The late real journalist Udo Ulfkotte describes the organized system of bought journalism.
Did you know that many large electricity companies also give journalist awards." Many of the leading media outlets are happy to report on how "progress" is making its way into German households: The old, analog electricity meters with the rotating discs are being replaced by supposedly modern, digital devices. In Germany alone, five million of these new digital electricity meters will be installed by the summer of 2015. Many of the journalists who praised this "progress" were subsequently awarded media prizes by electricity companies. Funny enough, not one of these high-quality journalists ever mentioned the business model behind this “progress." The manufacturers love this digital "progress," and this is because the new calibration guidelines call for the digital meters to be replaced every eight years. (Somehow, the old analog meters didn't need to be calibrated and lasted for decades).
In other words: We are installing electronic garbage in our homes. What's more, this first wave of newly installed meters won't even put in eight years' worth of service before they are tossed on the electronic scrap heap. They will have to be replaced faster than planned, because the EU just decided to regulate the electricity consumption of the new digital meters themselves, something that went unregulated up to this point.
All we know is that these new digital devices, with their interactive communication modules and measuring systems that make consumers transparent to the electricity companies, use up a lot of electricity themselves and they won't come close to fulfilling the latest EU guidelines. Put simply: They will first have to be replaced to meet newly updated regulations. The basis for this is the EU eco-study for intelligent electricity networks with the lot number 33 ENER.
Needless to say, all of this will be paid for by the consumer, that is, the rate payers who use electricity. Meanwhile, the power companies push these new devices with big advertisements in the media, thus financing the jobs of those journalists who are happily reporting on this counterproductive "progress."
Whoever works hard and cooperates with this well-greased system, there's a good chance they’ll secure additional rewards - and these come in the form of “journalism prizes."
Among these prizes, you'll find the "Liberty Award", which has been presented by the cigarette manufacturer Reemtsma every year since 2007. This award is given to honor journalists “who give voice to the daily fight for freedom.” The “Liberty Award” for journalists from the Reemtsma tobacco company is accompanied by 15,000 euros. This journalism prize is very controversial, receiving widespread, vociferous criticism, and not just because it is completed funded by the tobacco lobby. Hans Leyendecker from the Süddeutsche Zeitung refused his nomination for the following reason: “When I received the offer, I knew immediately: I won't let them nominate me. A journalist has to know where he's going, who he is allowing to invite him, who he is allowing to pay him. It doesn't matter if it's an award, a speech or he's taking on the role of the host. A journalist doesn't allow himself to be bought, a journalist doesn't go to such events."
Hans Leyendecker
Others didn't seem to have any problem accepting this award from the tobacco industry, such as the ARD journalist Thomas Roth (2009) and the FAZ reporter Konrad Schüller (2012).
Their jury also includes people such as the Die Zeit journalist Theo Sommer, who is a legally convicted tax evader and for this reason alone, surely not a role model for honest citizens (an immoral moralist). We will come to him later in connection with controversial organizations such as the Atlantik-Brücke, the Bilderbergers, the Trilateral Commission and the German Council on Foreign Relations.
Theo Sommer is an expert for positive reporting on military operations. The media journalist Uwe Krüger depicts this in his book, "Meinungsmacht" (Power of Opinion (not available in English)). From his point of view, Krüger shows how journalistic research is bent into shape when it produces unwanted findings that contradict political aims.
One example is the harmful effects of the depleted uranium munitions used by NATO in the Yugoslav Wars. When the first reports on this surfaced in the beginning of 2001 and put the then Minister of Defense Rudolf Scharping (SPD) on the defensive, he reacted as politicians are wont to do in tricky situations: He appointed an expert committee to examine the accusations.
He entrusted the leadership of the committee to Theo Sommer, the former editor-in-chief at Die Zeit. Sommer enjoyed the Minister's trust because, in his first life, he had led the planning staff at Hardthöhe (the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Defense) and had also been a member of the Federal Government's Defense Structure Commission.
Six months later, the commission under Theo Sommer gave the all-clear signal: Depleted uranium munitions were classified as harmless and a leading story appeared in Theo Sommer's Die Zeit with the headline, "The Alarmists' Embarrassment."
With that, the case was closed and, according to Uwe Krüger, Scharping presented Sommer with the German Bundeswehr's Gold Cross of Honor.
Theo Sommer shortened this story on his homepage and in his “Awards" section, it merely lists: "2002: Bundeswehr's Gold Cross of Honor."
Theo Sommer
Embarrassing: In 2014, The Bundestag members Ulla Jelpke, Christine Buchholz and Jan van Aken submitted an inquiry to the Federal Government with printed document 18/2307 in which it stated that in a letter dated July 21, 1999, in connection with the Kosovo deployment, the Ministry of Defense had warned the Bundeswehr about physical contact with uranium contaminated dust.
In the 1999 letter to the Bundeswehr, they pointed out that "the absorption of DU particles by the body is to be avoided by wearing a dust mask and toxic effects.” Furthermore, upon entering a military vehicle, "dust is to be shaken off clothing and footwear, footwear is to be washed off. This means that Scharping's friend, Theo Sommer, was whitewashing something that they had been warning the Bundeswehr about internally since 1999 there was also an additional alpha journalist in the “Dr. Sommer Working Committee": Nikolas Busse from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
At first, he had been the FAZ's NATO correspondent, then the foreign policy desk's deputy editor-in-chief at the FAZ. We'll get to him later, in connection with some controversial Transatlantic networks where Busse even swore an oath of allegiance to the USA before the illegal Iraq War in 2003 (for this, see the section: "The Names: Controversial Contacts" in chapter 3).
Left: Cover of an internal, classified Bundeswehr document on the dangers of depleted uranium. The classification as
CLASSIFIED MATERIAL (VS) - FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY" means that knowledge of the content by unauthorized individuals (therefore you as a reader) may be detrimental to the interests of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Right: Page 25 of the "Guidelines for Bundeswehr Contingents in Afghanistan"
CLASSIFIED MATERIAL – FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
1.3.3 Dangers of DU munitions (Depleted Uranium) During the operation "Enduring Freedom" to support the Northern Alliance against the Taliban regime, US combat aircraft employed, among other munitions, armor piercing uranium, incendiary munitions with a DU core. When using this munition against hard targets (e.g. tanks, motor vehicles), the uranium ignites due to its pyrophoric effect. While it burns, persistent toxic dusts are created, particularly on and in the targets, that can be stirred up at any time. DU munitions can therefore cause toxic and radiological damage to unprotected personnel.
• Risk of heavy metal poisoning
• Risk through very weak radioactive emitters
If the use of this munition is suspected (burned out motor vehicles, tanks, burned out columns, typical entry holes from 30 mm ammunition), ABC protective clothing (overgarment) and ABC masks are to be worn in the area surrounding the munition's effects until a ABC/Self-Defence unit can rule out any hazard
Safety Measures:
- No unnecessary contact with munitions, munition pieces and other potentially contaminated material
- Check for possible radioactivity by ABC defence unit - Issuance of film dosimeters
- Donning of the ABC protective mask
- Sealing of the clothing or donning the personal ABC protective clothing
- Documentation of the respective mission or contact with the DU-contaminated device (who, where, when, how, how long, dose)
- Immediate notification with submission of the dosimeter
- Contact the responsible unit doctor