Many of Relotius’ articles deal with topics that are particularly
sensitive from the point of view of bourgeois propaganda, such as the
background to Trump’s rise in the US and the wars in Iraq and Syria.
To justify the Western military interventions in the Middle East, a
fairy tale by Relotius about two young brothers (“lion boys”) kidnapped,
tortured and trained by the Islamic State (ISIS) to become suicide
bombers proved much more effective than a carefully researched piece
into the real background to the wars. Such an article would have to
admit—if it were honest—that ISIS and other Islamist militias are, above
all, a product of the intrigues of the US and its allies in NATO and in
the Middle East.
Relotius’s fabrications fit seamlessly into a stream of
disinformation that has lasted for nearly 16 years—since then-US
Secretary of State Colin Powell gave his infamous speech at the UN on
Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Although the entire speech was based
on lies and forgeries, it was largely accepted uncritically by the
international media and served as a justification for the bloodiest war
of the 21st century, which continues to this day.
Freedom of the press is an achievement of the bourgeois revolution.
The bourgeoisie upheld it as long as it was fighting against the
supremacy of the aristocracy, and later enshrined it in its
constitutions. While capitalism remained capable of social compromise,
such freedoms retained a spark of life. But freedom of the press is not
compatible with war, militarism and a society based on intolerable
levels of social inequality.
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who exposed the Watergate scandal,
were still being celebrated and honoured in the 1970s. Today, Julian
Assange and Edward Snowden, who have uncovered incomparably more serious
crimes of US imperialism, are isolated and living in forced exile, and
must fear for their lives. Outrageous counterfeiters such as Relotius,
on the other hand, are awarded prizes.
The incestuous relationship between the world of politics and the
media has taken on a dimension that defies description. Billion-dollar
media conglomerates dominate the press. Journalists and leading
politicians know each other, mingle at the same bars, and frolic
together alongside film stars and other celebrities at annual press
galas.
-- Peter Schwarz, "Der Spiegel’s counterfeit journalism and the campaign against 'fake news'" (WSWS).