KenFM

Last updated

KenFM
KenFM Logo.jpg
Type of site
Journalism portal
Available inGerman, English, French, Russian, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Owner Ken Jebsen
URL kenfm.de (not any longer available)
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional
Launched2011
Current statusActive

KenFM was a German internet journalism portal, established in 2011 by German television and radio presenter Ken Jebsen. It is the successor of a former eponymous radio show, [1] which had over the course of ten years been hosted by Ken Jebsen, aired from 2001 to 2011 on the youth channel Radio Fritz of Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). Despite its popularity the show abruptly came to an end, after an email containing anti-semitic statements by Jebsen was released. According to the RBB Ken Jebsen had "repeatedly disregarded binding agreements", consequently co-operation was ended on 23 November 2011 and the program was discontinued permanently. [2]

Contents

Since the program's relaunch on a freelance basis as web portal and YouTube channel in spring 2012, KenFM has been producing news reports, interviews, talk-shows, political comments and analyses on a regular basis. The portal is mainly known for publishing "alternative views" and conspiracy theories, such as about the 9/11 attack and the Coronavirus pandemic. [3] [4]

History

Radio Fritz

On Saturday 28 April 2001 KenFM aired for the first time from a fashion boutique in Berlin [5] as the show changed its place several times over the course of the following years. Further noticeable publication stations are the Peugeot Avenue (Unter den Linden, Berlin-Mitte), Mini-Berlin (Friedrichstrasse, Berlin-Mitte) and the Sony Center (Potsdamer Platz, Berlin-Tiergarten).

The show soon received widespread acclaim by critics for its unconventional style "dedicated to intelligent madness and playing with the twisted spoken word". In an article in March 2004 titled "Neuroscience instead of Quiz Show" the TAZ newspaper, disillusioned with the "...particularly pathetic example of German Radio programming", highlights the contrasts and portrays the audience's approval of its authenticity - "four hours live, no rehearsal [...] a game based on science, history, philosophy and the arts. Brain research and nuclear physics instead of Super Contest and senseless advertising". [6]

Eventually KenFM broadcast every Sunday afternoon from Fritz Studios in Potsdam-Babelsberg. In addition to occasional live shows in the field, recordings of events that did not fit in the four hour live air-time or did not take place on Sundays were separately published. Excerpts of the show were offered as podcast since January 2006. [7] Since March 2006 the KenFM podcast also offered the Fritz.de playlist. Concerts and musical performances were recorded and filmed and a video of the appearance produced plus interviews with bands or band members and published at FritzTV on Fritz.de the following days and a YouTube channel labeled KenFM2008 was established. [8]

Deposition

In early November 2011 an email of Ken Jebsen was published by author Henryk M. Broder, who criticized it for containing anti-Semitic statements. In the email Jebsen states among other remarks that he knows "who invented the Holocaust as a PR stunt", he insinuates a connection between Joseph Goebbels, PR-pioneer Edward Bernays, the CIA as well as rich "Jews" such as Henry Kissinger. RBB initially defended Jebsen against the allegation and on 9 November it was decided to carry on with Ken Jebsen, who was instructed to "sensibly check future political issues". However, on 23 November 2011 RBB suspended his show and he was eventually dismissed after it had been surmised, that he had violated the broadcaster's journalistic standards on a number of occasions. Although he did not deny having written the email, Jebsen has repeatedly dismissed any allegations of Antisemitism as absurd. [9] [10] [11]

KenFM as an internet portal

The first 90-minute program was published on Sunday 1 April 2012 at 14:00, based on the former radio show format and initially designated as "CamFM", produced in audio and video and presented free of charge on various video portals. Known RBB features and broadcast components were taken over, continued and further developed. In addition, audio publications on current topics are being irregularly published since. KenFM is funded exclusively by viewer's donations. [12]

KenFM mainly publishes "alternative viewpoints" on contemporary issues and news. The portal is mostly known for publishing a wide range of conspiracy theories. This includes conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attack, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] [14] [4]

