The corona pandemic is keeping people around the world on tenterhooks, causing uncertainty and awakening the need for reliable information. Digital news portals such as FOCUS Online have a fundamental role to play in crisis situations like this. What is happening behind the scenes? How does the editorial team cope with this extraordinary news situation under the difficult working conditions it entails?
An editorial team in home office
Since the beginning of the week, FOCUS Online has been operated in remote mode. In the otherwise busy newsroom, only four editors hold the fort in compliance with strict distance and hygiene rules. The rest of the team works from home.
The team is doing an incredibly good job right now and it is clear that extraordinary situations also release a lot of energy. I'm sure that we will learn a lot from these weeks - about New Work and our ability to deal with extreme situations together. We are mastering an unprecedented news situation under extreme conditions, achieving a usage that exceeds other levels by more than 100 percent.“
Fast news in combination with scientific analyses
Two live tickers set up especially for the Corona crisis are filled around the clock: One shows the overall health and political situation, while another shows the immense economic consequences of the pandemic.
Two ticker formats have been initiated to provide direct answers to the most pressing concerns of people in Germany. In recent weeks, the digital consultation hour has developed into a very well-founded and comprehensive FAQ about the virus and the resulting lung disease COVID-19, which is even gladly consulted by physicians. Worries of a financial nature are discussed in "Germany's largest money advice". In both formats, experts, scientists and editors are in direct contact with FOCUS Online users and provide reliable answers to questions that create uncertainty.
Positive results from difficult situations
The use of news portals is currently extraordinarily high and reaches values that are twice as high as the average access figures. FOCUS Online reaches many - and is therefore launching a major self-help campaign: #CoronaCare. Thousands of people who want to help and people from risk groups who need help come forward. Through cooperation with regional aid organizations and collaboration with other major news portals such as T-Online and Watson, a Germany-wide network is being created with many heroic stories that give hope.
Sara Kiesler
BurdaForward Communications
I like to tell stories. For example, about the work environment at BurdaForward - because I take care of internal communications and our events. I spend my free time with my dog, or depending on the season, also on the SUP or skiing. Basically, I like to be in nature! Preferably in the beautiful Bavarian Alps and my much-loved home, the Black Forest.
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Since one week FOCUS Online and a team of experts have been answering the most common questions about coronavirus in a digital consultation hour - live and in constant exchange with infectiologists, virologists and other specialists. Already in this time the portal reached with the consulting hour on focus.de over one million humans, daily several hundred Mails arrive with the editorship.