Journalistic start-up in Düsseldorf seeks backers

Four journalists have launched a crowdfunding campaign to set up their own start-up. Their goal: to compete with the established media in the state capital.

Can journalism also work as a start-up? With VierNull , the four journalists Hans Onkelbach, Christian Herrendorf, Andreas Endermann and Boris Bartels in Düsseldorf are currently trying to establish a rival product to the established media in the state capital. They have launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Startnext platform with the aim of raising at least 40,000 euros by May 10.

The media offering in Düsseldorf has shrunk noticeably in the past, they write on their website, and there is a need for more information and impetus for opinion-forming. Once the funding is in place, there will be a newsletter every six o'clock in which the journalists present their articles of the day and give tips for the greater Düsseldorf area. Each weekday there will also be at least one text on one of the four topics of politics, environment & traffic, business and entertainment on the website. This will be followed in the evening by a quick news overview consisting of four to five reports.

VierNull is not the first journalistic project that aims to bring more diversity to local reporting. In Münster, for example, the social enterprise RUMS was founded in 2020. The project is currently financed from the seed capital it raised in March 2020 and, since September 2020, from a subscription model. If it ever makes a profit, 90% of it will be invested in expanding the editorial team, RUMS writes on its website. Katapult magazine is also currently setting up a local editorial office in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and is collecting donations for this purpose. The initiators cited the lack of proper reporting as the reason for this.