Criticism

Ken Jebsen and the KenFM outlet are regularly subjected to harsh criticism. During his early days after the dismissal from the RBB, he was defended by some commenters. For example, some authors like Evelyn Hecht-Galinski argued that criticism has "gone beyond all measures" with respect to the fact that the wider debate on the Holocaust, antisemitism and related subjects requires restraint and a high degree of decency in Germany. However, with KenFM mainly publishing disproved conspiracy theories, mainstream media warns of the danger of his disinformation spreading, especially in the light of serious topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic. [15] [4] [3]

Political scientist Markus Linden labels Ken Jebsen, who he says preaches anti-Americanism under the name KenFM. [16] He argues that KenFM is characterized by "sermonic monologues or long interviews with alternative war reporters, apostates, or marginal politicians and conspiracy theorists." [17] Wolfgang Storz, former chief editor of the Frankfurter Rundschau uses the term "political-journalistic Querfront network (politisch-publizistisches Querfront-Netzwerk)" in a controversial analysis [18] [19] for the Otto Brenner Foundation. Storz identifies KenFM as to be one of the protagonists "of persons and organisations who form a political-journalistic Querfront network, in which traditional Left-Right wing categories do no longer apply. The network's most striking feature is its activism against the elite", the government and the associated media (Systemmedien). [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Die Tageszeitung</i> German daily newspaper

Die Tageszeitung, stylized as die tageszeitung and commonly referred to as taz, is a cooperative-owned German daily newspaper administered by its employees and a co-operative of shareholders who invest in a free independent press, rather than to depend on advertising and paywalls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deutsche Presse-Agentur</span> German news agency

dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH is a German news agency founded in 1949. Based in Hamburg, it has grown to be a major worldwide operation serving print media, radio, television, online, mobile phones, and national news agencies. News is available in seven languages, among them German, English, Spanish and Arabic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg</span> German national broadcaster based in Berlin and Potsdam

Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, commonly shortened to RBB, is an institution under public law for the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg, based in Berlin and Potsdam. RBB was established on 1 May 2003 through the merger of Sender Freies Berlin (SFB) and Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB), based in Potsdam, and is a member of the Association of PSBs in the Federal Republic of Germany (ARD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RBB Fernsehen</span> German television channel by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg

RBB Fernsehen is a German free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB) and serving Berlin and Brandenburg. It is one of the seven regional "third programmes" that are offered within the federal ARD network.

Friedrich "Fritz" Sternberg was a German economist, sociologist, Marxist theorist, and socialist politician. Bertolt Brecht declared Sternberg to be his "first teacher."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Philipp Reemtsma</span> German literary scholar and author

Jan Philipp Fürchtegott Reemtsma is a German literary scholar, author, and patron who founded and was the long-term director of the Hamburg Institute for Social Research. Reemtsma lives and works mainly in Hamburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vigils for Peace</span> Series of vigils in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

Vigils for Peace is the name of regular series of vigils that have taken place on Mondays in many cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland since March 2014. The vigils are explicitly not left-wing or right-wing in political orientation, although they are inspired by the Monday demonstrations in East Germany that took place in 1989 and 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Jebsen</span> German journalist, activist, conspiracy theorist and former radio host (born 1966)

Ken Jebsen is a German conspiracy theorist and former radio host.

Johannes Tuchel is a German political scientist. He is currently head of the German Resistance Memorial Centre museum and chief executive of the foundation responsible for it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olli Schulz</span> German singer-songwriter, actor and presenter

Oliver Marc "Olli" Schulz is a German singer-songwriter, actor and presenter. He became known as a singer and guitarist of the indie rock group Olli Schulz & der Hund Marie and as a sidekick of Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf in their various TV series, like Circus HalliGalli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clemens Schick</span> German actor (born 1972)

Clemens Schick is a German actor, model, political activist and human rights advocate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dagmar Enkelmann</span> German politician

Dagmar Enkelmann is a German politician of Die Linke party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Düzen Tekkal</span> German journalist (born 1978)

Düzen Tekkal is a German author, television journalist, filmmaker, war correspondent, political scientist, and social entrepreneur of Kurdish descent. She is Yazidi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Otto Brenner</span> German trade unionist and politician

Otto Brenner was a German trades unionist and politician. Between 1956 and 1972 he was the leader of the powerful IG Metall (Industrial Union of Metalworkers).

