I am Scientific Director of the European Institute for Journalism and Communication Research (EIJK) in Leipzig. Until my retirement at the end of 2010, I held the Chair of Journalism Studies at the University of Leipzig, where I helped to establish the journalism studies program, which was reformed in 1992. My research areas: Editorial and quality research (print and online) as well as professional and media ethics. Before my appointment at the University of Leipzig, I worked for 25 years as a reporter and managing editor in press media in the German-speaking world. I studied philosophy, political and social sciences in Freiburg i.Br. and Basel. My PhD thesis examined Hegel's political philosophy at the time of political upheaval and the beginning of modernity (as a book: Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta 1981).
My publications mainly deal with the social role of the media and journalism in the context of socio-cultural change and the digitalization of public communication. My basic books on the journalistic craft (research, reportage, interview) set standards for professional training.