Journalismusfest Friday Club
With DJ Zidi Chaos (Cairo) from Cairo, based in Vienna. DJ Zidi presents a Funky House set infused with disco/funk vibes, seamlessly transitioning into occasional Arabic, Kurdish, and Balkan dance tunes. A dynamic fusion that will have your restless leg syndrome kicking in for weeks. And Project Allstars: Music: House
Jamaram meets Jahcoustix
Jamaram, who have been considered as the unsinkable eight of reggae ever since their foundation at the turn of the millennium, is far from done! The band stands for peace, cosmopolitanism, and respect; but also against war, intolerance, and isolation. Join Jamaram and Jahcoustix in the fight against the decline of clubs and festivals, against courtship through the phone and couch potatoes with junk and schnaps and Netflix. It´s a massive workout for the legs and sweating is guaranteed!
Ö1 – In Conversation
The fact that he knew the Tyrolean State Anthem off by heart, a song that pays tribute to the heroic death of freedom fighter Andreas Hofer, could have been interpreted as outstanding ambition. And it goes without saying that he mastered the Tyrolean dialect too, he grew up in Tyrol after all. But Emran Feroz, born in Innsbruck, describes that all of this was not enough in order to be perceived as a Tyrolean. In the late 1970s, his father made his way from Kabul to Europe by bus, where he wanted to study. And since his home country was subsequently invaded by the Soviets, he did not want to go back there. Years later, Emran Feroz visited his father’s homeland as a journalist and human rights activist; because he wanted to better understand the situation in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, he has been a popular expert on an international level. After his book “Der längste Krieg. 20 Jahre War on Terror” (The Longest War. 20 Years of War on Terror) he has now published his autobiography: “Vom Westen nichts Neues. Ein muslimisches Leben zwischen Alpen und Hindukusch“ (All Quiet in the West. Muslim Lifestyle between Alps and Hindu Kush).
Reporter Slam
After its premiere at the 2023 edition of Journalismusfest, Germany’s most entertaining stage performance for journalists is back in Austria. The Reporter Slam entails five journalists reporting from their investigations in a varied manner. But there is only one who can become slampion of the night. Who? Our audience will decide. Our guests cover the entire German-speaking area – Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol and Luxembourg – ensuring an exhilarating but informative opportunity to round off the night. The winner of the night will be able to participate in the Berlin yearly finale.
In Jungles. In Deserts. In War Zones.
In Angola, Gabriele Riedle encounters two Queens, meets militia members (former criminals) in a slum that is closed down on a regular basis, and feels a well-known Angolan journalist’s frustration of rooted in the whiteworld’s lack of interest in Africa. Unlike most reporters today, Riedle does not write in the present tense, which conveys a sense of immediacy—but rather in the “literary” past tense. She composes her sentences just like music; because she is convinced that documenting “what is” is impossible, and that each report makes a conscious or unconscious allusion to narrative traditions such as adventure novels. To her current book, a poetic novel about the work of war reporters, she even adds the subtitle “Eine Art Abenteuerroman” (A Type of an Adventure Novel).
Russia’s War in Ukraine
Dealing with the enduring Russian aggression against Ukraine and the subsequent invasion poses a substantial challenge for media and culture professionals. Both document war events, want to incite reflection and inspire to take individual action.
Documentary films represent a potent genre in order to capture the complexity of the war in Ukraine and to convey the humanity of the people affected. It facilitates a record of the cruelty of war, whilst still pointing out the power of resilience and hope of people.
This panel will discuss the challenges of documentary films about Ukraine and the culture of remembrance of the Soviet occupation in the Baltics by referring to occupation museums as cultural institutions. With the visual input of photos and videos, this debate will also shed light on the post-colonial heritage in Eastern Europe and the ongoing ramifications of Russian imperialism and colonialism on politics in this region.
What Can we Learn from Pandemics?
Climate change and globalisation are driving the spread of new and known pathogens on a global scale. Diseases like malaria, dengue fever, leishmaniosis have become prevalent in Europe too. This keeps producing new challenges for infectiologists. From a healthcare policy perspective, there is an international question regarding the global distribution justice of vaccines and medications. Whether it is the plague, flu pandemics, or Covid-19, pandemics all share one common denominator: they change societies.
A Close Look at Karl Kraus – Guided Tour through the Brennero Archive
Karl Kraus (1874-1936), the great Austrian writer, satirist, language and media critic, published The Last Days of Mankind (1918), which is now considered world literature, and had a substantial influence on the public realm working as an editor of the newspaper Die Fackel (The Torch) (1898-1936) for decades: On the occasion of his 150th birthday, this guided tour pays tribute to him.
The Police, Serving and Protecting?
