Since 9 February, the fourth call of the general funding line of the Media Forward Fund – the first cross-border fund supporting media diversity in Germany, Austria and Switzerland – has been open . In the most recent call in December, the podcast radio station detektor.fm from Leipzig convinced the jury and will receive 500,000 euros to launch a new podcast offering for Saxony-Anhalt (state in Eastern Germany). In this interview, Managing Director Christian Bollert explains who the new podcast is aimed at ahead of the state elections and why live events play an important role in building a regional community.
1. What characterises you as a radio station – and who is the new podcast format in Saxony-Anhalt aimed at?
Christian Bollert: detektor.fm is something special in the German-speaking radio market because, as a podcast radio station, we combine podcasts with modern pop music. Until now, our audience has mainly consisted of digitally savvy people between the ages of 25 and 45 from large German cities and university towns. Compared with the overall population, a relatively high proportion of them have an academic background. Interestingly, however, the audience varies from podcast to podcast. While the »Gartenradio« (Garden Radio), for example, reaches a predominantly middle-aged female audience, the cycling podcast »Antritt« (Kick-off) tends to appeal more to a middle-aged male audience. The new podcast for Saxony-Anhalt will be a weekly format that takes an in-depth look at a specific topic from the federal state in each episode. We are primarily targeting people between 25 and 45 years old and aim to paint a nuanced picture of Saxony-Anhalt, particularly in the run-up to the state elections in autumn. In addition to urban areas such as Magdeburg and Halle, we also explicitly want to reach listeners in rural regions.
2. In many places it is becoming increasingly difficult for journalists and media organisations to work independently – whether due to declining advertising revenues or growing expectations and pressures from many sides. How do you deal with this in your work?
Christian Bollert: Of course, we are affected by these challenges as well. Since our founding in 2009, directly after the financial crisis, we have tried to make our organisation as economically stable and resilient as possible. For us, this often means taking the more demanding path, which fortunately tends to be the more sustainable one in the long run. For example, from the very beginning we have relied on open standards and interfaces, our own channels and decentralised networks. In everyday work this starts with open-source software such as Thunderbird or Nextcloud and extends from the RSS standard for podcasts to our own instance in the Fediverse. We always try to ensure that we do not become dependent on a single platform or source of income. Economically, we have therefore relied from the outset on a mix of revenues from podcast advertising, services, events and direct support from our users. Having such a broad base has allowed us to absorb setbacks in individual areas up to now.
3. Why does detektor.fm place such a strong emphasis on live events?
Christian Bollert: Even today we are in very close contact with our community through emails or reactions on social media. For our project in Saxony-Anhalt, this will take on an additional regional dimension. Through live events we hope to create a direct and high-quality exchange with our users. At these events, we will not only produce content for the podcast and the newsletter but also organise dialogue-based formats with visitors. The combination of newsletter, podcast and an on-site presence is particularly promising for us. Live events allow us to start conversations, make new connections and strengthen existing relationships. Especially in regions where people have few points of contact with journalists, we strongly believe in the power of these analogue encounters and expect them to help strengthen our community.