Uwe Krüger: Mainstream. Why we no longer trust the media. reviewed by Guido Keel

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

Irma Nelles: Der Herausgeber. Erinnerungen an Rudolf Augstein [The publisher. Memories of Rudolf Augstein] reviewed by Beatrice Dernbach

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

Lorenz Matzat: Datenjournalismus. Methode einer digitalen Welt [Data-driven journalism. Method of a digital world] reviewed by Holger Müller

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

Tim Kukral: Arbeitsbedingungen freier Auslandskorrespondenten [Working conditions of freelance foreign correspondents] reviewed by Julia Lönnendonker

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