Foreign news coverage is often accused of stereotypical and biased reporting. Yet, journalists have the difficult task of maneuvering between the research conditions provided in their host countries and expectations of their editors and audiences in the home country. Last year’s gigantic explosion in the port of Beirut is one of the events that led to controversial interpretations of its reasons, effects and political circumstances and thus resulted in different ways of media coverage.

In the second edition of the digital AGYA Alumni Lecture Series, AGYA Alumnae Dr. Carola Richter (Freie Universität Berlin) and Dr. Tamirace Fakhoury (Aarlborg University) welcomed Christoph Reuter, journalist for the German news magazine DER SPIEGEL and long-term correspondent on the Middle East. He gave insights into his journalistic work and reports on the reasons of and responsibilities for the explosion. Furthermore, Christoph Reuter shared how he deals with biases, expectations, and conditions on the ground.

The recording of the lecture can be accessed here.

Christoph Reuter studied Islamic Studies and Arabic before becoming a journalist. From 2002-2011 he was a reporter for STERN magazine, located in Baghdad and Kabul. Since 2012, he is the Beirut-based correspondent of DER SPIEGEL, reporting from Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon. His book “The Islamic State and the strategists of terror” (2015) received the prize for best non-fictional book of the German radio station NDR Kultur.

 

About the Alumni Lecture Series

In this digital lecture series, AGYA Alumni invite inspiring international high-profile speakers from various backgrounds including policy makers, award-winning experts, public intellectuals, and artists for talks and discussions on current topics of interest. The organizers aim to provide valuable insights into a variety of interesting educational, political, and cultural fields in the Arab world and Germany, thus stimulating further research and collaboration within and beyond AGYA.

Please contact agya@bbaw.de in case of any questions.