EJTA conference Munich, May 19th, 2017

How Cross-border Journalism can overcome national bias.

A „cure“ against fake news?

#FakeNews

#FakeNews vs. National Bias?

Stories don't stop at the border, so journalists shouldn't either.

• Overcoming national bias and prejudice is crucial to serve a well informed civil society.

• Increased polarization and a thickening of echo chamber walls in Europe and worldwide.

• Foreign bureaus are closing and tighter budgets mean less travel opportunities.

• Profession is increasingly freelance.

The Problem

»The future of journalism in three words:collaboration, collaboration, collaboration.«

What can we do?

Charles Lewis

• #PanamaPapers or #FootballLeaks have shown the impact of cross-border investigations.

• The method of cross-border journalism is not just for superstars, it can be learned and practiced widely.

• Hostwriter provides access to journalists in 120 countries who can be contacted for advice, co-authorship or even accomodation.

• All journalists provide work samples by way of professional verification. Membership is free of charge.

Learning from the pioneers

Collaborate with journalists worldwide…

…through hostwriter.

Enabling better reporting by facilitating cross border contacts between journalists worldwide.

Overall objective

What hostwriters do

CouchCo-authorshipAdvice

We are a global network for contact and collaboration between journalists.

Founded in August 2013

Online since May 2014

2.700+ journalists in 120 countries

In a nutshell

How it worksSearch journalists worldwide

How it works

Find journalists by location, expertise, language, …

How it worksContact and save your results

How hostwriters have already succeeded

Advice & Couch@mcatanzaro • Barcelona

»Thanks to @hostwriter I have found accommodation to join a conference for an investigation I am doing. Great service and new journo friends!«

@pen1710 • Cologne

»Completely flashed by @hostwriter. I have never seen so many journos interested in collaboration in one place. #readytogo«

@herrstang • Heidelberg

»Met up with hostwriter members @DirkLiesemer and @AarniK in Accra, Ghana. #networking«

Co-authorship

@giannellisilvia • Lucca

»After having used hostwriter to do a story about #refugees I’m

even more convinced that international collaboration is the

key to quality journalism.«

Crossborder ProjectsA temporary European newsroom for journalists

The Agora Project outtake from Slack

Crossborder Projects

The hostwriter prize

1st placeDreamland Europe? Many Bangladeshi refugees wish they had never left

Riazul Islam, Mir Zabeda Yeasmin and Hossain Abdul Hai (from left to right)

2nd placePost-factual truths – Social media myths fuel false hopes

Tarek Khello and Christian Werner’s TV report

Kaliningrad »We will travel to the place where cold war tensions between Russia and the West are most visible and tangible.«

Chat animators in Mauritius »The job of animateur chat has become very popular tricking thousands.«

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Applications to the 2017 round are now open. Deadline: July 31st, 2017

hostwriter prize 2017

Let’s collaborate.