A female resident of Waibling has been barred from receiving an award due to allegations of anti-Semitic behavior

Judith Scheytt, a media-critical Instagram personality known for her Middle East reporting, has found herself at the centre of a storm after the withdrawal of an award she received earlier this year. The Adolf Grimme Prize, a prestigious award in the German media industry, was revoked due to allegations of antisemitism.

The six-member jury that decided to award Judith Scheytt the prize at the beginning of the year was convened by the "Friends of the Adolf Grimme Prize" association. However, the withdrawal of the award was made exclusively by the board of the association, following an investigation prompted by a complaint from the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation.

The board's decision was based on a 39-page scientific analysis that accused Judith Scheytt's Instagram videos of systematic distortion and selective contextualization of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The core criticism was that her videos omit essential historical-political backgrounds and security aspects, exclude Hamas' extermination rhetoric, and apply double standards, which led to subtle antisemitic patterns despite lacking explicit antisemitic statements. This omission and selective framing were seen as turning her media critique into purely activist content, conflicting with the award’s statutes.

Judith Scheytt, a resident of Waiblingen in the Rems-Murr district, received a special award at the Donnepp Media Award in January. However, the withdrawal of her prize has sparked a wave of solidarity for the 18-year-old. In response, another prize winner, Annika Schneider, returned her prize in protest of the withdrawal.

In a statement on her Instagram account, Judith Scheytt expressed her stance on the matter. She asserted that it is not the task of media criticism to show understanding for military operations. Instead, according to her, media criticism is about examining the reporting.

The "Friends of the Adolf Grimme Prize" association, which oversees the Donnepp Media Award, is responsible for the withdrawal of Judith Scheytt's award. The presidents of the association have stated that the content on Judith Scheytt's Instagram channel ignores essential historical-political backgrounds and many security aspects, making it purely activist and contradicting the award's charter requirements.

This incident has sparked a wider debate about the role of media criticism, the responsibilities of journalists, and the implications of political bias in reporting. As the story unfolds, it remains to be seen how this controversy will affect Judith Scheytt's career and the future of media criticism in Germany.

A female resident of Waibling has been barred from receiving an award due to allegations of anti-Semitic behavior