Wektory published a paper by German writer Udo Ulfkotte entitled “Secret journalists. How politicians, large financier and secret services control German media."
The author, a longtime writer of the renowned Frakfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), based on his own experience shows how supposedly free media in Germany is actually governed by the American CIA. True, German media are presented in the book, but the question arises: does the analogous situation happen besides in the Polish mainstream media, which are theoretically diverse, strangely as far as east politics are concerned, they do not express the desire for peace, but they talk about confrontation and forceful resolution of disputes. After all, Poland, so much suffering from the effects of the war, should be at the forefront of countries seeking a peaceful end to the war in the East – a war that is not in our vital interest.
The author shows methods of corrupting German journalists by abroad intelligence services. Journalists are frequently invited at the expense of these services for luxury trips, spend time in exclusive hotels and get costly gifts. In return, they compose articles that favour the United States and their aggressive abroad policy. frequently they only sign their names articles prepared straight by CIA officers. Another method of recruiting journalists is direct recruitment by intelligence services. U. Ulfkotte states that refusal to cooperate with the interview may be a direct reason for dismissal of the writer due to a threat to national security. The German courts confirmed the correctness of this practice. True, it sounds strangely familiar.
The author besides points out the function of various types of transatlantic cooperation organisations, foundations and thought-tanks, whose main nonsubjective is to draw German political and media elites distant from trying to make average relations with Russia and keep them on a pro-American course. It besides sounds strangely acquainted erstwhile it comes to Polish realities. Infiltration does not even bypass the charities in which intelligence officers are placed with the task of influencing the future German elite in a pro-American spirit, while avoiding the usage of blackmail against the more insubordinate.
The U.S. Department of Defense's multi-billion-dollar spending to influence relations and information across the board besides plays an crucial function in the spirit of its propaganda needs. As a result, one-sided propaganda is increasingly present in German media. This results in the fact that, unlike the past, it is not worth buying theoretically diverse newspapers (right, left, liberal, etc.) due to the fact that the message in them, especially erstwhile it comes to abroad issues, is the same. In the author’s opinion, it may be felt that German newspapers are frequently a kind of local editions of the NATO news center newsletter.
Inconvenient information is silenced by the media, for example the 2014 Human Rights Watch study on the regulation of press freedom in Western democracies through expanding surveillance by American secret services. U. Ulfkotte aptly notes that if the subject of the prosecution study were the restrictions on the work of Russian journalists by the authorities there, specified study would be on the title pages of all newspapers.
The consequence of this kind of action is that where erstwhile different opinions may have clashed present there is simply a climate of fear, and correct political journalists utilizing self-censorship dictate to readers what to think, and freedom of expression, as with us, exists only on paper.
From the work of editor U. Ulfkotte it is worth to quote a fewer quotes:
"When I worked for the FAZ, I even received authoritative honorary state citizenship from the politician of Oklahoma. Only to have my accounts written in a pro-American spirit” (p. 19)
"Our opinion-making media, due to their links with American lobbyist organizations, function as an extended arm of Natian press centres, the arms manufacture and a narrow clique of leading politicians" (p. 22).
"In 1 interesting undergraduate work from Munich, 80 selected articles published in FAZ between 2000 and 2012 concerning Obama and Putin were examined. On the basis of these, adjectives and proverbs of value were compiled, referring to these politicians. In the case of Putin, the adjectives and adverbs utilized by FAZ are clearly negative... In a completely different tone, Obama is written (p. 32)
"Over the decades spent abroad, I have seen that in the case of American or British newspapers almost all abroad reporter cooperates with their secret services at the same time. This must always be taken into account erstwhile it is heard that the information material in the media is neutral" (p.47).
And 1 last quote: "You have specialized on state law Hans Herbert von Arnim we will owe a deep analysis of our political strategy in which the establishment parties treat the state as prey and us citizens plunder like robbers" (p. 103).
I believe that these fewer quotes supply adequate encouragement to get to know all the valuable work, showing how modern media make the imagination of readers about the planet around them in a spirit of unreflective admiration for US politics.
Jacek Marczyński
Think Poland, No. 25-26 (16-23.06.2024)
