“Michael Schumacher: The first interview” had promised “the current one” on its title. The content looked different. That cost the person responsible the job.
At the end of December it was the ninth anniversary of Michael Schumacher’s devastating accident. On December 29, 2013, the Formula 1 legend fell while skiing and sustained serious injuries. Since then, the 54-year-old has not appeared in public. Almost nothing is known about his state of health, his family is very private.
The magazine “die aktuell” deceived its readers all the more brazenly. “World Sensation” and “The First Interview” were emblazoned with a photo of Michael Schumacher on the cover of the April 15 edition. However, the content looked different: the text had been created using artificial intelligence (AI), and no current interview had ever been conducted with the Formula 1 legend.
Apologies to the Schumacher family
The reactions were inevitable: the magazine’s scam triggered a wave of outrage. The Funke media group, to which “the current one” belongs, was heavily criticized – with consequences. The editor-in-chief of the magazine, Anne Hoffmann, was fired with immediate effect. Funke announced this in a statement on Friday evening and also apologized to the Schumacher family.
“This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we – and our readers – expect from a publisher like Funke,” emphasized the magazine’s managing director Bianca Pohlmann in the statement. Anne Hoffmann, who has had journalistic responsibility for the newspaper since 2009, will be “released from her duties as of today”. It is not yet known who will succeed her.
