Edition 01/2018

The seismic shift that digitalization has brought about in the media and cultural landscape has thrown journalism into crisis – one that is transforming the way the profession has always been perceived based on its now-obsolete historic origins. As a result, the conventional concept of journalistic professionalism needs to be re-examined: What has to stay, because the role of journalism in public life remains vital for the survival of modern societies? And what has to change, or is already changing? continue to article

by Klaus Meier / This paper will soon appear in an English-language journal. You will find the link here once it is published.

by Gunter Reus / Reading Kästner can not only also be productive for journalism as a science, but for journalism itself. Committed to a subjective view of things, irony and freedom to wander, features articles have always pushed the boundaries of the system (and are still seen in Germany as superficial and flighty as a result), but no other journalist in the 20th Century approached the genre as consistently as Erich Kästner. continue to article

by Nina Steindl, Corinna Lauerer, Thomas Hanitzsch / Journalism is increasingly characterized by freelance journalists. Although the number of studies on freelance journalism is growing, the field continues to be largely unexplored. Therefore, the present paper focuses on who the freelance journalists in Germany are, under which conditions they work and how they perceive their professional role. continue to article

By Friederike Herrmann / For the lack of interest in the participation of the European elections scientists have not only held politicians and uninterested citizens responsible but also the media. continue to article

by Petra Herczeg and Horst Pöttker / Using the migration and refugee crisis as an example, this text describes, comments on and analyzes the German Press Council’s (Presserat) regulations on dealing with anti-discrimination rules from a German and Austrian point of view. These issues of professional ethics are relevant in terms of both integration policy and media policy. The article aims to enhance sensitivity to the problem of discrimination against migrants in public life and to highlight the effect different case law practices can have on public discourse. The authors take turns to react to a chapter. continue to article

There is a problem with journalism in Germany – this forms the starting point of the latest work by Leipzig-based journalism expert Uwe Krüger. In it, he examines the question of why people have increasingly lost trust in and become more critical of the media in recent years – a phenomenon seen not only among those who complain loudly about the “Lügenpresse” [liar press], but across the political spectrum. continue to article

It begins with a goodbye. Rudolf Augstein is lying in Hamburg’s Israelitisches Krankenhaus with severe pneumonia on October 31, 2002. He dies a few days later on November 7, just after his 79th birthday. On the way home in the taxi, she begins to cry. “Has something terrible happened?,” asks the driver. “No, something normal.” “Your boyfriend?” She thinks for a moment. “In a few, brief moments, I suppose we were friends”. Born in 1946, Irma Nelles joined the Spiegel’s Bonn office in Summer 1973. continue to article

What does the future hold? Academic writing about journalism in the digital age often contains a remarkably similar range of terms: cross-media, communities and data-driven journalism. Each of these approaches is essentially a method of using the internet as a platform for generating attention in the short term and profit in the long term. But before profit comes hard work, as Lorenz Matzat hopes to show using examples in his book “Datenjournalismus. Methode einer digitalen Welt.” continue to article

the Handbuch des Fotojournalismus, which provides a broad overview of the profession’s history, forms, applications and practice. The practical expertise of its authors Lars Bauernschmitt and Michael Ebert is in evidence throughout the book. Both have decades of experience in the German photography sector. continue to article

Many new journalists dream of one day taking up a prestigious position as a foreign correspondent. But what are the working conditions really like for freelance foreign correspondents, who do not have the luxury of being employed by a public service broadcaster? And how has the situation changed as a result of the media crisis and the economic pressures it has produced? Are freelancers benefiting from the reduction in full-time correspondent positions by filling the gaps? continue to article