Hans Dichand Academy

“Better to go out than believe the staging”

The graduates of the Hans-Dichand-Akademie 2023 with the management of Kronen Zeitung and Joanneum University of Applied Sciences

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

Seven participants of the Hans-Dichand-Academy have recently been awarded the title of academic journalists. Among them are editor Elisa Torner (Kronen Zeitung Salzburg) and online editors Mara Tremschnig and Katharina Wurzer (both Vienna). During the course, they dealt with topics such as how stories can be told in an exciting way and what effect images have. Each of them also wrote a thesis.

Elisa Torner has been responsible for culture and society at the Kronen Zeitung in Salzburg for 2.5 years. "In my department in particular, there are many stories that are written by life, but by no means by the agents and PR agencies of the actors. This makes it all the more important for me to get a picture of the situation myself on the ground. Talking to people brings the really important and exciting stories to light," Elisa is convinced.

This was also the topic of her final thesis. The editor explained why journalists should still get out of the office, even in times of social media and the like, and the disadvantages of relying solely on press releases and the like.

Elisa Torner (2nd from right) with colleagues Kronberger, Schulz and Snobe (from left)

(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Talking to people brings the really important and exciting stories to light.

Elisa Torner, Kronen Zeitung Salzburg

Danger of staging 
Information material about politicians, for example, can be staged, says online editor Mara Tremschnig. In her final thesis, she looked at how politicians, press agencies and the like try to influence reporting in their favor. How can desired messages be successfully conveyed and why is this important at all?

Mara's work not only answers these questions, but also looks at how awareness of message control can be created. Born in Carinthia, she has been working for krone.at since 2006 and reports on current events in Austria and around the world.

About the Hans-Dichand-Akademie

• The Hans-Dichand-Akademie was launched in 2021 by the Kronen Zeitung together with the Joanneum University of Applied Sciences in Graz.
• Over the course of two semesters, participants are taught topics such as media law, writing different types of texts, media ethics and reflections on the tensions between media and society.
• Participation is open not only to editors, but also to employees from the fields of IT, graphics, etc.
• The first course at the "Krone" was completed by 15 employees, the second by seven.

Values under pressure?
In daily journalism, there is often not enough time to deal with one topic in depth and for a longer period of time because the next one is already coming up, explains Mara's colleague Katharina Wurzer. She has been at krone.at in Vienna for 1.5 years. "The academy was an opportunity to go into more depth, try things out and get to know other areas such as social media and data journalism."

The academy was an opportunity to go into more depth and try things out.

Katharina Wurzer, Onlineredakteurin Wien

Katharina Wurzer

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

One topic that particularly interested her was ethics in everyday editorial work. On the one hand, Katharina's work explored the question of what values and self-image Austrian journalists have. On the other hand, she looked at the influence of economic and time pressure on ethical issues in everyday life. Sources included the Austrian Journalism Report and a survey of colleagues.

"Resilient media are now the only guarantee for orientation and opinion-forming," says "Krone" Managing Director Gerhard Valeskini. This is particularly important in times of global political and economic crises, which are unsettling.

Eight more participants started the course at the beginning of October. Over the next two semesters, the program will include topics such as social media and the mutual influence of society and the media.

Nina Auer, Verena Höchstätter, Marcel Tratnik and Magdalena Winkler have also completed the course. Their work is presented in the first part.