Media Innovation: Ellen Heinrichs (Germany)
A collection of interviews with professionals from the journalistic industry to learn about ideas, systems, profiles and aptitudes that allow generating innovation processes within the media.
Ellen Heinrichs (Germany) is a journalist specializing in media, innovation and constructive journalism. In addition, since this year he is the Founder and CEO of the recently inaugurated Bonn Institute focused on promoting training for media and journalists, and thus generating new perspectives within the industry.
- We have closely followed the launch of the new Bonn Institute. Could you tell us what this initiative is about?
E.H: The Bonn Institute is a non-profit organization that aims to help media organizations develop new and constructive approaches in journalism. In an age of digitization with an abundance of information all around us we have to find new approaches to create journalism that stands out and is truly relevant and valuable for our audiences. And they actually already point us in the direction they want us to go, we just have to listen: If we look at studies and audience behavior we find that people are actually longing for fact-based information that does not only focus on negative news events, but includes solutions and a broader range of perspectives. Now, the only thing we need to do is take this seriously and become much more solution-oriented, constructive and user-focused than we used to be. You are probably already getting it: With the Bonn Institute we try to inspire the industry to take the next step to tackle the huge challenge of digitization: For years, the media has been preoccupied with thinking about new technologies, new platforms and new tools — now, it’s time to think about our chore product and the audiences’ needs, otherwise we won’t be relevant in the future any more. I’m deeply convinced that a constructive approach to journalism will pay off for our societies as well as for the media companies themselves.
- How could you define innovation in journalism? That is, what characteristics must a medium have to be considered innovative.
E.H: In my view, an innovative media company constantly learns about and communicates with their audience and adapts rigorously to their needs. That means in practice, that innovative journalists have to be empathetic listeners who consider themselves as service providers whose job is to cater for their audiences information needs. This is a much more humble approach and sometimes difficult for journalists who used to draw a lot of confidence from the fact that they considered themselves to be the ones who decided what was to be relevant for their readers, viewers or listeners. In the digital age, innovative media companies have understood that it has to be the other way round: journalism is not just us communicating to our audiences anymore, but us listening carefully to what they need to take well-informed decisions for their lives. Everything else follows: The need for constant change within newsrooms, the need for new formats and new technologies, the need to discover new ways to distribute journalism and the need to diversify voices in the newsroom to care for the information needs of diverse audiences. But really, listening is the first step. It’s simple as that.
Credits: Florian Görner
- What are the biggest challenges when promoting innovation processes within a newsroom?
E.H: I understand that many people are tired of innovation, since digitization did not only bring amazing new opportunities to produce journalism and connect with the public, but also brought about a lot of unpleasant consequences for established newsrooms due to the loss of revenue. As a consequence, editorial departments were cut down, journalists had to take on many additional tasks or were even laid off. This increased the pressure on the remaining staff and in some editorial departments, journalism was replaced by content production on assembly lines focusing more on Facebook’s changing algorithms than on the actual needs of their audiences.
In such an environment, it’s not easy to motivate people to be innovative and try something new. And I understand that completely. Stress and frustration are not conducive to creativity. That’s why it’s so beneficial to be able to use constructive approaches to journalism to talk about why we became journalists in the first place and how we can add value to the public in the digital age. This unlocks a lot of potential and leads to new formats and editorial experiments. It’s amazing to see the enthusiasm of journalists revived by such discussions. It also proves that purpose is central when it comes to innovation in journalism.
- Innovation within the media requires new professional profiles. Which ones do you think will be the most requested in the near future?
E.H: As I said, I firmly believes that the professional profile of journalists should be one that is characterized by the ability to listen actively, communicate constructively and serve the information needs of the people thoroughly. These are all soft instead of technical skills. But I’m sure they will contribute to public dialogue and trust in journalism. Our societies need journalists as moderators of the public discourse, since times are getting more difficult with the effects of the climate crises becoming much more visible.
- Could you cite some content design, development and production tools that you consider to be innovative today? What medium at a national or international level could you highlight as truly innovative?
E.H: I love the work of the German investigative startup “Flip”, which does constructive journalism about economics and collaborates with established media companies. This year, the research “Sneakerjagd” was published, which traced old sneakers (that they had secretly equipped with GPS-transmitters) of German celebrities around the globe and investigated the question of whether the recycling promises of international producers such as Nike or H&M were actually true. Well they weren’t to a scandalous degree. But the team didn’t stop there, they also researched and what consumers and legislators could actually do to help end this kind of greenwashing. The investigation was published in the form of podcasts, newspaper articles, YouTube videos and an interactive website. For me, it was a terrific example of an entertaining, critical and constructive journalism that appeals to diverse audiences.
::: You can read the Spanish version here :::
