Tina Hassel

Tina Hassel (born May 11, 1964) is a German broadcast journalist. Since July 2015 she has been director of the capital studio of ARD, the German public broadcasting association.

Tina Hassel in the studio, 2017

Early life and education

Born in Cologne,[1] Hassel studied at the universities of Cologne and Bordeaux and earned a Magister degree in Germanic studies, history and political science.[2]

Career

While still a student, she began working for radio and TV stations in Germany and France.[3][4]

Hassel worked at Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) from 1990 to 1994, initially as a volunteer and then starting in 1992 as an editor and presenter. From 1994 to 1999, she was the Paris correspondent of WDR's parent organization ARD. From November 2001 to May 2012, she was a presenter on Weltspiegel, the world news program on ARD's Das Erste TV channel. In addition, in December 2001 she became foreign head at WDR. She then headed ARD's studio in Washington, DC from July 2012 to June 2015.[3][4][5] On July 1, 2015, she succeeded Ulrich Deppendorf as director and chief television editor at the ARD capital studio in Berlin, the first woman to hold the position. As part of her duties, she is the presenter of Bericht aus Berlin (Report from Berlin).[3][6]

Criticism

In January 2018, while reporting for ARD on the Alliance 90/The Greens party convention, Hassel tweeted in a manner that was criticized as lacking in neutrality. Michael Hanfeld of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung characterized the tweets as "a salvo of delighted squeals",[7] Alexander Will in Nordwest-Zeitung, as part of a "massive media flanking action" for the party,[8] and Jochen Bittner of Die Zeit took her to task for lacking the "professional, dispassionate distance" that ought particularly to be demonstrated by publicly financed, government-supported media.[9] Hassel rejected the accusation that the tweets had been insufficiently neutral.[10]

Personal life

Hassel is married and has three children.[1] She is a patron of Kinderhospiz Bethel, a children's hospice in Bielefeld,[11] and is a member of Atlantik-Brücke.[12]

References

1. "Tina Hassel privat: Von Washington nach Berlin! So lebt die ARD-Redakteurin ", News.de, September 25, 2017, retrieved February 1, 2020 (in German).
2. "Tina Hassel: Sender, Westdeutscher Rundfunk" ARD, retrieved February 1, 2020 (in German).
3. "Tina Hassel neue Studioleiterin in Berlin", Westdeutscher Rundfunk, July 1, 2015, retrieved February 1, 2020 (in German).
4. "Tina Hassel: Leiterin und Chefreporterin des ARD Studio Washington", Kress.de, retrieved February 1, 2020 (in German).
5. "Personalien: Tina Hassel übernimmt Leitung des ARD-Studios Washington", press release, WDR, May 9, 2012 (in German).
6. Uwe Mantel, "Tina Hassel löst Deppendorf im Hauptstadtstudio ab", DWDL.de, April 9, 2014, retrieved February 1, 2020 (in German).
7. "[eine] Salve von Juchz-Meldungen", Michael Hanfeld, "Stimmungsmache", Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, January 29, 2018 (in German).
8. "massive[r] mediale[r] Flankenschutz", Alexander Will, "Grüner Bettel", Nordwest-Zeitung, January 29, 2018, retrieved February 1, 2020 (in German).
9. "jene professionell-nüchterne Distanz", Jochen Bittner, "Versucht's mal mit Nüchternheit", Fünf vor acht opinion column, Die Zeit, February 1, 2018, retrieved February 1, 2020 (in German).
10. Alexander Becker, "'Wie soll das vom Social Team der Grünen getoppt werden?': die euphorischen Parteitags-Tweets der ARD-Journalistin Tina Hassel", Meedia, January 29, 2018, retrieved February 1, 2020 (in German).
11. "Tina Hassel wünscht Geborgenheit", Kinderhospiz Bethel, retrieved February 2, 2020 (in German).
12. Jahresbericht 2011/2012, Atlantik-Brücke, archived from the original on May 18, 2019; p. 46 (in German).