Transformation Quarterly 02_2024

In your view, how has the relation­ship between politicians and media changed since the last federal elections in Germany?

I cannot see any changes linked to the federal elections that have come about since. Over­all, the some­times-existential economic pressure within the media sector and, as a result, the constant emergence of new players (this is not a contra­diction but is due to the fact that more things are being tried in the fight for sur­vival) is leading to a sharper tone and a dumbing down of content.

What impact do the changes in the media land­scape have on your day-to-day work?

In the digital world, only clicks count. Editorial control in terms of selecting and curating / weighting contents is eroding. This also leads to a dumbing down of content. Reach trumps relevance.

How do political communi­cations need to change to get through in particular to young people against the back­drop of the strong influence of TikTok and other social media? What will the implications be for the electoral campaigns in next year's federal elections?

Political communi­cations must embrace these types of channels without coming across as falling over or in­gra­tiating it­self, which can often be like trying to square a circle. A good example are the German Chancellor’s per­formances on TikTok. At times, those can be easily mistaken for satire.
 

With a back­ground in classic print journalism, Christoph Schwennicke has been Head of Politics and one of the Editors-in-Chief at t-online since September 2023. He has worked for publications such as Badische Zeitung, Süd­deutsche Zeitung, SPIEGEL and CICERO magazine, where he also held leader­ship positions. In addtion to his success­ful career as a journalist and publisher, he is also an author and a popular guest on radio and tele­vision shows.

Photo: Christoph Schwennicke