Wednesday, June 10, 2020

 A Viral TikTok Is Sparking A Conversation About Racial Bias Against Black People In Healthcare 


A TikTok from a white physician is making people suddenly aware of an issue that's long affected Black patients and doctors.

Posted on June 10, 2020, at 5:24 p.m. ET

A viral TikTok from a doctor in Portland, Oregon, about systemic racism in healthcare and the disparities in the treatment of Black patients is opening up a dialogue online.

Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, a white OB-GYN, told BuzzFeed News she does not want to take credit for the information she talked about in her viral video, as it's nothing new. She and other doctors said they just hope people are finally listening.

Lincoln, 38, has posted educational videos on the platform before, with some others going viral. But the one she posted on Monday has reached far beyond TikTok. A tweet sharing her video has already been retweeted over 160,000 times.

"A 2016 study showed that 50% of medical students and residents who were studied thought that Black people couldn't feel pain the same way because they had thicker skin or their nerves didn't work the same way," Lincoln says in the TikTok, citing this study.

This disturbing data point is a "holdover from the days of slavery," she continues. "Black people used to be operated on without anesthesia, and were used in studies without their consent."

The result, she said, is Black Americans wait longer in emergency rooms, are less likely to seek medical attention, and their pain is taken less seriously.




TikTok / @drjenniferlincoln

Lincoln told BuzzFeed News she's been generally aware of these implicit racial biases in her career but had never taken the opportunity to research.

"I was aware of it, but not to this degree. One thing I would love to highlight is that this is not new information. Other Black people have been saying it for years. Is the reason it’s gone viral because I’m a white person saying it? This is the problem with racism in itself."

Dr. Jessica Shepherd, an OB-GYN from Dallas who's been outspoken about racial injustices and her experiences working as a Black physician, told BuzzFeed News the Black community has long known about and experienced these issues raised in Lincoln's TikTok.

"I think her message is more important for white people. We already know. We're the ones who it happens to," said Shepherd.

"The system was implemented by [white people], so Black people cannot unfortunately eliminate racism," she continued. "Where this becomes an issue in medicine is that there is a systemic racist infrastructure. It's important for everyone to know about it, but her message is more important for white people to understand and see."

Shepherd noted other dangerous implicit biases against Black Americans, like "how diabetes and hypertension are treated" and how "it can be different between Black and white" patients.

"It's not just about saying, 'Oh, we know in the African American community their hypertension may present like this,' but 'why?'" said Shepherd. "That's when you really dig deep down into not only that it's an issue, but why is it an issue."
Instagram: @jessicashepherdmd

She also believes insurance companies and hospitals should reassess their policies and biases. According to Shepherd — who said she knows firsthand it's an issue because she's the one filing insurance claims — insurance carriers don't provide the same coverage across states.

In areas with a large Black population, this may discriminate against citizens who may need the care the most.

"I've called the insurance companies and said, 'You've approved this in Texas, why won't you approve it in Mississippi?'" she said. "However it affects the African American community, it affects everyone. We as a society have a responsibility to address these issues."
Instagram: @drjrutland


Dr. Cedric "Jamie" Rutland, a 39-year-old critical care physician who owns a practice in Southern California, told BuzzFeed News the racial inequities built into the industry are not only on the patient side.

He recalled an incident two months ago where, after working with a white patient who was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, she expressed shock after finding out he owned his own practice.

"We were walking out the room and she said, 'This is your practice? You’re Black. How did you build this?'" recounted Rutland. "When that kind of thing happens you’re kind of like, whoa, what were you thinking during your visit? I come across it all the time."

Rutland said when protests erupted after the killing of George Floyd in police custody, he started to "think about all the situations" like this one he has experienced.

"As a Black guy, I can’t really say, 'You’re being racist. Then it becomes 'you’re always making it about race,'" he said.

Lincoln's TikTok has become a launchpad for all kinds of online conversations about why certain racial groups have different medical needs than the white population.


jin_ekooks⁷ 🌸 pets haver@bell_ehooks
@AbebeEllie ALSO, proof it's not a genetic issue but social one: black 2nd-gen immigrants (born in US, parents are immigrants) have a HIGHER maternal mortality than black 1st-gen immigrants! Black girls raised in the US are exposed to stress from systemic racism from childhood and onward.
10:29 AM - 08 Jun 2020
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Lincoln said she actively checks in with herself when she's treating a nonwhite patient to determine if an unconscious bias is affecting the care she's giving.

