CORRECTIV.Europe with new leadership: Joanna Krawczyk becomes Managing Director, Frida Thurm strengthens the editorial team

Together with the existing team, she will focus on strengthening collaboration among local media and newsrooms across Europe and building a resilient journalistic infrastructure. CORRECTIV.Europe has already successfully built a network of over 270 local journalists and media organizations across 27 European countries, publishing its first impactful collaborative investigations on issues of wide-ranging significance.

Joanna Krawczyk’s career is marked by her passion for media development, press freedom, and cross-border collaboration. Joanna Krawczyk is a journalism enthusiast with 18 years of experience in media development and civil society. She previously served as Deputy Managing Director of Geostrategy East at the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Head of Partnerships at Poland’s largest quality newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, where she developed strategies for international collaboration and journalism support. As President of the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation, she co-founded and continues to lead the Ukrainian Media Fund (UMF), providing vital support to Ukrainian journalists and promoting systemic media development as part of Ukraine’s recovery. She also launched Poland’s first investigative reporting grant for local journalists and managed local media development initiatives.

Krawczyk has chaired the Leading European Newspaper Alliance, a network of prominent European publications, and serves on the management board of the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF), which focuses on public interest initiatives such as disinformation research. She is also a member of the advisory board of Journalismfund.eu and an Obama Leader, recognized for her commitment to fostering independent journalism and media collaboration across Europe.

Commenting on her new role, Joanna Krawczyk said: “The future of European democracy depends on strengthening independent media and local journalism. In times of increasing disinformation and political threats, it is more important than ever to promote local voices, connect them, and spread their stories across boundaries. CORRECTIV.Europe offers the ideal platform to do just that. I am excited to work with this extraordinary team to bring this vision to life.”

The CORRECTIV.Europe team will also be strengthened by Frida Thurm, who joins as a Senior Reporter on October 1, 2024. Frida Thurm is an experienced journalist with 15 years in the field. She studied political science in Berlin and Amsterdam and completed her journalism training at the Henri Nannen School of Journalism in Hamburg. Since 2013, she has worked as an editor at ZEIT Online, and since 2022, she was leading the team of the  society desk, focusing on internal security and justice. Most recently, she played a pivotal role in developing and managing the crowd-research project “Plan D.”, a project focused on identifying the real-life challenges people in Germany face. Her work has earned her the Coburg Media Award, and she has been nominated for the German Reporter Award.

“I am thrilled to become part of one of the most exciting newsrooms in the country. Strengthening local journalism across Europe is more important now than ever,” said Frida Thurm on her new role.

David Schraven, Publisher of CORRECTIV, added: “With Joanna Krawczyk and Frida Thurm, CORRECTIV.Europe gains two outstanding journalists and media experts who will significantly advance our project with their experience and dedication. Together, we will continue to strengthen the local and European dimensions of journalistic work, contributing to an informed public and a resilient democracy.”

CORRECTIV.Europe aims to promote local stories with European relevance and strengthen journalistic diversity across the continent. These new appointments are a crucial step toward securing the future of independent journalism in Europe.