To be a Pioneer means being creative, curious, and innovative. It means thinking big, thinking new, and being progressive and constructive.
For quite some time, journalism has faced sharp criticism for its polarising and negative connotation and now finds itself in a phase of necessary transition. From this critique, Constructive Journalism has emerged, an approach that aims to elevate the public and democracy through solution- and future-oriented news coverage.
The Pioneer, a start-up news group based in Berlin, has followed this quest to reinvent journalism. With its auditive and written news content, the company aims to balance and depolarise the sensationalist media landscape.
I had the pleasure of being a Pioneer for three months as part of the editorial team. While working here, I gained fantastic insights into the journalistic world, and – thanks to the start-up character absence of hierarchy – I could actively participate in it.
To illustrate my experience, I will describe three exemplary highlights:
Highlight No. 1 – The Ship
Not only is the mindset pioneering, but so is the workplace. Besides a regular office in the south of Berlin, the headquarters are on a ship that cruises along Berlin’s river Spree. Every day, it passes by the government quarter, making it a metaphor for The Pioneer’s mission: It visualises journalism’s role as a watchdog, monitoring politicians and governing bodies. For me, this meant working on the deck of a ship every day, with a view of Berlin’s riverside.
Highlight No. 2 – Live Journalism
Next to their more common journalistic products, The Pioneer works on expanding ‘live journalism.’ This aims at making journalistic processes more transparent, collaborative, and active, in order to counteract the news drop-out and to increase trust in journalism again. Almost every week, The Pioneer invites experts from various fields, such as politicians, diplomats, correspondents, or scientists, to live events. They come aboard for interviews in front of a public audience and get involved in open discussion rounds afterward. To make this available outside of Berlin, Pioneers travel to various German cities to do the same in front of local audiences. As an intern, I could join many of these events and contribute to their implementation.
Highlight No. 3 – The Article
Start-ups are often dynamic and free of rusted routines. This elevated my experience at The Pioneer. Everyone in the editorial team is heard and seen equally, and all thoughts and ideas are valued equally. Even as an intern, I could fully immerse myself in the journalistic processes, develop content ideas, or work with other teams on their projects. Towards the end of my internship, I could even publish my first independent article. This was definitely one of my highlights because it meant not only observing journalism but also doing journalism.
Overall, I truly enjoyed my time as a Pioneer and can recommend everyone looking for an internship to apply here and everyone visiting Berlin to get aboard and join their live events.