"I’m thinking, Would I be doing this if she were the wife of the CEO of the hospital? That’s just part of my internal check. It’s constantly on us to do that introspection," she said.

She called upon other white healthcare providers to examine their own biases.

"Keep in mind you can walk around and say, 'That’s not me, I’m not explicitly racist,' but so much of racism is systemic and it’s implicit within us. It starts early," she added.

Shepherd is calling on white people to help "change the trajectory" of the history we're writing — even if you're not a medical professional.

"If you’re not a person of color [or] a Black person, there will be someone close to you who will be affected by a disease process they have, or if there's multiple admissions to a hospital and it's not being addressed properly. Those are the moments they could step back and say, 'Hey, is racism a cause for why a person is going through this?'" she said.

She wants white people to ask: "Now, what can I do individually and who can I call attention to to bring light to this issue?"


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Tanya Chen is a social news reporter for BuzzFeed and is based in Chicago
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Starbucks Won't Let Employees Wear Gear That Supports Black Lives Matter Because It Is Political Or Could Incite Violence

The retail giant said wearing pro-BLM pins or T-shirts would violate its dress code policy because the accessories advocate a "political, religious, or personal issue."
Brianna SacksBuzzFeed News ReporterAlbert SamahaBuzzFeed News Investigative Reporter
Posted on June 10, 2020, at 4:54 p.m. ET


Andrew Caballero-reynolds / Getty Images
As protesters took to the streets in hundreds of cities across the United States and the globe to support Black Lives Matter and decry police brutality, Starbucks, like many major American companies, rushed to publicly proclaim its support for the movement and pledged to do more to combat racial injustice.
On June 1, the coffee retailer vowed on Twitter to "stand in solidarity with our Black partners, customers and communities.” A few days later, it tweeted, and then pinned, a more in-depth commitment to supporting Black Lives Matter and confronting bias and racism and to “being a part of change.”
Being part of that change does not extend, however, to allowing the company’s baristas and other employees to wear T-shirts, pins, or any other accessory that mentions Black Lives Matter.
In fact, the company explicitly stated that Black Lives Matter attire was prohibited from the lists of things employees can wear due to its dress code policy, which also includes any type of political, religious, or personal accessories or clothing. However, as many employees noted to BuzzFeed News, Starbucks not only exempts buttons and attire celebrating LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, but hands them out.
According to an internal bulletin obtained by BuzzFeed News, store managers had been contacting senior leadership on behalf of employees who wanted to wear BLM-related attire as protests continued to sweep major cities and small towns across the country.
In response, management, according to the memo from last week, argued that wearing clothing and accessories highlighting Black Lives Matter could be misunderstood and potentially incite violence. The bulletin pointed employees to a video, which has now been removed, in which its VP of inclusion and diversity explained that "agitators who misconstrue the fundamental principles" of the movement and could use them to "amplify divisiveness."

Provided to BuzzFeed News
Calvin Bensen, a 22-year-old barista from Atlanta, told BuzzFeed News the company’s response was “disappointing in ways I can’t express in words. That statement prioritizes those who feel discomfort over Black lives.” He called it “violent.”
"My skin color incites violence at Starbucks. Should I not come to work?" he asked. "It is silencing and Starbucks is complicit. Now more than ever, Starbucks needs to stand with us."
In an interview, a Starbucks spokesperson said the company is dedicated to helping end "systemic racism,” but that the dress code policy would remain in place because it was necessary “to create a safe and welcoming” environment for customers and staff.
"We respect all of our partners’ opinions and beliefs, and encourage them to bring their whole selves to work while adhering to our dress code policy," the spokesperson said.
Starbucks created its “Third Place” policy in May 2018, which aims to create a space within its stores that is inclusive and welcoming to all customers.
The company has also pledged $1 million to organizations promoting racial equity, partnered with Arizona State University to design anti-bias resources and training, and says it is actively hosting open and necessary conversations with employees about "racism the Black community faces."
Starbucks partners also have the option to buy a T-shirt from its approved "Black Partner Network," which aims to spark conversation "around the African diaspora."

