Type Weekly newspaper Founded 1986 Language German | Editor Dieter Stein Political alignment National-conservative Headquarters Berlin, Germany | |
The Junge Freiheit (JF, Young Freedom) is a German weekly newspaper for politics and culture, established in 1986.
Contents
History
JF was founded by students in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1986 on the initiative of the 19-year-old Dieter Stein. The founders described the newspaper as a reaction to the "dominance of the leftist 68's generation" among university teachers. In 1993, the newspaper moved its headquarters to Potsdam, near Berlin, and to Hohenzollerndamm, Berlin, in 1995. In 1994, a printing site for the JF in Weimar was firebombed by far left terrorists, with damage totalling 2.5 million marks. The paper moved to Berlin a few years later, where it continues to be published today. JF had a circulation of more than 24,000 paid issues in the third quarter of 2015.
Issues and style
The JF has one section for politics, one for culture and for foreign affairs; it pays less attention to economics. There is a substantial number of opinions and commentaries including weekly opinion columns. Every week, the paper also conducts an interview with a prominent politician, author, scientist or artist.
Ruling
JF was involved in a legal battle relating to the freedom of the press against two local State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution, in which the newspaper was represented by its lawyer and frequent supporter, former German Attorney-General Alexander von Stahl (FDP). The Offices for the Protection of the Constitution in two federal states, North Rhine Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg, mentioned Junge Freiheit in their yearly reports of alleged "anti-constitutional activities" between 1995 and 2005, along with most publications and organizations affiliated with the Left Party. The newspaper successfully sued the North Rhine Westphalia local authorities, and the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled such classification to be unconstitutional in 2005 (the so-called "Office for the Protection of the Constitution report case" or "Junge Freiheit Case").
Since then, neither state's report has mentioned the newspaper.
People
The founder and editor-in-chief as well as managing director of JF is Dieter Stein.
Its prominent contributors include Holger Zastrow, Wolf Jobst Siedler, Frederick Forsyth, Alain de Benoist, Paul Gottfried, Elliot Neaman, Rolf Hochhuth, Ralph Raico, Derek Turner, Klaus Rainer Röhl, and Fritz Schenk. Among its prominent public supporters are also Alexander von Stahl and Peter Scholl-Latour.
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.