To put it positively: "Glanz & Gloria" guest presenter Bettina Bestgen has achieved something in the past few days that all presenters dream of: she became famous. Thanks to her tattoos and the column by persoenlich.com TV critic René Hildbrand, she has had journalistic supremacy in recent days. Two cover stories on "20 Minuten" and "Blick china rcs data am Abend", countless online, radio and TV reports, solidarity campaigns from professional colleagues and a Federal Councillor who now follows her on Twitter. It almost doesn't get any better than that. The "harshness" of Hildbrand's criticism was offset by an almost limitless solidarity campaign. The famous silent majority, who quietly agreed with Hildbrand, did not want to be seen as old-fashioned and really kept quiet. Or at least at the beginning.
As the publisher of "persönlich" I have been asked several times in the last few days whether this column should have been censored. The answer is quite clear: No. The whole discussion shows that Hildbrand, as one of the most prominent and long-serving TV critics in the country, has hit a sore spot with his complaint. How many tattoos can the country tolerate? The debate proves: different times, different customs. In the past - but that was over 20 years ago - it was even compulsory for journalists to wear a tie at such appearances.