The path forward requires open and honest conversations about racial injustices. On Saturday, Starbucks partners came together in an open forum to listen and support one another. It’s going to take each of us to drive necessary change. https://t.co/ZUlBV9MgFF
Starbucks Coffee@Starbucks
The path forward requires open and honest conversations about racial injustices. On Saturday, Starbucks partners came together in an open forum to listen and support one another. It’s going to take each of us to drive necessary change. https://t.co/ZUlBV9MgFF

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Many employees were not satisfied. For some employees, the statements feel "performative," "shallow," and "hypocritical.” A barista on the east coast told BuzzFeed News that on the ground, the company is still working to preserve its image with customers to not disrupt sales.
"We have a police detail outside of the store most days anyway. Let's just call him over if a customer is offended by someone's BLM pin," the employee said. "There's something deeper here. [Starbucks CEO] Kevin Johnson talks a big talk on Twitter, but he's still the head of a multibillion-dollar company that has to keep up with its image. God forbid if employees tarnish that pristine global image."
Another worker in Colorado agreed that the decision was made to "not cause conflict with customers" and did not agree with the company's explanation that Black Lives Matter should be defined as political.
"I don't think asking for and supporting those who want basic human rights is necessarily political," this person said.
At a location in Washington, a manager said that he felt "muted" by not being able to visibly show his support at work.
"I work in a store where I am one of five people of color out of 30, and it would be nice to be able to show some sort of unity with them," he said. "I personally am having a rough time with this, as most people know Starbucks caters to a predominantly Caucasian customer base and Starbucks expects us to uphold an amazing customer experience for these demographics, to ensure the money keeps coming in."
Nearly every employee with whom BuzzFeed News spoke pointed out that the company allowed workers to wear accessories supporting marriage equality and LGBTQ rights, even giving them pins and Gay Pride shirts, since June is Pride Month.
Benson, who is black and transgender, said watching how Starbucks ralied behind and continues to embrace the LGBTQ movement made its response to Black Lives Matter even more “surprising and disappointing.”
In a stories section on its website, Starbucks has a comprehensive timeline of its history of "LGBTQ Inclusion," writing, "For more than three decades, Starbucks has been committed to building a culture where all are welcome, standing as an ally to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community." Over the years, the company has launched a spate of initiatives to ensure it helped achieve LGBTQ workplace equality, supported LGBTQ employees with healthcare, and has marched in Pride parades around the world.
"Starbucks LGBTQ+ partners wear LGBTQ+ pins and shirts, that also could incite and create violent experiences amongst partners and customers," Benson said, adding that employees were able to wear LGBTQ+ pins and shirts without purchasing them directly from Starbucks. “We have partners who experienced harassment and transphobia/homophobia for wearing their pins and shirts, and Starbucks still stands behind them."
Some employees, however, agree with the company's position. On an internal portal with links and information on how to stand up for racial justice, including links to support different organizations like the NAACP, one worker thanked Starbucks for sharing the resources, but also for its commitment to not allowing partners to wear BLM gear, noting that for some it represents anti-police sentiment and unrest.
"Think of the families that have also have hurt emotional [sic] and physically from violence and threats from those that associate with BLM that are not peaceful," they wrote, talking specifically about police officers.
The idea that Black Lives Matter is violent and politically divisive, Benson said, actually hurts the cause of racial equity. And it's even more infuriating now, at a time when the company is publicly supporting the cause.
"Our movements are just too controversial for Starbucks to stand behind," he said.
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New York Times: Controversial commentary bears consequences

A guest commentary on the anti-racism protests in the USA caused an uproar and has now become James Bennet's undoing: the head of the opinion page of the New York Times has left the newspaper.
    

In the guest commentary entitled "Send in The Troops," Republican Senator Tom Cotton called for the military to be used against protesters in the United States. He wrote: "Above all, what will restore order on our streets is an overwhelming show of force to drive out, arrest and ultimately deter lawbreakers." 
Many readers demanded the newspaper, considered to be left-wing liberal, to explain why Cotton's contribution was published. Employees of the publishing house also expressed their indignation at Cotton's commentary appearing in the paper. Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones wrote on Twitter: "As a black woman, as a journalist, as an American, I am deeply ashamed that we published this."

