German media landscape: Journalism needs to be done more!

According to popular opinion, everything in the media business is terrible right now. By the time these lines appeared, Donald Trump had probably completely abolished freedom of the press in the USA out of anger over his performance in the midterms. Springer is currently throwing out half the editorial team at the Daily Telegraph in London. The paper is now made by Mathias Döpfner, Elon Musk and an AI called “Black Print”.

Waldi Hartmann cheerfully “racists” against all names he cannot write. The boulevard is becoming more and more caustic. And I just ran into Kai Diekmann in the DB Lounge. What times those were when he and his image were considered bad! By today's standards, the Diekmann-Bild was an A-list quality newspaper with slightly larger letters!

So all pigs except mom? Nonsense, because journalists are always unshakable optimists. Like Jochen Markett, for example, for whom it was always too cramped in the dingy editorial office. And who therefore brings journalism to the boards that mean the world.

Because unbelievable but true: The Reporter Slam is already celebrating its tenth birthday! And rarely has the approach been as correct as it is today. Journalism has to go out, into the public, into the theater, in front of a large audience. When researchers report on their adventures, abysses and fears. But always laugh, laugh, laugh. At the latest when Bommi comes with the ukulele. Is the Ippen song about how the publisher threw out his own investigative team and their research into Julian Reichelt actually available online somewhere?

As is well known, the Austrians are a theater nation. This means they are clearly ahead of us Piefke Germans. Which is why Dossier, which is a bit of a corrective with Viennese insults and a better atmosphere in the editorial team, routinely brings its research to the stage. This is called “Live Journalism” in international terms, and Germany should learn a few more things here beyond the reporter slam.

The very first news brokers were mostly traveling bards who distributed their stories all over the world. Well, in the beginning there was a can of worms when it came to factuality and credibility, like Donald today. But that's why journalistic standards and rules of the game were created in the following centuries.

And when the drama, emotion and magic of the stage meet the fluff and facts of hard-hitting journalism in Limelight, the media business no longer looks so gloomy. It's great fun and there's something to drink during the break.

How far live journalism has come today can be seen in two weeks at the Live Journalism Festival. It's taking place for the fourth time this year, and after stops in Toronto, Tilburg and Helsinki, it's conveniently held at the Publix in Berlin. “And will Kai D. come over and slam along too?” asks the roommate.