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Harassment of the Schumacher Family Continues as Germany’s 3rd Largest Magazine Publisher Breaches Privacy Yet Again

Published 04/27/2023, 7:00 AM EDT

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Michael Schumacher had a terrible accident while skiing in the Alps in 2013. The accident rendered him comatose for months and in hospital for almost a year. Ever since then, his family has urged the media to respect Michael’s privacy and have themselves remained secretive about the 7-time champ’s health. However, with next to no credible information coming out about Michael, the media has often peddled fake news. Just recently, the Schumacher family expressed its intention of taking legal action against a German publisher who uploaded an AI-generated interview of the F1 great. Despite that, and all the furor the entire incident created, it looks like they haven’t learned their lesson.

In a Netflix documentary about Michael’s life, his wife Corinna talked about how he always protected his family. Now that he is in his most vulnerable state, she believes it is their responsibility to do the same for him. It’s been ten years since the accident and Corinna has proudly served her duty. It has come at a price, though. A price that involves her own well-being and mental health.

The German media house once again crosses boundaries on Michael Schumacher’s privacy

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Die Aktuelle, the German media house that recently came under fire for the AI-generated interview, fired its editor-in-chief for the despicable action. Die Aktuelle is owned by Funke Mediengruppe, which also happens to own another media house called Das Goldene Blatt.

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Das Goldene Blatt, in its latest issue, used a picture of Corinna and Michael for the cover. The title, read, “Glücks -Jubel” which according to Google, translates to “Applause of joy”. The subtitle under it read, “Damit hat keiner gerechnet” which translates to “No one expected it”.

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The entire imagery led the readers to believe that the article would give positive news about Schumacher’s health. Instead, it just had some quotes from Corinna’s old interview she gave for Michael’s Netflix documentary.

Another instance of mindless reporting from the same publisher is certain to create more anger among F1 fans.

Former manager still hopes to see Michael Schumacher in paddocks again

Being the owner of the team, Schumacher started his F1 career with, Eddie Jordan is very close to the F1 great. Owing to the recent fiasco, Michael is back in the news and naturally came up when Eddie appeared for an interview.

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The former Jordan team owner recently expressed his wish to see his friend in the paddocks once again. F1 Maximaal quoted him as saying, “It would also be a dream. Still, you have to be realistic, because there are people in science and medicine who do the most incredible things.”

“From the point of view of someone whose knowledge of medicine is the knowledge of a normal human being, it’s hard to see. I sincerely hope that it is possible, and I think that as long as there is hope and faith in the world, anything is possible,” Eddie added.

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Here’s hoping that the media and the press will practice caution and respect journalistic ethics when covering a sensitive matter like this going forward.

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Written by:

Nischay Rathore

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Nischay Rathore is a senior Formula 1 writer at EssentiallySports with an impressive portfolio of over 850 published articles. With a keen eye for sports and a passion for Formula 1, soccer, and tennis Nischay has embarked on a journey in sports journalism. As a long-time Formula 1 fan, Nischay enjoys reflecting on races from the sport’s past.
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