Udo Ulfkotte

Udo Ulfkotte
Ulfkotte in 2007
Born	(1960-01-20)20 January 1960 Lippstadt, West Germany
Died	13 January 2017(2017-01-13) (aged 56)
Education	University of Freiburg
Occupation(s)	Journalist, conspiracy theorist

Udo Ulfkotte (20 January 1960 – 13 January 2017) was a German journalist and conspiracy theorist^[1] who maintained that journalists, including himself, and leading newspapers published material that had been fed to them, or bought, by the CIA and other Western intelligence and propaganda agencies. Several media outlets rejected Ulfkotte's claims as frivolous.^[2] He was a political journalist for the German main daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) for several years until 2003.^[3] From the end of the 1990s, he wrote several bestsellers and increasingly advocated right-wing populist, Islamophobic, and conspiracy-theory positions.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Career

Ulfkotte studied jurisprudence and politics in Freiburg and London. Between 1986 and 1998, Ulfkotte lived predominantly in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan.^[9][10]

Ulfkotte was on the staff of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from 1999 to 2003.^[11] He won the civic prize of the Annette Barthelt Foundation [de] in 2003.^[12]

Political activism

Ulfkotte was involved in the far-right Pro Germany Citizens' Movement.^[13] In June 2007, he signed the anti-Islam organisation Federal Association of Citizens' Movements (BDB)'s "Wertheimer Appell" against their supposed "creeping Islamisation" of Germany.^[13] The BDB merged with Ulfkotte's Pax Europa^[14] organisation to form the Citizens' Movement Pax Europa (BPE), but Ulfkotte left this in 2008 after an internal dispute.^[13] Pax Europa was affiliated to the anti-Muslim Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) alliance and approached the far-right Belgian party Vlaams Belang (VB) for their assistance.^[15] It worked with them to organise an anti-Islamic 9/11 anniversary march in Brussels in 2007, but mayor Freddy Thielemans refused to license it and it was eventually cancelled, leading to a split between Ulfkotte and SIOE.^[15]

Ulfkotte had planned to run for the Hamburg local elections in 2008, as number two on the Centre Party's list,^[16] but later withdrew in June/July 2007. In July 2007, Ulfkotte announced he would found a new national party,^[14] but this effort failed.^[17]

Ulfkotte was a speaker at rallies of the right-wing anti-Islam Pegida movement^[18] and the right-wing party AfD.^[19]

Bought Journalists

In 2014, Ulfkotte's book Gekaufte Journalisten (English: Bought Journalists: How Politicians, Intelligence Agencies and High Finance Control Germany’s Mass Media) was published. In this work, he stated that the CIA and other secret services pay money to journalists to report stories in a certain light. According to Ulfkotte, the CIA and German intelligence (BND) bribe journalists in Germany to write pro-NATO propaganda articles, and it is well understood that one may lose their media job if they fail to comply with the pro-Western agenda. This is part of a larger pattern of media corruption he describes in the book.^[20] An English translation was released under the title Presstitutes.^[21] Several media outlets rejected Ulfkotte's claims as frivolous.^[2]

Der Spiegel observed that "Ulfkotte's book was published by Kopp, a melting pot for conspiracy theorists. Kopp publishes works by ufologists, and by authors who claim the Americans destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center themselves in 2001. Ulfkotte's book was on the bestseller lists for months. According to the magazine, "Bought Journalists is the bible of all those who have renounced their faith in the German media. Ulfkotte's critics see the book as a vendetta against the FAZ, which he left on bad terms."^[22]

Death

Ulfkotte died from a heart attack on 13 January 2017 at the age of 56, having suffered from several such health emergences previously.^[23]

Works

English-language books

• Presstitutes Embedded in the Pay of the CIA: A Confession from the Profession. Progressive Press. 2019. ISBN 978-1615770175.
• Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys the News. Next Revelation. 2017. ISBN 978-1944505455.

German-language books

• Volkspädagogen: Wie uns die Massenmedien politisch korrekt erziehen wollen [People's educators: How the mass media want to educate us politically correctly]. Kopp. 2019. ISBN 978-3864456947.
• Mekka Deutschland: Die stille Islamisierung [Mecca Germany: The silent Islamization]. Kopp. 2019. ISBN 978-3864456664.
• Gekaufte Journalisten: Wie Politiker, Geheimdienste und Hochfinanz Deutschlands Massenmedien lenken [Bought journalists: how politicians, secret services and high finance control Germany's mass media]. Kopp. 2014. ISBN 978-3864451430.
• Vorsicht Bürgerkrieg!: Was lange gärt, wird endlich Wut [Caution civil war!: What has been fermenting for a long time will finally be anger]. Kopp. 2009. ISBN 978-3938516942.
• Heiliger Krieg in Europa: wie die radikale Muslimbruderschaft unsere Gesellschaft bedroht [Holy War in Europe. How the radical Muslim Brotherhood threatens our society]. Eichborn. 2007. ISBN 978-3821855776.
• Der Krieg im Dunkeln: die wahre Macht der Geheimdienste [The War in the Dark. The True Power of the Secret Services]. Eichborn. 2006. ISBN 978-3821855783.
• Grenzenlos kriminell: die Risiken der EU-Osterweiterung: was Politiker verschweigen [Limitless criminal: The risks of the EU east expansion: What politicians are silent]. Bertelsmann. 2004. ISBN 978-3570002001.
• Der Krieg in unseren Städten: wie radikale Islamisten Deutschland unterwandern [The War in our Cities. As Radical Islamists Infiltrate Germany]. Eichborn. 2003. ISBN 978-3596163403.
• Wirtschaftsspionage: wie deutsche Unternehmen von ausländischen Geheimdiensten ausgeplündert und ruiniert werden [Economic espionage: How German companies are looted and ruined by foreign intelligence agencies]. Goldmann. 2001. ISBN 978-3442151257.
• Propheten des Terrors: das geheime Netzwerk der Islamisten [Prophets of the Terror. The Secret Network of the Islamists]. Goldmann. 2001. ISBN 978-3442151967.
• So lügen Journalisten: der Kampf um Quoten und Auflagen [Journalists Lie in Such a Way. The Fight for Ratios and Editions]. Bertelsmann. 2001. ISBN 978-3570001998.
• Gencode J: Roman [Gene Code J.]. Eichborn. 2001. ISBN 978-3821808604.
• Marktplatz der Diebe: wie die Wirtschaftsspionage deutsche Unternehmen ausplündert und ruiniert [The thieving marketplace: How the business espionage looted and ruined German companies]. Bertelsmann. 1999. ISBN 978-3570001981.
• Verschlusssache BND [Classified Material Federal Intelligence Service]. Koehler und Amelang. 1997. ISBN 9783733802141.

References

External links

• Udo Ulfkotte Homepage (Much of this is in German; includes "Whistleblower" newsletter)
  • e.g., The World Upside Down – October 2006
• "Atomstreit: Spekulationen über US-Schlag gegen Iran". Der Spiegel (in German). 23 December 2005. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
• "German Wilders" attacks Islam, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 13 June 2007