Middle finger satire video on Varoufakis wins top German TV prize

For a few days last year, German TV viewers were pretty confused. On a Sunday in March, public television aired an allegedly doctored image of then Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis giving Germans the "Stinkefinger," or the middle finger, over the terms of his country's financial bailout.

Four days later, broadcaster ZDF announced that satirical news host Jan Böhmermann had faked the video, which had swiftly gone viral. In it, Böhmermann claimed that his "Neo Magazin Royale" program had manipulated a two-year-old video allegedly showing Varoufakis waving the "Stinkefinger."

The video included footage of the show's research team "doctoring" a 2013 speech given by Varoufakis in Croatia.

However, ZDF later said in a statement that it was only seeking to show - satirically - how easily the footage could have been doctored.

Last week, it was announced that Böhmermann's little media lesson has won a Grimme Prize in the entertainment category.

In total, 76 productions have been chosen from 800 entries. The Grimmes will be presented on April 8 in Marl.

Source: Deutsche Welle