Newspaper & Mailroom

Hyperlocal journalism: Axel Springer Academy launches zoom-berlin

Wednesday 25. July 2012 - The Axel Springer Academy, Germany's most modern school of journalism, has launched an online experiment involving hyperlocal journalism: For the first time ever, twenty young journalists place one single street in the focus of their journalistic offerings: Berlin's Oranienstrasse.

Under the motto “The city. A street. Your life.” they report on the people who live there, examine the historic past of the street in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg, explain the problems facing the street today, and, via Facebook, Twitter and their own blog, invite their users to develop visions for the future of the street along with the editorial office.
The team is using all the opportunities offered by cross-media journalism today, and developing new and creative approaches in their digital storytelling. Residents and tourists can use an augmented reality smartphone app to find out more about the street locally. The site contains numerous reports, exclusive background reports and interviews. It also has interactive graphics, audio slideshows and a total of 65 videos. As one highlight, the trainee journalists have made a virtual paper chase, which works by scanning QR codes.
“Nothing interests people more than what is happening right on their doorstep. This is why our students learn the potential of hyperlocal reporting right from the start,” says Marc Thomas Spahl, Director of the Axel Springer Academy. “In this project, it was important to them, not only to report on the street, but right from the middle of it. Local journalism can hardly get closer and be more authentic.” The concept of www.zoom-berlin.com is designed in such a way that it can be extended to other streets.
The Axel Springer Academy combines the advantages of a well-established School of Journalism with those of a classical internship. During their two-year strictly practice-oriented training, the young journalists learn their craft from scratch. The focus is on cross-mediawork and investigative research. The Academy, which is also a publisher’s think tank, has received a number of awards for its innovative projects, including the Grimme Online Award and the CeBit AppStar.