Ines Pohl
Ines Pohl (born 12 April 1967, in Mutlangen, Baden-Württemberg) is a German journalist.
Early life and education
Pohl grew up in rural Swabia (East Württemberg) as the daughter of a kindergarten teacher (mother) and a skilled labour worker (father). After graduating high school (German Abitur) in Schwäbisch Gmünd, she studied German studies and Scandinavian studies at the University of Göttingen. After graduating with an M.A., she worked at her university as the equal opportunity commissioner.
In the early and mid-1980s, as a school girl and a young student, Pohl was actively involved in the German peace movement, specifically in the protest against the stationing of MGM-31 Pershing missiles at a United States Armed Forces Missile Storage Area at Mutlanger Heide ("Mutlangen heathland") near her hometown (as part of the NATO Double-Track Decision).
Career and private life
In the 1990s, Pohl worked as a freelance journalist at a local radio station as well as for several regional newspapers; she did her traineeship at Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA) newspaper. There, she was gradually promoted up the ranks, being leading editor for politics within ten years.
In 2004/2005, Pohl spent a year at Harvard University on a scholarship of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism.
In 2008, Pohl went to Berlin to work as a correspondent for the Ippen publishing house. From July 2009 until September 2015 she was editor in chief of the left-wing newspaper Die Tageszeitung,.[1] During her time at the newspaper, her brief was to return the paper to its left-wing roots after a much-criticised foray into more popular journalism.[2]
In 2016, Pohl joined German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle in 2015, where she worked as Washington correspondent. Soon after, she was appointed editor-in-chief, effective March 1, 2017.[3]
Pohl lives together with her spouse in Berlin.[4]
Other activities
- Jugend gegen AIDS, Member of the Advisory Board[5]
- International Journalists’ Programmes, Member of the Board of Trustees
- Reporters Without Borders Germany, Member of the Board of Trustees (2010-2016)[6]
Recognition
In 2009, Pohl was awarded the prize "Best journalist of the year" in the category "newcomer" by the Medium Magazine.[7]
References
- Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg. "Chefredakteurin: Ines Pohl verlässt die "taz"".
- Tony Paterson (December 5, 2009), Phallic insult sparks German media feud The Independent.
- Christoph Jumpelt (June 8, 2016), Ines Pohl named new DW editor-in-chief Deutsche Welle.
- Taz.de: Ein Fest der Liebe (german)
- Advisory Board Jugend gegen AIDS.
- Board of Trustees Reporters Without Borders Germany.
- Die Journalisten des Jahres 2009. In: Medium Magazin online on 21 December 2009, seen on 14 January 2010.