From Russia Today to YouTube: Who is Jasmin Kosubek?

I still remember well when Jasmin Kosubek started at Russia Today Germany in 2014. Even back then, she was criticized regularly by the German media. Recently, she's come into the spotlight again, this time internationally, after interviewing political scientist John Mearsheimer about the Gaza-Israel conflict.

Since she's better known in Germany, I thought I'd provide some background about her work. Her controversial reputation emerged from the very beginning of her media career 10 years ago, when she became a thorn in the side of established media due to her employment at Russia Today. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had sharply criticized her, describing her as someone whose "apparent naivety provides a wonderful backdrop for galloping madness." Other media outlets like Die Zeit and Augsburger Allgemeine accused her of "propaganda with a sledgehammer." Her interview with then-Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel during the 2017 federal election campaign particularly caused a stirr, because you are not supposed to talk to her or Russia Today.

Early career and the Russia Today years

But honestly, I was never particularly interested in this criticism. I've always tried to form my own opinion and focus on the content. She always had a bad reputation in the media because her career was never conventional. She started at RT DE in 2014 without knowing what she was getting into. She's openly admitted this in one of her videos on her channel but she refuses to apologize for it. I didn't really follow "Russia Today" except for one of her shows, which of course questioned Western narratives about geopolitics and such, but I never felt she was engaging in propaganda.

What I appreciated about her shows was her instinct for stories that resonated with an audience disillusioned with mainstream media. In her RT DE show "Der Fehlende Part" (The Missing Part), she covered topics that often got short shrift elsewhere: the consequences of Western foreign policy, media manipulation, the refugee crisis, and economic frustrations.

When RT DE was largely censored in the West in 2022, it could have meant the end of her career. I think it's safe to say it would have been difficult for her to get a job in mainstream media - she had positioned herself too much as a critical voice. And when you're employed by Russia Today in Germany, it's hard to rehabilitate yourself without denying yourself and kowtowing. Instead, she used the opportunity for a fresh start. Her YouTube channel, which now has over 190,000 subscribers, allows her to remain active without having to turn to mainstream media. And I think that's better this way.

Conversations with troublemakers

She regularly interviews voices labeled as outsiders or troublemakers who mainstream media absolutely despise, mostly in German. For example, she once invited Stefan Homburg. He was and remains one of the biggest critics of COVID-19 measures in Germany and was vilified by the media for questioning the government's response to the pandemic. Kosubek gave him space to explain his views - views that reflected many people's frustrations.

Another guest was Leonard Jäger, also known as Ketzer der Neuzeit. Jäger's YouTube channel with almost 300,000 subscribers deals with controversial topics like LGBTQ and political correctness, criticized from a right-wing perspective. The mainstream calls him a provocateur, but Kosubek sees him as someone who raises questions that resonate with people excluded from cultural conversation. These are the people who are vilified and always portrayed negatively by mainstream media.

Then there's Philip Hopf, co-host of the Hoss and Hopf podcast, which mixes financial advice with libertarian and allegedly "conspiracy-oriented" social commentary. Some newspapers claimed his podcast manipulates the youth. The media accuse him of spreading misinformation, but Kosubek treats him as a voice worth hearing - not someone to be outright rejected.

Without the constraints of a major network, Kosubek has continued to choose topics that are both current and underrepresented. Her channel deals with geopolitical conflicts, the intersection of media bias and public opinion, and the often-overlooked backgrounds of global events. Yes, her presentation can sometimes seem raw and unpolished - especially when speaking English. This became evident recently in her viral interview with Professor John Mearsheimer about the Gaza-Israel conflict. Her question about Arab countries' role in refugee acceptance sparked fierce criticism. She asked the professor why the Arab countries would not take in the Palestinians. She said the Palestinians should accept to leave their homeland. The reactions to the interview were intense, especially on X and YouTube. One comment described the exchange as "like a conversation between an experienced grandfather and his clueless grandchildren." Another went deeper, calling her "cold-hearted" in her treatment of Palestinians and expressing horror at her words "as a German."

The viral clip was only two minutes long, taken from a 20-minute interview. Kosubek herself addressed this in a social media post, urging people to watch the entire conversation before forming judgment. "I can't convince everyone that I'm not stupid or racist," she wrote, "but I can provide context."

Her sometimes clumsy, conversational style can seem shaky, and her missteps are often amplified by the controversial topics she covers. Yet her instinct for important, often untold stories is a skill few journalists possess today. And in a media landscape that too often prioritizes conformity over curiosity, that makes her a voice I continue to enjoy listening to.

Header image source: YouTube/Jasmin Kosubek