Through a collaborative approach and investigative research together with citizens, CORRECTIV aims to strengthen democratic civil society in Germany. As a non-profit independent newsroom, the media outlet wants to expose systematic abuse and “holding the powerful accountable”. To enable informed citizens to engage in constructive debate and solving problems in a democratic way, CORRECTIV opened its CrowdNewsroom. The digital platform offers a way to share information securely and confidentially where anyone can participate.
In a virtual dialogue, citizens can provide important information and evidence that is used by journalists to start their research. In this way, stories are created in which readers are decisively involved from the very beginning. The CORRECTIV CrowdNewsroom and its media partners publish these stories and follow up on them. One example comes from the Swiss magazine Der Beobachter: Together with CORRECTIV CrowdNewsroom and the help of the reporting public, dangerous spots for children on their way to school were located and documented. What is needed for a safe journey to school and how can accidents be prevented? Citizens, especially parents, were asked to provide their experiences and perspectives in a software portal. This tool aggregated all data and further displayed the dangerous traffic spots on a map – ready for journalists to identify and tell the story behind. The impact of this project and related reports not only raised the attention of car drivers and traffic experts, but exerted pressure on political actors and entities for change. The project idea and software tool were adopted by local media in the city of Cologne.
CORRECTIV not only works in German-language areas: In 2023 they brought CORRECTIV Europe into life, striving to empower and connect local communities and journalists across borders – with the goal to enhance and support collaboration. Here, data journalism plays a special role since overarching research and databases are provided, which allow journalists to inform their local audiences and generating local leads for investigations, strengthening local journalism and democracy.
You want to know more about the work that CORRECTIV is doing? Visit their website to find out.
(FG)
