cyclingheroes said:Try to find the original articles on the ARD website... you won't find them anymore. Stories with cyclists also dissapeared.
Now it could be that the original reporting was shoddy and based on bad investigations and unconfirmed hearsay evidence at which point the ARD lawyers pulled the plug because they were afraid of a lawsuit. I think this is in the realm of possibility.
Another possibility is that some business type within the ARD looked at the numbers and decided that biathlon is too valuable, and, with the TdF disaster in fresh memory, he or she pressured a stop to the reporting, at which point, I hope, the story might be picked up by a different news outlet. I think this might be the most likely, because it could also explain why cyclists were named in the original story (ARD ceased reporting on cycling during the 2007 TdF), while biathletes weren't (and ARD is blissfully continuing to report on that).
Another possibility is a greater conspiracy between the media (ARD), the DSV (German Ski Federation I believe) and political powers higher up. I doubt this, because in that case, the story would probably never have seen the light of day in the first place.
So, what's your pick?