Austria @ the media

[Cannibal]

Hochinteressant, was man in der internationalen Presse so alles über Österreich zu lesen findet...
Als erstes Beispiel: ein Artikel aus der New York Times (!) von gestern:


Austrian Official's Smooch Causes a Stir
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 12, 2005

Filed at 8:06 a.m. ET

VIENNA, Austria (AP) -- Austria's finance minister is 36 and unmarried, but when he was caught kissing crystal heiress Fiona Swarovski at a Paris airport, it became headline news -- in part because he was engaged to his former intern at the time.

Karl-Heinz Grasser sued the magazine News, which published photos of The Kiss, in a case that has many in this country of 8 million wondering whether politics may have begun to devolve into American-style mini-scandals that stress style over substance.

Austrians closely watched the California gubernatorial campaign of favorite son Arnold Schwarzenegger -- and some political observers argue that politicians in this alpine nation learned something.

''Personality is becoming more and more important a part of campaigning,'' said Peter Filzmaier, a professor of political science at the University of Klagenfurt. ''Schwarzenegger won because of talk-show politics. Everyone in Austria realized that.''

The pictures of Grasser kissing Swarovski in March caused a ruckus in Austria, since he was engaged at the time to Natalia Corrales-Diez, a former ministry intern. More headlines followed when she drove her car into a tree upon learning of the photos and wound up in a hospital.

In a country where politicians traditionally keep their private lives private, only a few leaders have overstepped those taboos -- most notably former President Thomas Klestil, who brought his family onto the campaign trail before having to face an embarrassing divorce.

But the photogenic Grasser blurred the lines between public and private by inviting the media to chronicle his life as Austria's most eligible bachelor, complete with a Web page that featured a snapshot of him as a child on his bicycle and a photo of him mugging from atop the tower of Vienna's landmark St. Stephen's Cathedral.

The exposure ended up costing him politically after reporters discovered the site had been financed in part by Austrian industrialists.

But after The Kiss, Grasser tried to put the genie back in the bottle. The question is whether it's too late for Austria -- as well as for Grasser.

''It's a trivialization of politics,'' said Reinhold Gaertner, a political science professor at the University of Innsbruck. ''Now it is important what the minister of finance does on his weekends.''

Grasser testified during a court hearing on his suit against News that he and Swarovski were merely sharing a cup of coffee at Charles de Gaulle Airport after a weekend of dining and museum-hopping in Paris when the heiress sat on his lap for a smooch and snapshot by the cafe's waitress. A group of teenagers and tourists recorded the scene.

Grasser learned pictures of the smooch would be published and made it clear he objected, the Austria Press Agency reported.

''I am 36, unmarried and a man with feelings,'' Grasser told state television as the scandal broke.

When he failed to stop publication, he went to court, arguing that he had the right to privacy -- and won.

''This showed that the finance minister has a private life and the press has to accept that,'' Grasser's spokesman, Thomas Schmid, said after Grasser won a $8,500 judgment last week.

The magazine immediately appealed the decision, arguing that a politician who puts his private life on display in a public place ''puts himself outside of the private sphere.'' Both sides expect the case to end up before the European Court of Human Rights.

Things quickly went from bad to worse for the beleaguered minister -- although no one has suggested that he might lose his job.

The airport pictures soon were followed by snapshots of the couple vacationing on the beach in Capri -- Grasser in green boxer shorts cavorting with Swarovski, who was wearing a string bikini. Grasser testified that 15 to 20 photographers were hidden ''behind trees, between bushes, on the beach.''

''I couldn't even open the door,'' Grasser was quoted by APA as saying. ''It was an unbelievable interference in my private life.''

Other beach scenes followed and Christoph Kotanko, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Kurier, suggests that he may spark the ire of government conservatives who question why ''he's on holiday every other week.''

''I think the Grasser affair was a lot of fun in the very beginning but now it's gotten a little bit boring,'' Kotanko said. ''It's much more of the same.''

link:http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/interna ... -Kiss.html

[Grent]

Oh mein Gott, wie uninteressant. Dass die New York Times nix besseres findet !?

Eine spanische Zeitung, die über das Gerücht, Figo käme zu Red Bull Salzburg geschrieben hat, verlegte die Mozartstadt nach Deutschland.

(so circa auf sport.orf.at gestanden)

Deutschland und Österreich ist teilweise immer noch "das Gleiche" ...

[Cannibal]

In manchen Fällen sicher, aber der NY Times würde sowas eher nicht passieren glaube ich.
Trotzdem sehr peinlich.
Unser "Auslandskorrespondet" in Graz hat einmal erzählt, dass die Times eine kleinere Auflage als die Kronenzeitung hat. Sick oder?

[Grent]

Arg. Aber gut, ist ja nur eine "Provinz-Zeitung". Wohin gegen die Krone ein ganzes Land steuert.

[Cannibal]

Naja, die Times ist glaub ich schon eher national orientiert. Aber es liegt glaub ich, ohne jetzt wieder (antiamerikanische!) Vorurteile ausbeuten zu wollen, daran, dass in den USA eben auch eher die Klopapier-Äquivalente größeren Zulauf finden als Qualitätsblätter.
Die Krone setzt ja bei uns auch ca. eine knappe Million an Exemplaren ab, während die hochwertigeren, sagen wir Standard, Presse und Salzburger Nachrichten, sich ein Kundenkollektiv zwischen 200.000 und 300.000 teilen müssen.

[JesuZ]

weil grad die rede von der krone is....geilstes mathe 'rätsel' ever http://www.krone.at/index.php?http://wc ... index.html

[Grent]

Aber echt. Solche Dinge kenn ich bisher nur aus der Mickey-Maus ...

[Cannibal]

Aus der David Letterman Show:

Top Ten Things Governor Schwarzenegger Hears In A Typical Day

10. "When are you going to drop the phony accent?"

9. "Read the Education Budget and then you can have some Strudel."

8. "Why does this place always smell like Baby Oil?"

7. "Are you driving the Hummer to the Earth Day rally?"

6. "Letterman on the phone again -- should I tell him you're still in a meeting?"

5. "The Govenor will answer a few questions then show off his abs and delts."

4. "Relax, Governor -- I wasn't sent from the future to kill you."

3. "When shaking hands with assembly members, stop squeezing once you hear a crack."

2. "You gave up a $25 million salary to do this?!"

1. "Governor, please put the desk down."

[florianklachl]

was sind abs and delts?

[Grent]

abs sind die bauchmuskeln.
und delts wird was ähnliches sein.