Journalist Fabian Huber: Does Local Journalism Have a Future?

by Christian Ebert
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Photo: Adobe Stock / XPLR: MEDIA in Bavaria

He was nominated for the Theodor Wolff Prize for his reporting –category: “Best local piece”. Now Fabian Huber from Ingolstadt works for the foreign department of “stern”. In his opinion, local journalism is still indispensable.

Fabian, you decided to switch from local journalism to international reporting –  what has changed since then?

Fabian Huber: I could never really imagine staying in the local scene all my life, as much as I appreciate it and consider it incredibly important. I've always been interested in reporting on the big wide world. Of course, life has become a bit more unpredictable now. Sometimes the boss calls on Saturday while you're in Washington for an interview and asks if you can fly to Tel Aviv on Monday. At the same time, Stern, like every media company, is currently undergoing change and is asking itself how it can transfer its working model to digital in such a way that it is still financially viable.

In your opinion, how is the value of local journalism assessed by society at the moment?

Fabian: Many people still value local journalism very highly. For people here in Ingolstadt, the Donaukurier often plays a bigger role than the Spiegel, for example. You can see in the US what happens in areas where there are no more local newspapers. No one pays attention to local politicians or company bosses anymore. Something is being lost that the national media simply can't provide. For me, it's a nightmare to imagine that at some point there could be no more local journalism.

 

»I do believe that there are still individual local media houses that make bigger stories possible. But there are fewer of them. Because editorial offices are being merged, because savings are being made primarily on writing staff and new hires are only being made in the strategy and administration departments.«

Fabian Huber

People think it's important – but funding is becoming increasingly difficult. Are there any local newspapers that still have the money for more elaborate reporting?

Fabian: I do believe that there are still individual local media companies that make bigger stories possible. The Augsburger Allgemeine, for example, allowed me to spend four days on the road with truck drivers to report on the worries and fears of these people from a very personal perspective. There are still things like that, but they are becoming fewer. Because editorial offices are being merged, because savings are being made primarily on writing staff and new appointments are only being made in the strategy and administration departments. That is also important, but if more and more written material has to be produced at the same time, it obviously doesn't work.

Is this only due to people's unwillingness to pay?

Fabian: Partly. The other part is the Internet. Practically every district now has its “24” pages, which offer news from the region for free. For people who don't want to get in-depth information and only want to access the most important information, there is no longer any need for other media. Grandma and grandpa still have the local newspaper on their desk every day, but not their peers. If this changes, I can see a future for local journalism – it is needed.

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