When terrorists attacked Charlie Hebdo, Ines Pohl was the editor in chief of alternative Berlin daily Die Tageszeitung (taz), known for going against the mainstream and breaking taboos. As she and her colleagues absorbed the news of the massacre, Pohl said she wondered if taz would be next. But instead of giving in to fear, she decided that taz would publish the first Charlie Hebdo cover after the attack, which controversially portrayed the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Pohl said that it was the duty of journalists to “hold back this fear and stand up for our free democracies.”

Now as editor in chief at DW, Pohl will bring this courageous spirit and an innovative attitude to DW’s journalism.

Before becoming editor in chief, Pohl was DW’s Washington correspondent.  During the 2016 US presidential campaign, she helped lead the social media project #Whatamerica. Using short video interviews and vox pops, the project shared a unique perspective on how American’s envision the political future of the US. It was also something new for DW and it demonstrated the success of engaging with the audience to tell better stories.

“The current election in the USA is an example of an increasingly polarized and short-winded media landscape,” said Pohl. “Without Twitter and Facebook there would be no Donald Trump. He lives off of scandalizing, and a hunger for quotas. Nuanced and bold reporting is poison for politicians like him.”

Pohl has a built a long career in journalism and while she emphasizes the importance of digital media, she also understands that interacting with people face-to-face is an essential aspect of being a journalist. “This is where I am more traditional,” she said. “Whenever possible, I think a conversation should begin with a handshake. This can say so much more than a thousand words in e-mails.”

Under Pohl’s the direction the future for DW’s journalism is in the hands of a forward thinking journalist who is not afraid to take chances. Pohl says DW gives her “the privilege to be able to work for quality and not for quotas.” She especially values the international perspective at DW and will seek to promote a multimedia atmosphere and experimentation more with of social media.

 

By Wednesday morning, the world will know who the next US President will be. It has been a long and turbulent election season and DW has been there from the beginning with insightful commentary from our correspondents in Washington D.C. and reports from the campaign trail and places across the Untied States.

At the start of the election during the primaries, DW began asking ordinary Americans across the nation, “what America” they wanted. #Whatamerica went behind the headlines and gave a global audience a closer look at what is important to American voters.

As the election progressed, people around the world joined in to express themselves and share their views on what they want for the US. Their ideas and wishes were as unique as the issues that face the nation and the huge response from people around the world showed how the election will have an effect outside of the US.

And DW’s news coverage of the election has gone inside the big political issues in Washington D.C. DW’s correspondent in the US capital, Ines Pohl, has been providing fresh insight into all of the major issues that have shaped the election.

With a network of correspondents across the US, DW’s election coverage will help audiences everywhere understand US politics and give them valuable access to important information about why this election is important for the entire world.

And for the grand finale on election night, a team made up of hundreds of DW journalists, editors, producers and technicians will be hard at work bringing the results of the election live to audiences around the world.

Live coverage of the US presidential election from DW starts November 8 at 11:00 p.m. UTC and will continue for 12 hours straight with results, reactions and analysis.