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Red Bull's Billionaire CEO to Launch Right-Wing News Platform

Kerstin Joensson
Kerstin Joensson/AP

The political site has been compared to Breitbart. 

Update: Michael Fleischhacker, editor-in-chief of Quo Vadis Veritas, has responded to this story, clarifying that Naher an die Wahrheit is not the name of the organization, but describes its intentions. Quo Vadis Veritas is the platform's official title, which Fleischhacker argues has no political agenda beyond reporting reality with as many facts as possible. Read his official statement, below.

Over the past week, a non-profit foundation, Quo Vadis Veritas, was established with the purpose of launching an independent multimedia investigative journalism platform. The platform and its employees will focus on research to only offer high quality journalism. This is to enable solid grounds for rational, well-informed debate. As work on this project only began in April 2017, the organizational structure, range of topics, design and features of the platform have not yet been finalized. Speculation that Quo Vadis Veritas will launch an ideologically motivated platform on behalf of Dietrich Mateschitz is simply wrong. The recent related coverage further demonstrates the substantial need for journalism based on facts.

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Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz has transformed the energy drink brand into a full-fledged media company, creating a number of cultural platforms that host LGBTQ-friendly events.

Compared to his electronic music platform, Red Bull Music Academy, to his New York exhibition space and Detroit residency program, Mateschitz's latest business venture comes as a surprise: a German-language right-wing news platform many have already compared to the United States' far-right site Breitbart.

In an interview with the Austrian paper Kleine Zeitung on April 8, Mateschitz discussed his support for President Trump and announced plans to launch Naher an die Wahrheit ("Closer to the Truth") that will publish researched articles to "tell the truth." His outlet would operate independently of Red Bull, but the association cannot be easily overlooked. The billionaire also spoke in opposition to "intellectual elites" and political correctness, criticizing Europe's "wave of immigration" by arguing that most people weren't refugees.

Mateschitz's news comes on the heels of two queer RBMA events scheduled for May, both of which aim to celebrate New York's rich LGBTQ dance culture. The first--a Bed-Stuy Function on May 7--will highlight the Brooklyn neighborhood with a lineup of burgeoning QTPOC DJs, and the second--Trade Show USA on May 13--will feature eight collectives from the underground LGBTQ dance community.

In a statement to The FADER, a Red Bull representative said, "Mr. Mateschitz gave a personal interview," adding that their company "values freedom of mind and encourages open conversation."

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