Reflekt’s manager Johanna Weidtmann on how to reach out to new audiences through collaborations with influencers

The Loop is a Journalism Value project podcast, brought to you by Reference. We are interviewing the members of this network about key challenges for them, ranging from funding and business models, to community engagement and organizational structures, as we explore  what success and sustainability look like for European independent media today.On today’s episode, we talk to Johanna Weidtmann, the manager of Reflekt, the first independent and non-profit research team in Switzerland.We will talk about the media landscape in Switzerland, why readers lost trust in journalism, and the reasons funding independent media in Switzerland is not as easy as one might think.Independent outlets such as Reflekt point out things that people don't want to be pointed out, and this is one reason many are reluctant to support journalism as a philanthropic cause.Johanna will also share insights about how Reflekt is collaborating with influencers to reach out to new audiences, and how these collaborations bring in new followers and small donors.We’re going to discuss how a potentially new stream of money related to innovation is coming in. These funds are available not from the usual philanthropic sources, but from example, science, or innovation hubs.Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.