Axel Springer Academy launches international journalism project on Instagram and IGTV

Their international project “mission: truth” includes video portraits which are especially designed for 17- to 19-year-olds and are now available on IGTV, Instagram’s video platform.

In the vertically produced stories, the young reporters of the Academy met for example Yusuf Omar from Los Angeles, who lets rape victims in India tell their story on Snapchat and thus made one of the country’s biggest problems public. They spoke to The New York Times’ Rukmini Callimachi, who interviewed a high-ranking ISIS dropout on the record for the first time, which even secret services had failed to do until then. Or they went to Greece with Bild chief reporter Paul Ronzheimer. He was the first journalist in the world to get on a refugee boat and report live under dramatic conditions.

“Editorial offices are search engines for the truth. They cannot be replaced by algorithms or robots”, says academy director Marc Thomas Spahl. “With this project we want to show particularly young people how important journalism is today and how important the job of a reporter can be if you make the most of your opportunities and are aware of your responsibilities.

More than 15 episodes will gradually be published on IGTV alongside with additional information in the feed and Instagram stories. The young journalists developed the social media concept in discussions with groups of school children in a temporary, transparent newsroom in Hamburg, where their publishing house has its roots.

“mission: truth” can be found on Instagram and IGTV under @missiontruth. Additionally the website mission-truth.com is where the project is presented and individual portraits are shown. 

Axel Springer is a member of FIPP.

Is there a member of your team, under the age of 35, that have made a significant impact to your media business within the last 12 months? The Rising Stars in Media Awards reward young, talented individuals who have produced outstanding work within the industry and have delivered above and beyond expectations. Entry deadline is 31 October: fipprisingstars.com

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