Interview with EPP Group in the European CoR member, Hans-Josef Vogel, Mayor of the city of Arnsberg and member of the jury for the German price for local jour-nalists of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
You recently sat on the jury of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung award for excellent local journalism in Germany. Why do you think it is important to recognise the work of journalists in today's society?
In a world flooded by information, the local journalist directs the focus of the citizens on their actual and particular living environment. In this way, he or she becomes a judge of their fellow citizens. Local journalists also bring proximity and a civic sense of responsibility to those living in cities and municipalities. The media therefore makes an essential contribution to fostering and further developing the democratic culture on the ground and thus also within the country.
How has the role of journalism changed with the advance of social media and the rise of citizen journalists, in your view?
The importance of local journalists has increased with the rise of social media. Newspapers now have to be online. The tasks of journalists themselves have grown in the light of the amount of information and opinions, which are also produced by citizens themselves on social media. However, I believe that social media has a tendency towards "keeping to one's own" and shutting themselves off from the public. "Echo rooms" develop where one only hears oneself and similarly minded views. Sadly, it seems that no real "public spaces" have developed, in which one can find solid, unbiased information as well as new things, opposite opinions, foreign views and other surprising things. That is why journalism continues to be of vital importance.
You are a Mayor of a German city, responsible for a local electorate. Do you think that local journalists have a specific role to play in this regards, in an increasingly globalised world?
Yes. Local journalists can help to anchor the increasingly global civil society on the ground, e.g. through reports about communities with foreign roots and by moderat-ing dialogues and city discussions. Local journalists can also open possibilities to bring people together via information and opinions. This matters because on the ground, it is always about the common, shared environment.
The EPP Group in the European Committee of the Regions has a long-standing ap-proach to supporting local media to report on European issues and encourages them to consider a European angle to storytelling. Do you believe there is a need for local and regional journalists to communicate on European Affairs?
The discussion around the refugee policy has also been conducted on a "European" level in regions and municipalities. What does the acceptance of refugees mean on the ground and for the region? How do other European cities and regions deal with the issue? This should continue: The interconnectedness of local newspapers and thus the local journalists should not only be facilitated but it is also important to support them more in general. The EPP Group in the CoR's Summer and Winter Universities contribute to improving the interconnectedness with and perhaps more importantly between journalists from different cities and regions in Europe.