James Bennet, former New York Times head of opinion
Against NYT standards
On Thursday, the New York Times explained that a "hasty editorial process" led to the publication of the opinion piece and that the "Send in The Troops" text did not meet the newspaper's standards. James Bennet, head of the NYT opinion page, bore the consequences and quit his job with immediate effect. Bennet said he had not read the guest commentary before its publication. 
Publisher Arthur Gregg Sulzberger declared that the paper's board was "grateful" to Bennet for his achievements since May 2016. 
For almost two weeks, protests against police violence and racism have been taking place in many US cities. The protests were triggered by the death of the African-American George Floyd during a brutal police operation in Minneapolis at the end of May. Some of the protests escalated with riots and looting.
Date 08.06.2020
Keywords Racism, USA, Protests
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'Miss Hitler' contestant sentenced to three years in prison

The 24-year-old entered the beauty contest under the name 'Miss Buchenwald' in reference to the Nazi death camp. She was sentenced along with three men for being part of the banned far-right group, National Action.


A former "Miss Hitler" contestant and three other neo-Nazis were jailed in Britain on Tuesday, after being convicted of membership of the banned far-right group National Action (NA) in March.

The Birmingham Crown Court sentenced Alice Cutter, 24, to three years in prison and her ex-boyfriend, Mark Jones, 25, to five-and-a-half years.

Two other men — Gary Jack, 24, and Connor Scothern, 19, — were handed four years and six months, and 18 months respectively, for the same crime. A fifth defendant was sentenced to three years in prison last year.

Cutter, a waitress, had entered the Miss Hitler beauty contest under the nickname "Miss Buchenwald," referencing the World War II Nazi concentration camp.

Jurors were shown messages in which Cutter had joked about gassing synagogues, using a Jewish person's head as a football, and saying "Rot in hell, bitch" after hearing about the 2016 killing of MP Jo Cox in the run-up to the Brexit referendum.

The group was banned the same year, following the comments, with the government describing it as a "racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organization that stirs up hatred and glorifies violence."

Read more: Italy busts neo-Nazi ring, 'Miss Hitler' pageant winner

'Vile ideology'

Judge Paul Farrer QC told the four in court, "you weren't prepared to dissociate yourselves from the vile ideology of this group and therefore defied the ban and continued as members," according to Metro newspaper.

He told Cutter that she had "never held an organizational or leadership role," but that she was a "trusted confidante" of one of the group's leaders.

However, Cutter denied being a member of the group despite having attended the group's rallies, where participants carried signs that read "Hitler was right."

Police found evidence that all of the defendants had continued to participate in NA meetings in Birmingham, despite the group having been declared a terrorist organization.

Speaking ahead of the sentencing, director of public prosecutions Max Hill described the members as "diehards" who "hark back to the days of not just anti-Semitism, but the Holocaust, the Third Reich in Germany."

Read more: Why are German neo-Nazis training in Russia?

Nazi paraphernalia

Prosecutors said a search of the home that Cutter and Jones shared revealed Nazi paraphernalia and images, as well as weapons including knives, brass knuckles, catapults, a longbow and ball bearings.

Jack was described as an active member of National Action even after its ban and had a previous conviction for putting up racially charged stickers at a university campus.

Scothern was also an active member and had distributed almost 1,500 stickers calling for a "final solution" in reference to the Nazis' genocide of the Jews.

Anti-fascist campaigners Hope Not Hate estimated that despite the ban placed on the group in December 2016, NA still had several "hardcore members" and used different names to hide its activities.

lc/aw (dpa, AFP)


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German flying taxi startup charms Tesla investor

Baillie Gifford, Tesla's largest investor after its billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, has invested $35 million in Lilium, valuing the Munich-based company at more than $1 billion.


The German flying taxi startup Lilium has become a billion-dollar "unicorn" after attracting $35 million (€31 million) in funding from prominent tech investor Baillie Gifford, one of the UK's largest private fund managers, with stakes in Amazon, Tesla, Airbnb, Spotify and SpaceX.

