Green Mini-Dictator Greta Throws News Journalists Out Of Climate Summit

At the big meeting of the climate youth movement in Lausanne trouble is brewing. That seems to have left its mark on leader Greta Thunberg. The 16-year-old today let reporting journalists be thrown out of the conference hall.

Climate icon Greta Thunberg had the media thrown
out of the hall on Friday. The reason: The newspapers reported on the quarrels
at the climate summit in Lausanne.

On
the last day of the “Smile for Future” climate summit at the
University of Lausanne, the mood among the teenagers present remains
tense. Since Wednesday, when there had been crying fits and violent
quarrels at times at the meeting, the activists are under particular observation.

The
idol of the movement, Greta Thunberg, knows that too. The friction among
the youngsters does not leave the 16-year-old Swede cold. On the contrary:
On Friday morning her patience snapped. She personally let the journalists
present be thrown them out of the hall.

Frustration over grassroots democracy

The
fifth and last day of the conference started with a review. Micael, one of
the participants, standing on the stage and puts his finger in the wound of the
activists: “There was little structure and it was difficult to even agree
on anything.”

It
would appear that Micael resonates with many of the young people present. “Grass-root
democracy,” another participant quietly moans. “Once someone
says no, you cannot come to any decision.” You know that from other
groups.

The
frustration over the course of the climate summit is deep among the teenagers.

«They present it as if we had a fight»

Then,
from the back rows in the hall, a teenager speaks up. It is Greta
Thunberg. The climate icon believes the media are to blame for the bad
mood. Thunberg therefore advocates excluding the journalists “because
they otherwise portray it as if we had a quarrel”.

Only on Wednesday BLICK had reported
on the giant spat among the Greta disciples. The headline
caused a stir and was also picked up by newspapers abroad. Thunberg was
not pleased that the images of exasperated and crying teenagers attracted so
much attention. She also rejected the claim in an article by
“Buzzfeed” that she had participated in a summit strike.

U-turn after a few minutes

The
majority of the 450 participants in the room wave their hands as a sign of
approval for Thunberg. All news media have to leave the hall while the
journalists are stunned.

BLICK
journalist Fabienne Kinzelmann is sitting in the front row as she is being asked
to leave the hall. The question of why remains unanswered by Thunberg and
her followers. “How should we report on the summit, if we are not
allowed to be here?”, Wolfgang Wanner asks, who had traveled to Lausanne as
Swiss correspondent for the German television station ARD.

Yet media boycott by the climate teens doesn’t last for long. After a few minutes the journalists are allowed back. When a BLICK journalist asks about the reasons for being thrown out, the summit’s co-organizer Kelmy Martinez (21) says: “We are only human and sometimes we need privacy. As a movement, however, we strive to be as transparent as possible. “

Translation GWPF