Christian Schwägerl | journalist author speaker

22. October 2022

Reliable journalism
in-depth, reporting

With my work as a journalist, I want to help my readers form their own picture of the world. They should get reliable information from me, in-depth research on topics that don’t jump out at you from the headlines anyway, lively descriptions and, above all, an overview of what current events mean in the “big picture”. In doing so, I follow the strict code of the RiffReporter, which I drafted myself. My articles appear, for example, in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, GEO/PM and RiffReporter as well as Yale E360 – and gladly in other quality media. Between 1997 and 2012, I worked as a correspondent for the Berliner Zeitung, the FAZ and Der Spiegel. I have received several awards for my contributions, most recently the Otto Brenner Prize for critical journalism (2nd place with Joachim Budde). My range of topics includes politics, science, environment, technology and sustainable travel.

30. October 2022

Innovation for quality journalism

In recent years, I have co-founded two companies that stand for innovation in quality journalism. RiffReporter eG creates a new, cooperative infrastructure that allows freelance journalists to offer their work directly to the public on a shared publishing platform and sell it to editorial offices via a digital “marketplace”. RiffReporter helps journalists get booked for live formats and makes it possible to apply for grants together. I also co-founded the non-profit Riff freie Medien gGmbH, which promotes investigations, quality assurance and education in journalism in cooperation with foundations and with the help of donations. In doing so, I gained valuable experience in founding, fundraising, management and the nonprofit sector. With the RiffReporter team, I have received the Netzwende Award (2017), the Science Journalist of the Year Award (2017, with Tanja Krämer), the Grimme Online Award (2018) and the UmweltMedienpreis (2021).