Does journalism have a future in the digital age?

The journalist and former co-editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Prof. Dr. Günther Nonnenmacher, could be won to this special evening. Numerous guests from business and politics accepted the invitation to Lersner’sche Schloss – the headquarters of Hager Unternehmensberatung – on 12 April.

Born in Karlsruhe, Günther Nonnenmacher studied political science, history, constitutional law and philosophy. In 1975 he received his doctorate with a thesis on James Harrington. Nonnenmacher then worked as a research assistant in political science at the Gesamthochschule Wuppertal, where he also habilitated. He then helped shape the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for over 33 years. He was co-editor for 20 years and was also responsible for politics.

In dialogue with the managing director of Hager Unternehmensberatung, Mr. Andreas Wartenberg, Mr. Nonnenmacher addressed the challenges of journalism in the course of digital change.

Where is the digital journey of journalism going?
More speed, more producers and crumbling business models are the current topics that are driving digitalization in journalism. The same goes for phenomena such as fake news and clickbaits and, as a result, the term "lie press" with which journalists are confronted. The print segment of newspapers is declining significantly.

But journalism is and remains a very important social medium. Nothing replaces the direct view more than the personal information procurement of the reporters, which is implemented with good journalism. Journalism informs the public about facts and events of general, political, economic or cultural importance and thus supports the process of forming public opinion.

An economically successful patent solution for the interaction of digitization and journalism does not yet exist. But one thing is clear: journalism is a social must in order to report neutrally on events and topics.

"Mr. Nonnenmacher gave us and our numerous guests a very vivid and pictorial presentation of the problems, but also of the background to journalism in digital change. Journalism is important to all of us in forming opinions. It is not enough to know and understand only a small radius of information. Especially for business decisions, it is important to look beyond one’s own nose and to consider other valuable channels when making decisions. Political and economic foundations are immensely important for every industry in order to properly align the corporate strategy. Against this background, it is self-explanatory that high-quality journalistic reporting is indispensable," says Ralf Hager, founder and managing director of Hager Unternehmensberatung.