With the latest funding, the Munich-based startup has attracted total investments of more than $375 million to date.

Here is a lowdown on the all-electric, vertical take-off and landing passenger aircraft that's attracting attention from influential investors.

A flying car

The Lilium Jet, as the aircraft is called, is a five-seater passenger jet that can take off and land vertically. It is powered by 36 all-electric jet engines mounted on its flaps. The company says even if one engine fails the others would continue to function, making the aircraft safer.

The jet can travel up to 300 kilometers (186 miles) per hour on just one charge, which means one can fly from Manhattan in New York to JFK Airport — a distance of 22 kilometers — in just 6 minutes or from London to Liverpool in a single journey. The taxi would be flown by a pilot, but the company plans to make it autonomous in the future.

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The German 'air taxi': A new era of transportation?

Affordable

Lilium aims to shuttle people between cities or between suburbs and city centers, sparing them the pain of weaving through busy traffic. The startup claims the aircraft combined with "digital scheduling and smart operations" will be able to ferry passengers four times faster than a taxi and at affordable prices to boot.

The company plans to eventually roll out a taxi service, with consumers locating take-off spots and booking rides using an app. A 6-minute trip from Manhattan to JFK Airport is reported to cost about $70. By comparison, a ride-sharing helicopter service run by Uber on the same route costs $200 per passenger. Short-distance rides on Lilium jets would cost about the same as a trip with Uber or Lyft taxis.

Maiden flight

The flying taxi created waves in May last year when it completed its maiden 60-second flight that saw the Lilium Jet complete a lift-off, hover and landing. The maiden test took place two years after the company completed flight testing for a two-seater prototype, which has since been transformed into the current five-seat variant. The aircraft has completed over 100 tests to date.

The tests have seen the jet fly at speeds exceeding 100 kilometer per hour and climb and descend vertically at rates of 500 feet per minute. Lilium expects the jet to begin commercial services in 2025.

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Future Now: Will air taxis soon rule the skies?

The founders

Lilium was founded in 2015 by four friends — Daniel Wiegand (the current CEO), Sebastian Born, Matthias Meiner and Patrick Nathen — from the Technical University of Munich. The company, which currently employs more than 450 people, counts Atomico, Tencent and Freigeist among its prominent shareholders.

Competitors

Lilium is among a host of companies developing flying cars to help transform how people commute in big cities. Morgan Stanley says market for autonomous aircraft could be worth $1.5 trillion by 2040. Uber unveiled its giant-drone like flying taxi prototype in 2018 and plans to launch the taxis commercially in the next five years. German startup Volocopter, backed by Mercedes Benz-maker Daimler and Intel, plans to launch its own air taxi service in Singapore by 2021.

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Volocopter demonstrates flying taxi prototype

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Keywords Lilium, Transportation, Future mobility, flying taxi, German
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Germany and hydrogen — €9 billion to spend as strategy is revealed

As part of its stimulus package, Germany intends to expand the role of green hydrogen to help end the country's reliance on coal. The government agreed on a plan on how to spend the €9 billion earmarked for the project.


Hydrogen, the universe's most abundant element, has often been touted as a way to power vehicles and energy plants, but it is just too expensive. Most hydrogen used today is produced by reforming natural gas, which also releases a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2). Green hydrogen, on the other hand, is extracted from water by electrolysis, but it is still a very energy-intensive process.

Hydrogen's huge advantage, however, is that can be more easily stored than other forms of renewable energy and for longer periods of time, which is why it is a key part of Germany's energy transition (Energiewende) strategy, as Europe's No. 1 economy seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050. Last week, the government announced that it aimed to have 5 gigawatts (GW) of hydrogen production capacity by 2030, with another 5 GW a decade later.

The plan, which could see hydrogen eventually make up about 10% of the country's total electricity capacity, was unveiled as part of a €130 billion ($147 billion) stimulus to help reboot the economy during the coronavirus pandemic. The hydrogen commitment is part of some €40 billion earmarked for climate-related spending.

Read more: German industry demands subsidies for fossil fuel cars
Hydrogen strategy still not firmed up

Ministers on Wednesday got together to debate and approve a joint strategy on how to use the resources freed for the green hydrogen project.

