Mercator-Journalists in Residence – Centre Responsible Digitality

A scene from the area of finances with fading buildings in the background

In the context of the discourse project Democracy issues of the digitalized financial sector – eFin & Democracy ZEVEDI and the Mercator Foundation invite applications from journalists and media professionals.

With their expert knowledge and excellent practical experience, the Mercator-Journalists in Residence are important instigators for a broader discussion. They help to raise awareness for a topic that is underrepresented in public awareness so far. They help to connect the scientific public with media outlets and to develop an effective science communication. We sustainably involve them in our work, welcome their expert knowledge and positions and invite them to contribute to our network via lectures, discussions or other events.

For a period of four weeks, the Mercator– Journalists in Residence will be given the freedom and opportunity to devote themselves to a research project, a journalistic or even artistic piece that addresses the digital transformation of the financial sector and the social and political issues it is associated with. They will be paid € 3,500.

All journalists and media professionals are cordially invited to apply as Mercator-Journalists in Residence. This applies to classical journalists in the narrower sense as well as to artists in the broader sense.

Current

Klaudia Lagozinski is the news editor and online editor for taz.de. In addition, she writes as a freelance journalist on topics including finance, cryptocurrencies, and artificial intelligence.

She studied social and cultural anthropology, cultural journalism, and digital media and communication in Berlin and Uppsala. As a journalist, she worked in Stockholm as part of the International Journalists’ Program (IJP). She has also published reports from abroad, including from the U.S., Sweden, Norway, and Ukraine. She is particularly committed to making financial education accessible to those who grew up with limited resources.

Project

At ZEVEDI, Klaudia Lagozinski will examine the opportunities and risks posed by neobrokers. Young people whose parents have not already purchased stocks through their local bank are more likely to invest today. But are these new forms of investment truly motivated by saving and retirement planning, or rather by the thrill of speculation? And what role does content on social media, particularly on the platform Reddit, play in this? During her stay in Darmstadt, she intends to explore, from psychological, social, legal, and economic perspectives, the extent to which neobrokers make the financial world more accessible and the extent to which they carry the risk that this accessibility might encourage young people to “gamble.”

More information about Klaudia Lagozinski and her residency