Breaking Stories While Undercover: Insights into the Work of an Investigative Journalist

Just two years ago, RTL Deutschland launched the new cross-media format “Stern Investigativ.” The results of the investigative research conducted are released simultaneously as a TV report on RTL, in the print magazine “Stern,” on various websites, and as a podcast. For “Stern Investigativ” the award-winning journalists Christian Esser and Manka Heise have brought several important stories to light – including going undercover at the Tesla plant in Grünheide in Brandenburg and, more recently, uncovering questionable practices at the famous Berlin hospital Charité.

Join the ACG for a discussion with Manka Heise, Leading Investigative Reporter at “Stern Investigativ,” about the stories she has covered, how she has covered them, and how she has chosen which stories to pursue.

Before Manka Heise started working for Stern Investigativ, she was an editor at Frontal 21 for ZDF for 10 years. There, she produced investigative, political, and social background reports. Before that, she worked as an editor for the ARD political magazine Kontraste. Ms. Heise graduated in religious studies and English and began her journalistic career with a traineeship at Spiegel TV/XXP.