Reporting the Far Right

In cooperation with Bard College Berlin

In an age of polarization and highly fraught and combative politics, it is becoming ever more difficult for journalists and media outlets to balance curiosity, empathy, and fair-minded engagement, with the need to retain critical distance and objective judgement. The urgency and impact of this dilemma are more pronounced than ever, in both Europe and the United States.

This tension is particularly notable in coverage of right-wing movements, parties and anti-democratic actors. If the aim is to clarify their policy goals and demystify their voters and supporters, how can journalists do this while simultaneously interrogating their positions and holding accountable their leaders? More than ever, journalists must navigate these conflicting imperatives while providing a genuine civic service and value to readers.

In conversation with Joshua Yaffa, Bard College Berlin’s writer-in-residence, Elisabeth Zerofsky from The New York Times Magazine and Holger Stark from Die Zeit will discuss how to approach coverage of far-right movements and their supporters, speaking to the challenges and dilemmas on both sides of the Atlantic facing media and individual reporters, and the publics that rely on them at this combustible moment for politics and society.

With:

• Holger Stark is deputy editor-in-chief and head of the investigative unit at Die Zeit, as well as an author of several books. He previously worked at Der Spiegel, including several years as Washington Bureau Chief. Stark has been awarded multiple prizes, including three times the Nannen-Award and four times the Reporterpreis, and in 2014 was elected as Germany’s “Journalist of the Year” together with Marcel Rosenbach.
• Elisabeth Zerofsky is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine. She is currently at work on a book about the rise of far-right politics and a new era of illiberal democracy in Europe and the United States. She lives in Berlin.

Moderation: Joshua Yaffa is the inaugural Writer in Residence at Bard College Berlin. He is a contributing writer at The New Yorker and the author of Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin's Russia, which won the Orwell Prize in 2021.

The discussion will be followed by a Q&A.

This event will be held in English with German interpretation.

Contact:

Katharina Obser
Democracy Program Director, 
Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington, DC:
E katharina.obser@us.boell.org

Deitra Myers
Division European Union and North America
Heinrich Böll Foundation Berlin
E myers@boell.de

This event is part of a Bard College Berlin’s and the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s fall event series, “Writing Democracy: Stories, Ideas, and Arguments On and Off the Page.” The series brings prominent journalists and writers to a wider Berlin and German audience to discuss topics of civic and political interest in both Germany and the United States. Through the lens of writing, the series offers a larger exploration about democracy and democratic institutions in the transatlantic context: about politics and society in the U.S. and Europe, the lessons of history, the role for democratic values, and misconceptions on both sides of the Atlantic–all with the aim of strengthening transatlantic ties in a trying moment.

» Participation on site
 at the the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Conference Center, Schumannstr. 8, 10117 Berlin

Please register in advance. Unfortunately, the number of seats for this event are limited. If we are at capacity, the conversation will be transmitted via video to other rooms.

» Livestream
Alternatively, you can follow the event via livestream without registering.
Livestream in English
Livestream in German