A man, upset by an article in “Heute”, insulted the newspaper on X – and was sued. The satirical platform set up crowdfunding.
The satirical platform “Tagespresse” is supporting a pensioner who is facing several lawsuits from the free newspaper “Heute” after a tweet on X. The man posted in August that “Today” was a “shit sheet.” He also described editor-in-chief Clemens Oistric as a “rattler” and editor Eva Dichand as a “revenge hex”. He was then sued three times. In the case of two lawsuits, a default judgment has already been issued because the pensioner did not want to get involved in a lawsuit due to a lack of prospect of success. He incurred costs of 5,000 euros.
According to the “Tagespresse”, he wants to defend himself against a private criminal lawsuit that the AHVV publishing house, which publishes “Heute”, brought against him for insults. The satire platform supports him with crowdfunding. The goal is 20,000 euros to cover the expected legal costs. If there is an acquittal, the remaining amount will be donated to SOS Mitmensch, it was said. By Tuesday afternoon, around 11,500 euros had already been received.
According to the “Tagespresse”, the pensioner justifies his thoughtless tweet by saying that his son had died unexpectedly shortly before and that he had repeatedly had to rely on social benefits for health reasons. That’s why a debate about social welfare that was taken up in “Today” upset him.
“Tagespresse” previously denigrated “Heute” with the “Heisl” campaign
“Today stirs up hatred for months, and then you sue a reader just because the hatred finds fertile ground?” says a current article on the satirical platform, in which the “daily press” obviously makes an effort to reproduce the pensioner’s formulations , which gave rise to the complaint, should be repeated as often as possible: “Günther R. is the perfect victim for today, a lightning rod for aggression who gets everything that the shitty newspaper with its lapdog editorial team probably didn’t dare to do against the daily press. “
Background to this statement: The “Tagespresse” congratulated the newspaper “Heute” on its 20th birthday in September with a satire that was distributed in Vienna. Title of the special edition: “Heisl”; There were all kinds of made-up articles that, according to the “Tagespresse”, were modeled on the journalistic quality of “Heute”. The newspaper has now been “vilely denigrated as fecal literature,” writes the “Tagespresse”. And adds: “The free newspaper apparently cannot sue us because its lawyers are already busy destroying the existence of a pensioner.”
As recently as February, the two media outlets were feuding. The “Heute” had demanded compensation from the “Tagespresse” because of the use of copyrighted photos. The “Tagespresse” also responded with a claim for damages for the same reason. The result was a comparison. The “Tagespresse” headline at the time read: “Agreement between satirical newspapers: “Tagespresse” and “Heute” decide on a ceasefire”. (APA/Red.)
