Rubikon (website)
Rubicon is since 2017 existing and in the style of Internet blogs held online magazine . It mainly deals with current political events, some of which are commented on in the form of conspiracy theories . The editor-in-chief is Jens Wernicke.
Economic and legal basis
Rubikon is operated by a non-profit GmbH called Initiative for the Democratization of Opinion Formation and is based in Mainz. The website is financed by donations. All company shares are in the sole ownership of editor-in-chief Wernicke, who is also the sole managing director. The publicist Wolf Wetzel , who wrote at Rubikon from its founding to its exit in 2018, criticized this construction for being characterized by “a clear hierarchy”: “Shareholder, publisher, managing director, editor-in-chief. From "below" there is no getting through, no counterbalance, no form of "separation of powers", no possibility of influencing the course. The whole thing therefore depends entirely on the goodwill of the publisher and managing director, who has also intended to be editor-in-chief ”. No effective influence is possible via the editorial statute either.
Self-image
According to Rubikon, it sees itself as a political movement and as a magazine for the “critical mass” that is necessary to bring about actual changes. One would like to analyze and criticize the “prevailing conditions”, since this is “a condition for a successful improvement of world conditions”. One wants to contrast the mainstream with antitheses, for example against the allegedly too benevolent perception of the French President Emmanuel Macron as a “social liberal politician”. “Rubikon” also attacks the defense of the Central European University in Budapest, which mainly serves the influence of the “global capitalist” George Soros , against whom Hungary's autocratic ruler Viktor Orbán is trying to “defend himself ”.
Reception of the content
Scientific classification
The Americanist Michael Butter puts Rubikon in the alternative media like KenFM , Telepolis or NachDenkSeiten , which would all form a counter- public to the traditional quality media and public broadcasting . They used conspiracy theories like that of the " lying press " and sold them as serious news.
Journalistic reception
When the site was launched for three months in 2017, the journalist Christiane Enkeler told Deutschlandfunk that the magazine was “very heterogeneous”. The critical analysis of leading media was successful. Overall, Rubicon is still in development.
According to an analysis by Matthias Holland-Letz in Übermedien , around 600 people published in Rubicon from 2017 to June 2020 , around 80 percent of them men. Among them were "extremely readable texts". The image of the reputable online magazine would crumble if you take a closer look. "The tenor of many contributions: Against the USA , against Israel , for Russia , against arms exports , against Angela Merkel ."
Simon Hurtz referred to the website in the Süddeutsche Zeitung 2020 as " Querfront -Magazin". Roger Schawinski calls it an "Internet portal with a conspiracy theorist groove".
During the COVID-19 pandemic , Rubicon became a platform for the conspiracy scene in Berlin that negated the danger of the virus. Der Spiegel called Rubikon “a kind of in-house media for protesters” around Anselm Lenz , in which “contributions to the ideology of conspiracies” were published over and over again. The advisory board included "journalists who work for Weltnetz.tv and RT Deutsch ". The platform is looking for “contact to fake news distributors like Ken Jebsen , who is currently profiting massively from the corona crisis with his YouTube channel KenFM ”.
Collaboration with Ken Jebsen
Texts by Rubikon editor-in-chief Jens Wernicke will be distributed on Ken Jebsen's website KenFM. When New Germany wrote a few questions to Jebsen in 2017, Jebsen did not answer, but passed them on to Rubikon. Contrary to journalistic standards, they were published there and provided with derogatory comments.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Matthias Holland-Letz: Online magazine "Rubikon": Doubts in your own echo chamber. In: Übermedien . June 25, 2020, accessed July 18, 2020.
- ↑ Mainz Local Court Commercial Register HRB 47255, accessed on July 18, 2020 at handelsregister.de
- ↑ The Rubicon has been crossed - in seven stages , Wolf Wetzel in "Eyes Wide Shut" on February 13, 2018
- ↑ Rubikon - magazine for the critical mass: self-understanding. Retrieved June 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Already discovered? Rubikon , Susanne Stracke-Neumann in M - People Make Media from July 19, 2017
- ↑ Michael Butter: Conspiracy (theory) panik. “Filter Clash” of two publics. In: Heiner Hastedt (ed.): Power of interpretation of diagnoses of the time. Interdisciplinary perspectives. Transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2019, ISBN 978-3-8376-4592-7 , pp. 197–211, here p. 205 (accessed from De Gruyter Online).
- ↑ The magazine "Rubikon". Journalistic cross-border commuter . Christiane Enkeler in conversation with Antje Allroggen, Deutschlandfunk, July 6, 2017
- ↑ Simon Hurtz: Wrong, but fascinating. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . Retrieved June 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Roger Schawinski: Conspiracy! The fanatical hunt for the evil in the world. NZZ Libro, Zurich 2018, p. 50 f.
- ↑ Erik Peter: Corona and conspiracy theorist. With the Basic Law against the mind. In: taz.de , March 31, 2020, accessed June 30, 2020.
- ↑ Maik Baumgärtner, Felix Bohr, Roman Höfner, Timo Lehmann, Ann-Katrin Müller, Sven Röbel, Marcel Rosenbach , Jonas Schaible, Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt, Steffen Winter: Storm of Lies. In: Der Spiegel . May 8, 2020, accessed June 29, 2020 ( Paywall ).
- ^ Matthias Holland-Letz: Approaching an Internet Phenomenon. New Germany, December 14, 2017.