Under the expert guidance of environmental journalist and journalism professor Torsten Schäfer, the participants explored complex sustainability issues such as overfishing and noise pollution, as well as very specific ecosystems such as seagrass.
A virtual meeting in advance enabled the exchange of ideas and the preparation of initial topic approaches. The research team started the week at sea well prepared, where they not only deepened their theoretical knowledge but also learnt the practical side of the journalistic craft. The week on the ‘Vaka Okeanos’ was characterised by intensive discussions, creative working methods and productive teamwork, in which the participants developed, researched and implemented topics together.
The highlight of the 2023 scholarship was the publication of the results in the TAZ newspaper, which acted as the programme’s media partner. The researched articles were either published online as a dossier and brought the important topics relating to the ocean closer to a broad audience. TAZ is once again a media partner in 2024.
The scholarship programme ‘On the Future of the Oceans’ has shown how valuable in-depth and sustainable marine reporting is and how important it is to raise awareness of the threats and challenges facing the oceans. The participants were not only able to develop their journalistic skills through the programme, but also gain important insights into the global importance of marine ecosystems.