Money can buy anything in this country – an update

Ola, dear colleagues of bad entertainment,

Maybe some people can remember my post about a rich publisher – I apologize – one of the richest Austrians (self-described).

I have a few updates for you.

Reference to the old post: (someone here also names the publisher)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Austria/comments/1tg3ird/geld_kann_alles_kaufen_in_diesem_land/

It upsets me a little more than it should and when I’m grumpy I can be a pretty annoying dog. I just don’t want to let this old man get away with basking in public, but he threatens to sue anyone who tells the truth about him.

Side note from the ORF about the process:
The fact that the defendant wanted to live a quiet life was also made clear by his last words in the courtroom. He announced legal action against the numerous media representatives represented in the room if he was mentioned by name in the reporting.
https://kaernten.orf.at/stories/3345353/

Since this article, the dear gentleman has been a VIP guest at the ESC and also at Oe24 – so much for the topic of a quieter life…

Well anyway, I did the following:

the three federal states where he wears crosses of merit and asked whether such behavior fits with the values ​​of the federal state.

NÖ– there is already an answer here – according to them, it is not enough to revoke such a badge. I’m currently checking whether I can publish the correspondence. He is mentioned by name in this act. This has a file number and could serve as a source for the Wikipedia article
Wien– no answer
Carinthia– no answer

Request to the court– no answer

At the same time, I wrote to various media. Especially those who do it on a quality medium.

Presse– the press wanted to know which articles I was referring to – after that no further response
Standard– describes it as a borderline case, here too I would like to publish the correspondence, but no go from you yet, or I expect that you will ghost me

But I would like to share my last message with you

​Dear Mr. *****,
Thank you very much for your detailed answer and also for the linked background article. I fundamentally understand your company’s legal and economic considerations, especially with a person like Mr. ****, who is known for taking very offensive action against media reporting. It is understandable that as a medium you also have to consider the effort and risk of possible lawsuits.
Nevertheless, I still consider the decision to be wrong from a journalistic and ethical point of view.
Mr. **** in particular actively seeks out the public himself, be it as a VIP guest at the ESC, through ongoing society reporting or through various stories about his environment. At the same time, it is obvious how hard he works to control his public image, to the point that, according to several reports, people are even paid to keep his Wikipedia entry “clean” in his opinion.
I find it all the more problematic when the media suddenly becomes extraordinarily cautious when a conviction is legally binding.
However, I would like to expressly reject one statement in your answer: I do not believe that the fact that the conviction had anything to do with his public position is factually correct. According to the known descriptions, statements like “Do you know who I am?” were made to the affected apprentice several times. or references to his social and financial status. It was precisely this power imbalance that was apparently part of the incident.
You can probably tell that I feel a certain amount of resentment. This is mainly because I would actually see media like the Standard as the authorities that should not allow themselves to be intimidated by people like this. The attempt to relativize or gloss over the decision after the fact seems less convincing to me than an honest statement along the lines of: “In the end, the potential legal effort was not worth it to us.”
Finally, I have one more question: Would it be okay with you if I published or quoted our correspondence anonymously, of course without mentioning your name?
Despite my criticism, I would like to thank you for your open answer.
Best regards

ORF– no answer – their question relates to how it is possible that one becomes an ESC VIP guest after such an action

much as gracias! Thanks for sharing the trouble and wish me luck-
By the way, the last post had 140,000 views – our publisher is just getting to know the Streisand effect^^