Summing up the results of the Cabinet meeting, German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said the plan was to use green hydrogen where it mattered most and where it was bound to have the biggest impact. He spoke of decarbonizing industrial processes, particularly mentioning "the need for Germany to produce climate-neutral steel."

Reuters reported Wednesday that German steel giant Thyssenkrupp and the country's largest utility, RWE, were planning to forge a long-term green hydrogen alliance, with RWE meant to supply Thyssenkrupp with green energy and thus drastically reduce the latter's ecological footprint.

German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze told reporters that "green hydrogen will mean a boost to climate protection efforts," adding that a nation like Germany should be able to afford "the very complex and expensive hydrogen production."

"What we need now are really big industrial facilities as potentially we will also be able to sell our product to clients across the globe," Schulze argued.

German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said he wanted his country to become a leading hydrogen producer in Europe and beyond, saying that greener mobility concepts could be accelerated that way.

For the production of water-extracted hydrogen to be a mostly carbon-free process, it will require a massive ramp-up in wind and solar energy production. Only once renewable energy production is accelerated can green hydrogen be deployed in power stations plus heavy industrial processes and to replace gas and oil in the heating and transport sectors.

"The problem is that Germany's renewable production is lagging, and the one thing that is missing in the [government's] recovery package is a plan to accelerate the production of other renewable energy (like wind farms)," Agora's Schäfer added.

Wrangling continues within the grand coalition over exactly how much production capacity should be allotted to hydrogen. The center-left SDP wants the government to commit to 10 MW a decade earlier than Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives.

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Renewable imports required

Economy Minister Peter Altmaier conceded it would not be possible to produce enough hydrogen from renewables domestically and an import industry must be built up from wind and solar-power intensive nations to achieve CO2 targets.

Development Minister Gerd Müller agreed that extensive cooperation with suitable partner nations would have to be part of the equation. He mentioned a "hydrogen alliance" with Morocco and plans for the construction of a green hydrogen facility in the African nation to be the first of its kind on the continent. The project is to show that green hydrogen can be produced in a competitvely viable way. Once up and running, the facility is meant to reduce CO2 emissions by 100,000 tons annually.

In addition to the €7 billion earmarked for green hydrogen in Germany, the government stimulus includes a further €2 billion to build up partnerships with other countries.

"We need a European collaboration on hydrogen, which when combined with the renewables capacity of countries in the European south, could help Germany achieve its renewables requirements," Agora's Schäfer told DW.

Meanwhile, German states are already gearing up to welcome new green hydrogen facilities. The northern city state of Hamburg, for example, announced plans in September to become home to the world's largest hydrogen electrolysis plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts.

The southern state of Bavaria, meanwhile, has set up a hydrogen research center and has roped in carmakers Audi and BMW, along with Siemens and energy supplier Bayernwerk.

Read more: Power-to-X: The secret to a 100% renewable energy system?

Hydrogen grid announced

German gas pipeline operators, earlier this year, revealed the blueprint for the world's largest hydrogen grid, which would cover around 5,900 kilometers (3,666 miles). Details about the first section (when ready in 2030, it will be some 1,200-kilometers in length) were released last month. Only 100 kilometers of the first stage would need to be built, with the rest being converted former gas pipelines, according to the grid operations' association FNB Gas.

FNB Gas said the H2 Startnetz 2030 would allow some 30 specific green gas projects identified in northern Germany to connect with key areas for green hydrogen demand in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. The network is expected to cost €660 million and will eventually link to the Netherlands, which aims to have 30%-50% of its energy generated by decarbonized gas by 2050.

Despite the hype around green hydrogen, last year, a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) warned that the fuel "should not be considered a panacea." It said that hydrogen would still likely "trail other strategies" for carbon-free energy due to the cost of production and would only have very targeted applications.

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German family-owned businesses still male and conservative

Family-owned companies like Aldi, Würth and Haribo are often described as the backbone of the German economy. But gender equality and diversity appear to be weak spots in their dynastic business cultures


Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller (pictured above) is a notable exception to the rule. The CEO of German machine-building and laser-manufacturing company Trumpf is one of a mere handful of female top-level executives in the country's family-owned businesses sector.

