Editorial
stern Editor-in-Chief
Wonderful rescue – Gregor Peter Schmitz on a journalistic treasure hunt in the Colombian rainforest
Traveled for the current cover story star-Reporter Jan Christoph Wiechmann went to Colombia and spoke to the rescuers and the families of the missing children
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Editor-in-Chief Gregor Peter Schmitz on the big one star-Research on the missing children in the rainforest of Colombia. Also: a traffic light coalition ready for vacation.
Journalism is often tedious desk work, rummaging through files, studying sources, researching commas. But sometimes it is also: a treasure hunt. The star has always been famous, sometimes notorious, for this type of journalism, which always has something of an adventurous feel to it – a reporter goes out into the world and sees how its wonders can be found and described. A particularly brilliant journalistic treasure hunter is my colleague Jan Christoph Wiechmann, whose reports I devoured when I was a journalism student. He has a special soft spot for South and Latin America. When the news broke that four children had miraculously survived a plane crash and 40 days and nights in the Colombian rainforest, I immediately thought: “What a story for Jan.”
Only Wiechmann is not just a treasure hunter, but an extremely fast treasure hunter. When these thoughts came to me, he was already doing his research. He spoke to many different people and thus exclusively reconstructed this incredible jungle drama. Wiechmann had to fight off fierce competition from Hollywood studios and streaming services, with exclusive contracts, especially for the four children waved. Probably also because the story, which is about ghosts from the forest, is real, but reminds of the wondrous tales of Gabriel García Márquez, keyword: magical realism.
Another construction site for Olaf Scholz
Cluster bombs consist of small mini-bombs, so-called submunitions, which spread over large areas when fired. This is just as terrible in the reality of war as it reads, which is why cluster bombs are banned by many countries. US President Joe Biden is nevertheless delivering them to Ukraine, perhaps also because he wants to counter fears – such as the (Ukrainian) concern that he will gradually reduce his support for Kiev for fear of domestic political consequences. At the same time, however, Biden made it very clear that NATO membership for Ukraine is not currently on the agenda. A security partnership like the one the Americans have with Israel is an option. That only sounds like a defusing: If NATO members, including Germany, want to give Ukraine strategic support comparable to that of Israel, this would be a multi-year and very costly commitment. Another construction site for Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who cannot complain about a lack of construction sites anyway, as our Chancellor understander Andreas Hoidn-Borchers describes.
The research team around the great starPodcast “Frauke Liebs” – the incredibly exciting and at the same time careful processing of a kidnapping and murder case that has not been solved to this day – was nominated in two categories for the German Podcast Award. Other colleagues won, and we congratulate them wholeheartedly. But I still allow myself to recommend “Frauke Liebs” as a listening tip, especially since the podcast will cause chills even on the hottest summer days. And if you’re curious about many other great ones star-Podcasts – here’s something for your ears.