Compact (right-wing magazine)

Compact (own claim: "Compact – magazine for souveranity") is a German right-wing magazine. Editor in chief is Jürgen Elsässer; CEO (Geschäftsführer) of "Compact-Magazin GmbH" is the publisher Kai Homilius. The redaction is based in a family home in Falkensee in Brandenburg, at the western border of Berlin.

Compact
TypeMonthly magazine
PublisherCompact-Magazin GmbH
Editor-in-chiefJürgen Elsässer
Founded2010
Political alignmentFar-right, islamophobic, sexist and conspiracy ideological
LanguageGerman
HeadquartersFalkensee, Germany
Websitewww.compact-online.de

Scientists and journalists rate the journal as a conspiracy ideological "front line" magazine and assign it to right-wing populism. Since 2015 presents itself Compact as a mouthpiece of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the islamophobic Pegida-movement.[1]

History & Business

Since 2008 the Kai Homilius Verlag puplished a book-serie called "Compact", edited by Elsässer. Since 2009 there had been also published DVDs in Co-operation with Schild Verlag. In December 2010 number 0 of the magazine got puplished Magazins. Since August 2011 it was published in the "Compact-Magazin GmbH" in Werder. This company is founded by Jürgen Elsässer, Kai Homilius and the German Muslim convert Andreas Abu Bakr Rieger. All of them are holding one-third of the company.

The magazine's domain was temporarily seized by a German court in January 2018 after compact had not paid for litigation costs. The journalist Richard Gutjahr had obtained a preliminary injunction against the vile suspicions about him that had been spread via Compact. The Compact magazine suggested that the journalist had known about terrorist attacks in advance.[2]

Since mid-2013, the Compact Magazine has advertised under the motto "Courage to the Truth," which also uses the "Alternative for Germany" as its motto. Elsässer distributed the magazine initially on AfD party days. In spring of 2015, he decided to make the magazine an election campaign for the AfD. Especially since the refugee crisis in Europe in 2015 Compact advertises regularly with front pages and theme books for AfD politicians and their positions. Three days before the state election in Saxony-Anhalt in 2016, Elsässer hosted a live conference with leading AfD candidate André Poggenburg, giving him space to present the AfD goals. He presented Compact as the voice of the "silent majority" and the AfD as their party. On election night Poggenburg was not at the press statement of the main public broadcasters, but only answers Compact magazine. Thus positioned Elsässers Compact as the mouthpiece of the AfD and Pegida supporters who flat-reject the mainstream media and call it a "lying press".

Beside the monthly magazine, Elsässer and Homilius have enlarged their business activities: they run an online shop for compact-Poster, Sticker, Books and DVD. Also, they organizing so-called "compact conferences" and supply a YouTube channel with interviews. The interview partner is often based in conspiracy and far-right circles.

Gerhard Löwenthal Prize

Together with German "Foundation for Conservative Education and Research" (Förderstiftung Konservative Bildung und Forschung), Junge Freiheit awards the Gerhard Löwenthal Prize, a biannual prize for conservative journalists.[3]

Impact and reception

The media journalist Benjamin Friedrich wrote in 2016: "The journalistic performance of the magazine is low. Elsässer paraphrases or copies articles from the "mainstream press" and at the end adds them the toughest possible opinion." Friedrich wrote, that Elsässer for example takes over entire passages from the renowned Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and wote them in a new way, without giving citations and sources.[4] He wrote, that the right-wing scene in Germany could probably give more readers to Compact and Junge Freiheit, but he assumed that right-wing sympathizers mistrust the medium of the printed newspaper as a whole and instead use more online media.

Compact is described as „Querfront-Magazin“ (frontline-magazine).[5] According to Mathias Brodkorb (right-wing expert of SPD) Compact has an Anti-US and Anti-imperialistic habitus.[6] These traditionally left opinions are used by Compact to find pro-Russian and nationalistic conglusions.

Andre Haller showed in an study from 2018, based on empiric observations undertaken in the U.S. and Germany, that populist politicians and right-wing alternative media are drawing ever closer to each other and that mutual dependencies are arising. He pointed out Compact as one of the main right-wing media outlets in Germany.[7]

In 2016 the magazine "won" the negative-price Goldener Aluhut (golden Tin foil hat) in the category „media and webblogs“ for its reception of conspiracy theories.[8][9]

Citations
  1. P.A. Simpson(2016): Mobilizing meanings: Translocal identities of the far right web. German Politics and Society, 34(4), 34–53.
  2. „Ich hab dann mal die Domain gepfändet“: Wie sich Richard Gutjahr gegen das umstrittene Compact Magazin wehrt. meedia.de, 23. Januar 2018. Markus Reuter: Öffentlichkeit: Richard Gutjahr lässt Domain von rechtsradikalem Magazin Compact pfänden. netzpolitik.org, 23 January 2018.
  3. Löwenthal-Preis für Siedler und Krause Landt. Junge Freiheit, 25. November 2007
  4. "Die Medien der neuen Rechten: "Mut zur Wahrheit"". Katapult Magazin. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  5. Thomas Sebastian Vitzthum: Anti-Kapitalismus Linker Publizist von der NPD für „Volksfront“ gelobt. Welt Online, 16. Januar 2009. Roland Sieber: Reichsbürger, Neonazis und Antisemiten – Querfront kapert Friedensdemonstrationen. Die Zeit – Blog, 16. April 2014. Im Kampf gegen die Medien-Mafia. In: taz, 16. April 2014:
  6. Mathias Brodkorb: Jürgen Elsässer und sein Magazin „Compact“ – Der Gottfried Feder des 21. Jahrhunderts? Endstation Rechts, 25. März 2011
  7. André Haller (2018): Symbiotische Interdependenzen. Rechtspopulismus und politische Alternativpublizistik in: ComSoc Communicatio Socialis, site 143 - 153. ComSoc, Jahrgang 51 (2018), Heft 2. doi.org/10.5771/0010-3497-2018-2-143
  8. "Der goldene Aluhut 2016 – Sieger und Siegerehrung". Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2019., Blog von Der goldene Aluhut gUG vom 10. Oktober 2016, abgerufen am 21. Juli 2017
  9. Die fünf wildesten Verschwörungstheorien des Jahres. Welt Online, 1. November 2016; abgerufen am 21. Juli 2017
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