Only 7% of senior management positions in the 100 biggest firms held by German families are women, a new survey released on Wednesday by the German-Swedish AllBright Foundation has found.

Often founded more than a hundred years ago, those businesses maintain "a leadership culture that appears as old as the companies themselves," the foundation says in a report titled: Die deutschen Familienunternehmen: Traditionsreich und Frauenarm (German family-owned businesses — rich in tradition and lacking women).

AllBright Foundation is a politically independent nonprofit organization with headquarters in Stockholm and Berlin. The foundation works to "promote more women and diversity in executive business positions."

Focusing on equal career opportunities and better company results by diverse and modern management teams, the organization finds that much of this is wanting in those businesses in Germany.

Extremely homogeneous at the top level

Hardly any of the German family-owned firms are still run by the traditional family patriarch who wants to keep control and sometimes shows a personal bias against female executives. Operational business, in most cases, is managed by hired executives or family members who rely on professional advice from outside.

But while the companies’ leadership structures may be different, the group of people managing those firms at the very top seems to be homogeneous and the same everywhere: male, German and advanced in age. They've often landed their jobs through private and exclusive networks in which women are traditionally less visible.


Male heads of family-run businesses are still pretty much the rule in Germany, and the situation looks unlikely to change very fast

Conventions seem to be dominating executive job hiring in the sector, the AllBright report says, as only 3% of the current CEOs in the Top 100 of German family-owned businesses are women. Among them are the aforementioned Leibinger-Kammüller and Anna Maria Braun of medical equipment manufacturer B. Braun Melsungen — the only two executives hailing from the families of owners.

AllBright Foundation has called this hiring continuity "negative for companies," but noted that some family owners were realizing the downsides and considering more female applicants in hiring for top jobs.

Women: Powerless in business affairs

In publicly-listed corporations, chief executives are routinely picked by executive and supervisory boards. That's not so easy in family-owned businesses where decision-making is more complex. There, a group of proprietors is often involved and the family-owner wields special rights and informal influence.

Those proprietary boards, too, are mainly made up of male members, AllBright Foundation has found, with only 36 women sitting on them in all of the 100 biggest family businesses. That's because the owners often chose men over women to represent their interests in the key decision-making bodies.

Small wonder that companies with a stronger representation of women on their boards have more female executives in their managements, AllBright says.

More innovation, better management — the female link

Reinhold von Eben-Worlee, president of the influential association of family-owned businesses (Die Familienunternehmer), says the AllBright report's facts and figures "speak volumes" about the lack of gender equality in the sector.

"In essence: The competence of women in management is still being underrated in German firms," he wrote in the annex of the report.
Eben-Worlee's view is underscored by the report's authors, who conclude: "Diverse makeups of leadership teams are improving innovation and are finally making better decisions."


Date 10.06.2020
Author Klaus Ullrich
Keywords female entrepreneurs, family-run businesses, executives, boardrooms, SMEs

Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3dUD8
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Czech civil society fights back against fake news

In the Czech Republic, the media ecosystem is plagued by disinformation. A group of PR professionals have teamed up to cut off dodgy outlets from their main, and often only, source of income — online ads.


The shadow of Soviet-era influence still looms large over the Czech Republic. Recently, it has recently experienced a spate of disinformation and fake news — a blend of pro-Russian propaganda and anti-EU rhetoric.

Besides media outlets like the Russian government-sponsored Sputnik, there are dozens of other online media platforms churning out popular Kremlin talking points to the country's unsuspecting audiences. According to various estimates, the Czech-language disinformation outlets reach about 10% of the country's population.

Read more: Is Russia running a coronavirus disinformation campaign?

While some of those outlets show a clear political orientation, often strictly anti-EU and anti-liberal, others seem to favor whatever type of content can generate the most clicks, from anti-5G conspiracy theories to pictures of German Chancellor Angela Merkel standing alongside Adolf Hitler, drawing parallels between today's Germany and the Nazi Third Reich.

Roman Cihalik, a Prague-based PR professional, says that he and his colleagues could no longer bare seeing their work on one of the many disinformation websites on the Czech internet.

