German reporter ‘caught muddying herself to pretend she helped flood clean-up’
A German broadcast journalist has been suspended after she was caught apparently smearing herself in mud before filming a report in a town devastated by floods.
Susanna Ohlen, 39, was caught on video appearing to muddy herself to pretend she had helped with clean up efforts in the spa town of Bad Munstereifel, North Rhine-Westphalia.
The reporter had featured in an RTL.de article with the headline: ‘Cleaning up after the flood: RTL presenter lends a hand in Bad Munstereifel’.
But she was caught on camera appearing to wipe mud on herself moments before presenting the report after an onlooker shared the footage on social media.
RTL has since taken down the article and announced it had taken action to reprimand Ms Ohlen.
The channel said: ‘Our reporter’s approach clearly contradicts journalistic principles and our own standards.
‘We therefore gave her a leave of absence on Monday after we heard about it.’
More than 188 people have died in the catastrophic floods which inundated towns across Germany and Belgium.
There are concerns the death toll will rise further as search teams continue to look through the rubble for those who are still missing.
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