if his name is already misspelled in the title of the article, but the linked PDF file provides some clarification. Whether anyone can simply get an RTL report about his questionable ideas by sending a PDF to Monique Kater, or whether you have to be a member of a party for this, had not yet been clarified at the time of writing.

ADR candidate and wannabe builder Gérard Philipp, or for Monique Kater: „visionary with the „tower idea““ (Screenshot: ADR election spot)

A liberal militia for the gare area

One of their more worrying reports about the situation at the Central station, however, hits the nail on the head. Patrick Reisdorf, president of the DP Gare is presented as a „Gare resident and co-founder of the WhatsApp group.“ – a WhatsApp group of Gare residents, which Monique Kater covered especially – and is allowed to rant here without critical rebuttal about a militia. The fact that he is an active DP politician is of course not mentioned here, just like all the other times when politicians – mainly from the DP – have been presented as simple residents of the Gare district. Here Tim Morizet made the same mistake, with the concerned citizen and state DP politician Laurence Gillen. But it can happen that one simply forgets to mention such information.

Whatsapp-influencer, militiaman, and moonlighting as president of the DP Gare: Patrick Reisdorff. (Screenshot RTL)

And a rotting footbridge

Even for a report about a rotting footbridge on a walking path, Monique Kater manages to get a politician as an interview partner, this time Patrick Mischel from Liberté - Fräiheet. The fact that she interviews Eric Thill here as the Minister of Tourism and not as a concerned walker is a positive note.

We are not doubting that Liberté-politician Patrick Mischel lives in Consdorf (Screenshot RTL)

What does this mean specifically for you?

If you’d like to have your five minutes on TV, we’ve got the perfect how-to guide. You just have to be a local politician – the more right-wing, the better – and either oppose a local building project, or want to start a questionable local building project yourself. Send your suggestions by post to Monique Kater, address: a chic apartment with a terrace between Hollerich and the station, where it stinks really badly. She’ll get in touch with you. Don’t worry, she’ll keep your party membership a secret – guaranteed.