"From our experience, the absolute majority of companies who advertise online have no idea where their ads end up," Cihalik says.


Roman Cihalik (center) is determined to "stop the spread of the disinformation virus"

In order to help companies safeguard their reputation, as well as to cut Czech-language disinformation outlets from their key source of revenue, Cihalik teamed up with others to set up an association called Nelez ("Do not lie").

The initiative offers free-of-charge consultations for companies, providing guidance through the muddy world of online advertising, and making sure their clients' online ads don't end up on sites spreading falsehoods.

Read more: Czechs prepare to fight disinformation onslaught as elections loom

The gatekeepers

Cihalik says they mostly work with multi-national corporations that have the resources to systematically nurture the reputation of their brands.

"We also approach companies ourselves when we find their ads on websites that share disinformation," he explains. "The vast majority of them react positively. They work with us on putting together a 'blacklist' of websites where they don't want to advertise."

It would, of course, be much easier if the advertising platforms themselves made it impossible for their clients to place online ads on websites that share disinformation.

Like in most other countries around the world, Google is the most widely used search engine in the Czech Republic. But the country also has its own, home-grown search engine — Seznam. According to an analysis by E-visions, an online marketing company, the two tech companies combined hold 96% of the Czech search engine market.

Since 2018, Seznam, which, like Google, runs an online advertising platform, has offered its clients the option to block their ads from appearing on websites listed byKonspiratori.sk, a public database of Czech and Slovak websites that traffic in disinformation.

However, the Czech tech company steers clear of outright blacklisting those websites from its ad pool.

"We don't think it is our place to make the judgement upon what does and does not constitute disinformation," Seznam's spokeswoman Aneta Kapicanova says.

Cihalik appreciates the fact that Seznam is at least making an effort in the fight against disinformation.


Seznam, the Czech alternative to Google, says it's trying to fight back against disinformation

"With Seznam there is at least a will to do something to improve the situation. It is much worse with companies like Google and Facebook," he says.

Google Czech Republic's spokeswoman Alzbeta Houzarova says that the world's largest search engine has a more difficult job fighting disinformation given its global presence. "The situation is more complicated for us because Google Ads is a global product which is available to our clients worldwide," she explained via mail.

This makes it more difficult to target websites in a particular country. Instead, Google's Publisher Policies, which regulate the type of content that can be used for monetization, apply to websites worldwide.

Too close to Russia

Frantisek Vrabel has been working in the defense and security sector for almost 20 years. He now runs a company named Semantic Visions. Using latest technologies such as web mining and data semantics, the Prague-based data company analyzes and synthesizes 90% of web news content in real time.

Vrabel is now working alongside Cihalik and others to bring down the Czech-language disinformation websites. Specifically, his company tracks sources of disinformation globally and helps with the identification of those Czech-language websites that propagate those narratives.

"Although it is not our primary business, the technology we use allows us to detect disinformation. We are able to track the disinformation narratives," Vrabel says.

Vrabel says that the Czech Republic is hit particularly hard by Russian disinformation. "Our analysis suggests that the closer to Russia you are, the more exposed you are. In relative numbers, there is twice as much Russian disinformation in the Czech online space than in Germany. In turn, Germany has to deal with twice as much Russian disinformation than the United States."

Read more: Report: Fake news and trolls lead to fall in global internet freedom

Strong civil society

Although the Czech Ministry of the Interior works for internal purposes with a list of Czech-language disinformation outlets, there is still no official body in the country to identify which websites spread disinformation, let alone shut them down.

Vrabel says that Czech politicians lack the courage to take a strong stance. "Many of the politicians that have the authority to do so are either too closely linked with the disinformation scene or just fear being seen as censors."

Still, the Nelez initiative is determined to reach its ultimate goal.

"We want to stop the spread of the disinformation virus. We will do so by cutting those websites from their often only source of income — ad revenue," says Vrabel.
Watch video https://p.dw.com/p/3dZ1A
Turning Fake News into Hard Cash

Date 10.06.2020
Author Filip Brokes (Prague)
Related Subjects Vladimir Putin, Google, Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, Czech Republic
Keywords Czech Republic, Google, Seznam, disinformation, Russia
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