Günter Wallraff
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Günter Wallraff (born 1 October 1942) is a German writer and undercover journalist.


Research methods

Wallraff came to prominence thanks to his striking journalistic research methods and several major books on lower class working conditions and
tabloid journalism Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as ...
. This style of research is based on what the reporter experiences personally after covertly becoming part of the subgroup under investigation. Wallraff would construct a fictional identity so that he was not recognisable as a journalist.


Undercover work

Wallraff invoked his constitutional right of conscientious objection to
conscription in Germany The Federal Republic of Germany had conscription (''Wehrpflicht'') for male citizens between 1956 and 2011. On 22 November 2010, the German Minister of Defence proposed to the government to put conscription into abeyance on 1 July 2011. The con ...
into armed military service, thus being required to carry out alternative civilian service. Having missed the deadline for filing his refusal, he was nevertheless drafted into the ''
Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
''. Wallraff first took up this kind of
investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
in 1969 when he published ''13 unerwünschte Reportagen'' ("13 undesired reports") in which he described what he experienced when acting the parts of an alcoholic, a homeless person, and a worker in a chemicals factory. He travelled to Greece in May 1974 at the time of the Ioannides military dictatorship. While in
Syntagma Square Syntagma Square ( el, Πλατεία Συντάγματος, , "Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens. The square is named after the Constitution that Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular and militar ...
, he protested against human right violations. He was arrested and tortured by the police as he purposely did not carry on him any papers that could identify him as a foreigner. After his identity was revealed, Wallraff was convicted and sentenced to 14 months in jail. He was released in August, after the end of the dictatorship. In 1977 Wallraff worked for four months as an editor for the tabloid ''
Bild-Zeitung ''Bild'' (or ''Bild-Zeitung'', ; ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper ''Bild am Sonntag'' ("''Bild on Sunday''") is published instead, which ...
'' newspaper in
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, calling himself "Hans Esser". In his books ''Der Aufmacher'' (a pun meaning both "Lead Story" and "the one who opens") and ''Zeugen der Anklage'' ("Witnesses for the Prosecution") he portrays his experiences on the editorial staff of the paper and the journalism which he encountered there, which at times displayed contempt for humanity. In 1987 the journalist Hermann L. Gremliza claimed that he, rather than Wallraff, had written parts of ''Der Aufmacher''. The book also formed the basis for the English-language film '' The Man Inside'' from 1990, starring
Jürgen Prochnow Jürgen Prochnow ( ; born 10 June 1941) is a German-American actor. His international breakthrough was his portrayal of the good-hearted and sympathetic U-boat Captain "Der Alte" ("Old Man") in the 1981 war film ''Das Boot''. He is also known f ...
as Wallraff. ''
Ganz unten ''Lowest of the Low'' or ''Lowest of the Low: the Turkish worker in West Germany'' is the English translation of German journalist Günter Wallraff’s book ''Ganz unten'' (“At the very bottom”), originally published in Germany in 1985. The b ...
'' ("Lowest of the Low") (1985) documented Wallraff's posing as a Turkish "
Gastarbeiter (; both singular and plural; ) are foreign worker, foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are ge ...
", and the mistreatment he received in that role at the hands of employers, landlords and the German government. In 1986 he was awarded Laureate of the
International Botev Prize The International Botev Prize ( bg, Международна ботевска награда) is a prestigious Bulgarian award, presented to individuals with significant accomplishments in the field of literature. It was established in 1972 and ...
. In January 2003, Russia turned away Wallraff and two other Germans, the former labour minister for the CDU
Norbert Blüm Norbert Blüm (21 July 1935 – 23 April 2020) was a German politician who served as a federal legislator from North Rhine-Westphalia, chairman of the CDU North Rhine-Westphalia (1987–1999), and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. Blü ...
and
Rupert Neudeck Rupert Neudeck (; 14 May 1939 – 31 May 2016) was known for his humanitarian work, especially with refugees. He started his career as a noted correspondent for Deutschlandfunk, a German public broadcaster.Christoph Koch: Wie wird man eigentlich ...
, head of the relief organisation
Cap Anamur Cap Anamur is a humanitarian organisation with the goal of helping refugees and displaced people worldwide. In 1979, amidst the rising number of Vietnamese boat people fleeing Vietnam in unseaworthy crafts, Christel and Rupert Neudeck, toget ...
, as they tried to enter the country to work on a human rights article about
Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...
. In May 2007, Wallraff announced that he had started yet another undercover journalist work, this time at a German
call centre A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone. ...
. During 2009 he wore
blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
around Germany in an undercover story to expose latent or explicit racism against
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
men, releasing the documentary ''Black on White'' to show his experiences. Wallraff was criticized by some for this work, such as a suggestion that Wallraff was only interested in earning money from his investigations, or that the method itself was racist. His investigative methods have led to the creation of the
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
verb A verb () is a word (part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descri ...
'wallraffa' meaning "to expose
misconduct Misconduct is wrongful, improper, or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts. It is an act which is forbidden or a failure to do that which is required. Misc ...
from the inside by assuming a role". The word is currently included in the dictionary
Svenska Akademiens Ordlista ''Svenska Akademiens ordlista'' (, "Word list of the Swedish Academy"), abbreviated SAOL, is a spelling dictionary published every few years by the Swedish Academy. It is a single volume that is considered the final arbiter of Swedish spelling. ...
.