Compact is a German magazine. Compact is the most important popular magazine of the extreme far-right in Germany. It unites different political milieus through strategic topic setting.

Bertrand Stern is a German author and philosopher living in Siegburg. He describes himself as a freischaffender Philosoph.

<i>Querfront</i> German political term

Querfront is a German term originating in Weimar politics and referring to the cooperation between the far-right and far-left, or nationalist and socialist ideologies, as well as the combination of their positions. It is primarily understood as a strategy to unite forces in an effort to gain power. The term was first, and most prominently, used in the Weimar Republic, where it referred to the cooperation between conservative revolutionaries and the far-left.

Gunnar Kaiser was a German teacher, writer, political blogger and YouTuber. His critical contributions, especially during the Covid 19 pandemic, are controversial.

Manova News, former branded Rubikon is a German right-wing online blog described to be following the Querfront strategy as well as spreading conspiracy ideologies. The motto of the blog is “Magazine for Freedom and Peace, Environment and Human Rights”.

References

  1. ↑ "PROGRAM INFORMATION - Listen to KenFM online". Listen to KenFM online. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Warbeck's program responsibility for rbb-youth program "Fritz" from - rbb separates from moderator Ken Jebsen". RBB online. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 Camilla Kohrs (30 December 2016). "Das Böse ist immer und überall". Correctiv . Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Nils Metzger. "Warum Sie Ken Jebsen nicht vertrauen sollten". ZDF . Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Leute von Welt". WeltN24 GmbH. 30 April 2001. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Hirnforschung statt Gewinnspiel by HENNING KOBER". die tageszeitung. 8 March 2004. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "P O D C A S T : FRITZ - KENFM, DIE RADIOSHOW MIT KEN JEBSEN". mirPod lequipe. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "KenFM: Kritik eine Bühne gegeben - Damals Ursprünglich wurde seine Show zuerst beim Sender RBB veröffentlicht und dort regelmäßig ausgestrahlt". bsz - Bochumer Stadt- und Studierendenzeitung. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  9. ↑ SPIEGEL, DER (24 November 2011). "Antisemitismusvorwürfe: RBB feuert Moderator Ken Jebsen - DER SPIEGEL - Kultur". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  10. ↑ Dachsel, Felix (20 January 2012). "Ken Jebsen und der RBB: "Ich benutze Humor als Waffe"". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN   0931-9085 . Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "ich looking who has invented the Holocaust as PR". The Axis of Good. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Ken Jebsen does not give up". Berliner Zeitung. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "So läuft das Geschäft mit den Verschwörungstheorien auf KenFM". turi2 (in German). Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  14. ↑ SPIEGEL, DER (17 June 2020). "Wie aus Kayvan Soufi-Siavash der Verschwörungsideologe Ken Jebsen wurde - DER SPIEGEL - Panorama". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  15. ↑ Evelyn Hecht-Galinski (18 April 2014). "Üble Angriffe auf Ken Jebsen". NRhZ-Online - Neue Rheinische Zeitung. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "In the power of Wutbürger and conspiracy theorists". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "All lies". The European. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  18. ↑ "RBB widerspricht Studie der Otto-Brenner-Stiftung". horizont.net. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  19. ↑ "Die Otto-Brenner-Stiftung und ihre Kritiker: wenn Meinungen zu Studien werden - Das Papier wurde scharf kritisiert, teilweise zurecht. Problematisch ist nicht zuletzt der inflationäre Gebrauch des Begriffs "Studie"". MEEDIA GmbH & Co. KG. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  20. ↑ ""Querfront-Analyse": die Otto-Brenner-Stiftung knöpft sich die Verschwörungstheoretiker von KenFM, Kopp & Co vor". MEEDIA GmbH & Co. KG. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.