Time and again, headlines bring attention to violence committed by police officers. In 2022, only in Austria, over 300 suspected cases of excessive police violence were registered. They report of racist attacks, radical right-wing chat groups and violent actions against climate protesters. An esprit of corps within those groups often hinders mutual control. On the one hand, people affected therefore have hardly any chance to have their cases independently resolved; and on the other hand, colleagues slowly undermine the reputation of good police officers. What change do we need to see?
Lawsuits Jeopardising Democracy
SLAPPs – strategic and abusive lawsuits aiming at intimidating and halting critical coverage or activities by environmental or human rights NGOs. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. Sometimes, their aim is not even to succeed in court. Rather, their purpose is to prohibit critical public participation, one of the building blocks of democracy. Behind the suing parties, we often see financially powerful companies, lobby groups or political parties and organisations who have more money on their side than the defendants—so much more that they can put up with losing the case. The lawsuit, or just threatening to file one, aims at intimidating the other party. After abundant political efforts at European level, in spring 2024, the EU adopted a directive to protect people affected. Its implementation requires action by the individual member states.
Rivers Taking Legal Action.
In 2008, Ecuador recognised the rights of Mother Nature “Pachamama” in its constitution. In 2017, New Zealand’s parliament attributed to the Whanganui River the rights of ownership of its fish, plants, water and ground. Nature is no longer just surrounding us, nature is now with us. Ecosystems can become legal entities and they will claim their due: Ecocide as a criminal offence. We can observe the same steps being taken in Columbia, Bolivia, Spain and Ireland. At some point in the future, we will not be able anymore to take advantage of our planet’s buffet of raw materials. At eye level with flora and fauna: What does this mean for biodiversity, for our lifestyle, for our looting growth-driven economy? For our role in this world in the light of a fundamental change of paradigm?
Flamingos in the desert. How to make a magazine.
Designing a magazine refers to a highly fascinating field of visual design remaining stunningly vivid even in the digital era. Swiss-based magazine Reportagen does not advocate for quick coverage but for journalistic craft and compelling stories. The magazine spares photos completely. Zurich-based design studio Moiré established a strong brand providing an independent reading experience for this purpose. Illustrations, infographics and a custom-designed font for Reportagen add to and complete the magazine’s texts and underlying concept: Creating tension, diving into detail, maintaining the reader’s attention and shining a light on the sideshow. In 2013, the project was awarded the Design Prize Switzerland. Marc Kappeler from Moiré speaks about the magazine’s development and other projects that his design studio works on.
A Match for a Revolution: Can Sports Move the World?
As football mania reaches its fever peak in the run up to the European Football Championships and important national and international elections, we put forth the question: Can sports change our society? Learn how athletes can impact the realm of politics and society and join us on our quest to discover positive and negative examples. Are athletes obliged to act like role models and to be politically active or can they simply practice their sport? To what extent can sports act like a game changer?
Atlas of Globalisation.
The planet is at its limits, new viruses temporarily paralyse entire countries and the divide between rich and poor is growing. In 2003, Le Monde diplomatique published the first Atlas of Globalisation. It set the bar for journalistic cartography. A comprehensive and vivid collection containing over 200 innovative graphics shows what globalisation stands for in the 21st century: for the freedom of movement of people and goods, for political participation, for social progress and international communication from San Francisco to Kinshasa.
Eight editions and over 20 years later, this small exhibition is based on the current Atlas of Globalisation labelled “Ungleiche Welt” (Unequal World) and showcases different types of graphics in their up-to-date version. This exhibition was created for Journalismusfest 2023 and in collaboration with Le Monde diplomatique / Berlin. This year it will open its doors as an extended version.
A Villa in Kitzbühel, Companies on Cyprus.
The whistleblower hands over the secret data to the reporter whilst dusk shrouds the alley in darkness just like the hood that blankets his face. Investigative research makes us imagine quite adventurous scenes. But do these actually reflect reality? Also the #RotenbergFiles began with leaked information and were then published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) in German magazine Spiegel, Austrian daily newspaper Standard, German public-service broadcaster ZDF and Swiss Tamedia Gruppe: We are talking 50,000 documents from the environment of oligarch brothers and Putin confidants Arkadi and Boris Rotenberg. For the first time, they show in detail how both of them managed to protect and conceal their wealth from sanctions – also in Kitzbühel. Antonio Baquero, Timo Schober and Maria Retter will tell the adventurous story behind this research and how investigative research of such scale is actually conducted: How do you track down concealed assets? Why are such disclosures important? Why do people hide their assets in Austria and who are their accessories?
Exchange with Austrian Network for Climate Journalism
The network for climate journalism Netzwerk Klimajournalismus is a cross-media initiative. Its aim is to serve as a hub for journalists and media professionals who (intend to) work on topics surrounding the climate and ecological crisis. This event provides an opportunity for people interested to learn more about the way the network operates, to engage in conversation, and to network.
