Thilo Mischke new ttt presenter – ARD employee criticized

This personality divides the ARD: Thilo Mischke will become the new presenter of the ARD cultural magazine “ttt – titel Thesen temperamente”. But now the employees have published an open letter against him.

Several cultural workers have written an open letter against the intervention of Thilo Mischke as presenter of the ARD cultural magazine “ttt – titel thesen temperamente”. In the letter addressed to the dpa to the program directors of the ARD public broadcasters concerned, it is stated that any collaboration with Mischke has been ruled out.

They are “dismayed by this personal decision of the ARD, which will definitively undermine the ttt cultural program – titel Thesen temperamente”. The “Tagesspiegel” was the first to report on the open letter.

Among the signatories are, for example, Alena Schröder, Saša Stanišić, Jan Brandt, Ulrike Draesner, Margarete Stokowski and Till Raether. dpa requested a statement from Mischke. ARD made no comment. The letter’s signatories, which include authors as well as journalists and cultural workers, also accuse Mischke of failing to critically examine his previous work and of not distancing himself sufficiently.

“Around the world in 80 women” by Thilo Mischke

Before Christmas, ARD announced that Mischke and Siham El-Maimouni would host the show, traditionally broadcast late on Sundays on Erste, from mid-February. “ttt” is one of the best-known cultural formats on ARD. The show has been running since 1967. Mischke also launches a cultural podcast with Jule Lobo. Mischke also announced his new role on Instagram. He has not commented on the matter since.

After this announcement, Mischke’s personality sparked criticism on social media referring to the past. For example, her book “Around the World in 80 Women” from 2010 was mentioned. The ARD then underlined: “’ttt’ opposes all forms of sexism and racism and, like Thilo Mischke, defends diversity of opinion and tolerance.” Since its publication, it has “intensively and self-critically dealt with allegations of having conveyed a sexist image of women and of having used racist language in places”.

In his book published in 2010, Mischke, then 29, documented his trip around the world, which he began with the stated goal of sleeping with women in 80 countries. If he succeeded, his friends, with whom he had made a matching bet, would pay for the trip. An extract which has attracted much criticism:

Mischke has been known for years mainly through reporting for the private television channel ProSieben. He won the German Television Prize in 2023 for his ProSieben report “Abandoned and forgotten? Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban. Before the last federal election, Mischke interviewed Annalena Baerbock, then newly elected chancellor candidate of the Greens, in April 2021 for ProSieben. In 2020 he won the Bavarian Television Prize for his ProSieben report “Germans on the ISIS Front” about people going to war. for the Islamic State terrorist militia.