Responses and repercussions

Wallraff has been heavily criticised by those on the receiving end of his style of investigation, via attempts to frame his work as breaching privacy rights or revealing trade secrets. Attempts were made on a number of occasions to legally prevent Wallraff's investigative methods, but his actions were regularly ruled constitutional by the courts. The courts opined that
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
and
public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefore ...
in areas concerned with the formation of public opinion favoured Wallraff's actions. In balancing public interest with the competing interests of those immediately affected by his actions it follows however that private conversations, for example, may not be published. In September 2003, investigations were made by the
Stasi Records Agency , commonly known as the ) , dissolved = June 17, 2021 , superseding1 = , agency_type = Former Secret Police Archive , jurisdiction = , status = Dissolved, now part of the German Federal Archives ...
into the Rosenholz files on Stasi workers which somehow got into the hands of the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
; as a result, it was claimed that Wallraff had had connections to the Stasi in the 1960s. Wallraff disputes that he ever actively worked for them. On 17 December 2004, the Hamburg district court ruled on a suit brought by Wallraff that he must not be described as an ''Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter'' or Stasi collaborator (he was being called this above all in newspapers belonging to the
Axel Springer Verlag Axel Springer SE () is a German digital and popular periodical publishing house which is the largest in Europe, with numerous multimedia news brands, such as ''Bild'', ''Die Welt'', and ''Fakt'' and more than 15,000 employees. It generated tot ...
, the publishers of ''
Bild ''Bild'' (or ''Bild-Zeitung'', ; ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper ''Bild am Sonntag'' ("''Bild on Sunday''") is published instead, which ...
'') as no proof of collaboration could be furnished in the documents which had been presented.


References

*Some of the material in this article is translated from the corresponding article from the German Wikipedia, retrieved 10 April 2005.


External links


Official website
* *
Undercover
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Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...
Nr. 22, 2007 *
Unser täglich Brötchen
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Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...
Nr. 19, 2008 *
Unter null
''
Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...
Nr. 11, 2009 *
In fremder Haut
''
Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...
Nr. 43, 2009
Günter Wallraff
in:
NRW Literatur im Netz NRW Literatur im Netz is a German internet database with short biographies of persons who have lived or worked in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Westphälische Literaturbüro (Westphalian office for literature) in Unna operates the biggest database ...
* Barbara Stühlmeyer
''Wegschauen geht nicht''
An interview with Günter Wallraff for his 75. birthday. In: ''Die Tagespost'', September 30, 2017, S. 10 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallraff, Guenter 1942 births Living people German journalists German male journalists German people imprisoned abroad German investigative journalists People from Burscheid People from the Rhine Province Undercover journalists German male writers 20th-century German journalists 21st-century German journalists