I found these readings very helpful with further contextualizing the political climate in Germany, as well as evaluating how different types of journalism help portray events differently. For example, the InfoMigrants article presented the information with a more objective angle than the other articles. The writers in this piece were more clear and to the point, formatting the AfD\u2019s policies in bullet points. They didn\u2019t touch as much on the jarring implications that these laws would have, but rather just presented the AfD policies in a digestible way.<\/p>\n
However, the other articles have more of an analytic nature to them, adding inputs regarding the implications of the rise of the AfD, specifically calling out the alarming correlations between the AfD and Nazis. I enjoyed the structure and writing style of The Economist\u2019s story, particularly the lede. The details about the past booming industrial town first left me confused as to how this town related to the AfD. However, once the author made the connection, explaining how towns like these have more support for far right politics, it really gave me a better sense of the nuance of the situation. This lede and style of writing was a perfect way for the author to answer the question that many people have about the rise of the AfD – who would vote for such a party?<\/p>\n
The answer to this question is what I find the most unsettling out of the situation. This article makes it clear that the AfD is really capitalizing on the worries and frustrations of people, and using this fear to rise to power, as well as using immigrants and refugees as a scapegoat to a plethora of issues in the country. This reality was unsettling to me because with the rise of AI and other technologies, we live in such a rapidly changing world, meaning this uncertainty and shift towards far right policies can happen anywhere at any time.<\/p>\n
I also couldn\u2019t help reading this article through a comparative lens of politics in Malta. I had the opportunity to speak with a journalist who emphasized that in Malta, the blaming of immigrants for problems that they are not associated with has caused racism in the country to run rampant. These parallels are a bit disheartening, as it seems as if it is unavoidably human nature to choose a group to blame for one\u2019s own problems disproportionately. We can also see this in history, particularly with the Nazis scapegoating the Jewish community at the dawn of WWII. The parallels between the two situations are stomach churning to say the least.<\/p>\n
Additionally, these articles were evidently effective in their objective – letting more people know about the AfD. I of course knew about the AfD before reading these articles from exposure in this class, and some outside conversations. However, I did not fully understand the gravity of the situation, or how alarming it really is until reading this collection of articles. This really underscores the importance of journalism, even with the rise of social media, as these articles convey this information in a captivating and nuanced way that an Instagram post simply cannot achieve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I found these readings very helpful with further contextualizing the political climate in Germany, as well as evaluating how different types of journalism help portray events differently. For example, the InfoMigrants article presented the information with a more objective angle than the other articles. The writers in this piece were more clear and to the<\/p>\n