Jan-Philipp Schlecht is a local journalist by conviction - in his case that means he reports from Böblingen and the surrounding area. At the district newspaper Böblinger Bote he is a reporter and editorial director in one, so at the same time he heads the editorial team and goes to on-site appointments to write about it.
An issue that comes before Schlecht is about the start of school in Baden-Württemberg as well as a festival in a nearby village. Schlecht points to the cover photo, which shows people celebrating, and says: “This is of course a classic local event, the whole place was on its feet.”
More topics from people's everyday lives
Jan-Philipp Schlecht often receives information and appointment invitations for his work by email - directly from the city or communities, associations or initiatives. Without local contacts, his job would almost not be possible, he says: "It's very, very important that you're involved in these local communities and get information from them."
The topic setting has changed somewhat in recent years - today it is more oriented towards click numbers. Because part of the newspaper's work now takes place online.
This is where you need relevance. For Schlecht this means: topics that affect many people. Schlecht remembers: "In the past, people worked more according to the agendas in the local councils and were very close to local political events." That's good too. Today, however, the editorial team has to focus more on topics that directly affect many people in their everyday lives.
“An uncanny distribution of channels”
Whether the editorial team managed to do this in the end can be seen in the editorial meeting: While all the editorial team members are sitting in a circle and looking at the graphs on the screen, the editorial director explains: The number of clicks recently has not been as good as hoped - "unfortunately below average".
Fluctuating click numbers and fewer subscriptions mean less money for publishers. And therefore fewer resources to employ reporters. As editorial director, Schlecht has to get along with the employees he has. This means that he cannot fill all the appointments that he would like to fill.
In addition, the district newspaper's employees now have more tasks than before, says Schlecht: "It's an uncanny distribution of channels, which we of course use as well as possible, but of course not with a grown team, but in principle with the same team that we had before." For example, the newspaper runs an Instagram channel.
Artificial intelligence as a threat
In order to reach as many users as possible with content that has already been researched, the editorial team also uses artificial intelligence: it turns articles into posts for Instagram. For Jan-Philipp Schlecht this is “okay” as an aid. However, the AI is not supposed to write texts itself.
Schlecht sees AI as a threat to journalism - and to healthy media usage behavior: "AI is very strongly trained to confirm the opinion of those who use it and also to offer exactly the information that they want right now. In other words, to confirm their worldview." Journalism, on the other hand, shows new aspects and presents people with new content that they might not have expected.
When it comes to being close to the people in villages and small communities, Schlecht sees local journalism as superior to the big players. "In the local area, of course, it's a big advantage and a big plus that we bring exclusive content from locally, where, for example, no big news aggregator like Google News or other big news sites will ever have staff."
“Then corruption increases”
A look at the USA shows what happens to democracy when free and professional reporting no longer works well, explains media scientist Bernhard Pörksen from the University of Tübingen. He explains: "If local, independent journalistic reporting no longer exists, then civil society engagement decreases, then corruption increases, then populists penetrate this vacuum more easily."
The importance that local journalism still has in many places in Germany is shown by an event in Böblingen, to which the city invited local clubs - and also the press. Jan-Philipp Schlecht sits in the event hall with pen and paper and takes notes. He writes down what Mayor Stefan Belz (Greens) announces over a microphone. He explains that local journalism is very valued in Böblingen - even if it is sometimes reported critically: "If something is found in the reporting that needs to be improved, then of course it also enriches our political debate."
Local journalism achieved one thing this evening: the club members in the audience feel seen - because their commitment is featured in the newspaper.
