Over the past ten months, Freie Universität Berlin has almost become a second home for them. This year, the journalists of the 29th EJF class came from Ukraine and Russia, Morocco and Germany, Finland and Australia. Since 1999, the European Journalism Fellowship (EJF) program has enabled journalists to spend ten months in Berlin, free from the demands of their everyday professional routines, pursuing an individual study project or a larger investigative research project. They have access to the entire range of teaching and resources offered by Freie Universität. At the same time, the program facilitates intensive exchange with fellow journalists. Weekly discussion sessions, cultural events, excursions, and a multi-day information trip through Germany round out the program. This year, the program was funded by Stiftung Presse-Haus NRZ, the FAZIT-Stiftung, the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

Just as diverse as the backgrounds of those who come together in Berlin for ten months to exchange ideas and work on their projects are the topics they explore. This year, these included the concepts of “bruit” and “community” in innovative (science) journalism radio and podcast formats; propaganda on social media; forgotten histories and biographies of Spanish exiles in the GDR; data analysis of the lobbying activities of German police unions and their influence on domestic policy; and the impact of different migration flows on Berlin’s restaurant scene. The fellows were also more closely involved in the institute's activities and teaching than in previous years. This fostered exciting shifts in perspective and connections with the institute’s faculty members, from which the students also benefited.

To mark the end of the semester, the EJF class held a farewell event on Friday, July 17, featuring the final project presentations. After the presentations, “heat leave” was spontaneously declared, allowing the champagne reception and certificate ceremony to be moved to the nearby “Faculty Garden”. Our photo shows the EJF team, from left to right: Anna Litvinenko, Walter Koretz (Stiftung Presse-Haus NRZ), Anastasia Rodi (former fellow), Mohamed Amjahid, Carl Eliott Smith, Alexander Görke, Juska Wendland, Dmitry Antonov, Juliane Pfordte, Svetlana Basharova, Managing Director Martin Emmer, Pavel Ruban, and Stéphanie Herber.