His departure from the “Tagesschau” after 19 years caused a huge media response in January. But that doesn't mean Judith Rakers is gone from TV. The longtime ARD news anchor appeared again as a talk guest on MDR television. In the program “MDR um 4”, the 48-year-old woman once again clarified the reasons for taking a career break.
Working at Tagesschau is Judith Rakers dream job
“Tagesschau” was really a “dream job”, Rakers confirmed when asked. However, she's been discovering “so much new stuff” lately that she's had to put off too many projects close to her heart – like writing her fourth book. So he came to the conclusion: “I have to let go of routines to make room for something new and give my life a new turn.”
However, “news fatigue” was not the reason why he decided to leave the traditional ARD format. He also countered the conspiracy belief spread in online comments that he would distance himself from the public information system. “Some sections of the population would like me to leave the Tagesschau because I no longer want to support it,” Rakers hinted that he had heard such voices. However, this was not the reason at all, as he emphasized “very clearly”, but also with an incredulous laugh.
Rather, he is concerned with the consequences of “inner transformation.” “I try to adapt the outer life to the inner life.” He “owes an incredible amount” to the “Tagesschau”. However, he has always been busy with other projects. He cited his talk show moderation on “3nach9” and reports as an example. “Now I also write books, keep an online magazine and publish a podcast. All about homebreeding.
Finally, Judith Rakers, who runs a self-sustaining farm near Hamburg, revealed a well-kept secret. As a spokesman for the Tagesschau, he occasionally signaled during the weather report. “Sometimes I would take the pen in my hand and shake it very slightly.” It was a hidden greeting to the fans in front of the TV screen.
He did this mostly to “young people who wrote to me”, also to “disabled people” whose caregivers had contacted me. “It's a small gesture that was probably not noticed by any of the other viewers, but which of course made the recipient incredibly happy,” Rakers explained on MDR. He thought to himself, “Gosh, little story, big impact, you can do that every now and then.” But it didn't happen more often than “maybe six or seven times in 19 years.”
Things recently got even more spicy in the “Really Important Questions” section of the interview. MDR host Julia Menger read from a randomly selected moderation card: “What do you really only do when you're all alone?” Rakers thought for a moment and then stated, “Well, all the things that go along with 'naked' have to be done. Lying naked on the bed. Running around the house naked…”
The presenter of the magazine asked not very discreetly: «Is there no one there?» Rakers, who has been considered single since his divorce, confirmed: “There is no one there. I do not want to. I don't like going to the sauna either.” He is “afraid that I will run into my former chief press officer, Jan Hofer.”
The original of this article first appeared at TV show.
IMAGO / Rüdiger Wölk