The Fundamentals of Climate Journalism
Numerous scientists agree: Combined with the extinction of species, climate change is the biggest and most pressing crisis of the century. But does media coverage live up to its scale? How to report without triggering fatalism or resignation? And how to tackle this topic beyond the borders of departments?
This workshop aims to brush up scientific foundations of the climate crisis and to learn explanatory approaches from the realm of Psychology and Communication Studies that expose why the scale of this subject contradicts media logics.
Investigating the Right Fringe
On January 10th 2024, a release shook Germany to the core. In their research labelled “Geheimplan” (Secret Plan), Correctiv published information about a meeting of high-ranking AfD politicians, neo-Nazis and well-financed entrepreneurs that took place in November 2023 in Potsdam, Germany. Content of this meeting: planning the displacement of millions of people from Germany. Following the release, nationwide demonstrations against the political right have taken place. Also in Austria, the new right scene, adherents of the Identitarian movement and their political connections with the Austrian FPÖ have been investigated for decades. Journalists remain firm in following these stories with their thorough research; and time and time again, they make a contribution to reveal right-wing structures. On this panel, we shed light on the challenges surrounding investigating the right fringe and the risks they might entail from different angles.
Helena Lea Manhartsberger: IN BETWEEN STATES
In Mexico, thousands of people are disappearing on their way to the US. Their relatives embark on a relentless search to find them. On the Italian island of Lampedusa, tourists encounter hundreds of migrants. In Ukraine, people keep fighting for sovereignty; a fight that extends to borders that traverse the middle of society.
Innsbruck-based photographer Helena Lea Manhartsberger addresses global inequalities in three completely different regions. Her work sheds light on the brutality of existing structures of power and institutionalised racism; but also solidarity, hope and resistance of civil players. Manhartsberger tells the stories of individuals, without losing sight of the big picture.
Euroregio: Regional Journalism in Times of Transmedia Storytelling and Social Media
Access to reliable journalistic information in the vicinity of one’s own reality of life is of paramount importance. On the one hand, our everyday world has grown more prone to the consequences of economic and political links in the globalised world – as seen with Covid-19 and the ramifications of the climate crisis. On the other hand, regional economic, political, cultural and social developments continue to shape our environment. Regional quality coverage is therefore essential in order to impart information about such developments. At the same time it is increasingly met with its own challenges. Editorial regional journalism too must face a rapidly changing media landscape and altered user behaviour. The increasingly connected – multilingual – Euroregion Tyrol – South Tyrol – Trentino invites us to a comparison of regional (media) realities and to a discussion about common challenges.
Independent. Precarious. With Aspiration.
Diverse opinions, critical topics, and fundamentally different perspectives: This is what media that wants to establish themselves as an alternative player using their own journalistic concepts, business models and methods stands for. In Tyrol, there are some important alternative media outlets with a consistent, perhaps even traditional, output – in spite of persisting precarious conditions. In the mix, we have aep informationen, founded over 50 years ago, street paper Straßenzeitung 20er, founded over 25 years ago, and the Innsbruck cult magazine UND, founded in 2015. In the more recent past, the term alternative media has predominantly been used to label populist and extremely biased platforms that developed as their own, digital-minded subculture. This round of talks is led and organised by students from the MA programme for Media Studies at the University of Innsbruck and provides an opportunity for regional media professionals to discuss what the term “alternative” means today and what challenges and opportunities alternative print journalism faces.
Challenges of #MeToo Coverage
Since the start of the #MeToo movement in October 2017, also in the German-speaking area, numerous cases of sexualised violence and abuse of power have become known. Just like in the case of Harvey Weinstein, it is often journalists who disclose these cases to the public after their thorough research. What does pretrial publicity entail? Why is #MeToo coverage so controversial from a legal point of view? What are the special challenges of an investigation in our own industry?
Martin Thür – My Collection.
Martin Thür is anchorman of the Austrian news programme ZIB 2 and a zealous fan and creator of Excel lists. There is however a second passion that he is less well-known for: collecting whimsical campaign gifts. On the occasion of the super election year 2024, he has created an Excel list with his funniest and strangest campaign gifts. At this year’s Journalismusfest, he is going to open the doors to this selection in an exclusive exhibition for the first time. Stop by to see highlights like an Erwin Pröll action figure, an ice scraper “against the social cold” and clothes pegs for solar-powered drying.
Opening of the Festival on the International Day of Press Freedom
Opening and Presentation by Claudia Reiterer. omen represent 80 percent of people affected by hate speech on the net. Once they have attained a certain level of recognition, they are even more likely to become targets. Comments often strike below the belt, address their look and sexualise them, instead of providing a content-based discussion about their arguments. Journalists thus have to manoeuvre through a special field of tension; because due to their media presence, the broad public will often perceive them in a greatly empowered role. Readers do not experience them as victims and are less likely to intervene.
