Bjorn Schwentker

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Björn Schwentker (* 1973 ) is a German science and data journalist , blogger , and freelance writer for radio, print and online media.

Studies and career

Björn Schwentker studied economics and physics at the University of Bonn , the University of Portsmouth and the University of Münster , where he graduated with a degree in physics. He studied science journalism in a postgraduate course at the Free University of Berlin .

His professional career includes a. Activities as a freelance science journalist, editor and head of the knowledge department for the online editorial team of “ Die Zeit ” and lecturer for science communication at the Georg-August University in Göttingen .

He has been a freelancer since October 2008 : he works as a freelance journalist , u. a. since August 2009 freelancer at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research .

Schwentker's contributions have appeared in online and print media, including many articles, comments and interviews with “Die Zeit” and Zeit Online, and with Deutschlandradio, Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio Kultur, as well as contributions to u. a. Der Spiegel and the FAZ . His main areas of work include politics and science, with a special focus on demography and data journalism .

Contributions to the debate on demography

In October 2005, his contribution “Die Zeit” attracted attention, in which he presented the scientific background to a report that became media-effective, according to which 40% of female academics in Germany remained childless , based on an analysis of microcensus data. Schwentker declared the statement to be false and presented it as a result of insufficient data. In June 2006, he wrote a widely acclaimed series of articles in "Die Zeit" on the subject of demography. Schwentker's scientific journalistic preparation fundamentally called into question a negative prognosis for the demographic development of Germany that had previously been widespread and politically taken up in the media . The survey method of the microcensus was later changed in order to be able to make more precise statements about the actual cohort childlessness.

In other contributions, too, Schwentker identified certain interpretations of demographic data and the conclusions based on them as incorrect on the basis of his own data analyzes. In 2011 he said that “the media outdid each other in unquestionably spreading the false report that the life expectancy of low-income earners had fallen since 2001”, and added analyzes of further data from the German pension insurance to support his statement. Time and again he emphasizes the importance of professional data journalism for the political debate. With particular reference to demography, he opposes “demographization” in the sense of an instrumentalization of demographic change in order to enforce interests. Schwentker sees demographic change and, above all, longer life expectancy as an opportunity for society.

Since 2013, he has been accompanying Spiegel online on the subject of resistance (especially by the municipalities) against the 2011 census ( 2011 census ).

Awards

In June 2008 Schwentker received the first Peter Hans Hofschneider Research Award for Science and Medical Journalism for his contributions on demography and for a research sketch on civil security research. The jury took into account the fact that Schwentker had shown in his contributions "that a lot of the information that has been disseminated about demographic developments is questionable or even wrong".

Web links

Individual evidence

general

  1. ↑ a b c d Björn Schwentker. Xing, accessed on August 9, 2010 .
  2. ↑ WPK Quarterly - The editorial team ( Memento from July 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), professional association WPK - The Science Journalists
  3. ↑ a b Newsletter Chemistry Studies 6/2008. (PDF) Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, accessed on February 5, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Newsletter Chemistry Studies 5/2010. (No longer available online.) Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, archived from the original on March 5, 2016 ; Retrieved August 7, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uni-goettingen.de
  5. ↑ Editorial. (No longer available online.) Politikorange.de, archived from the original on January 31, 2014 ; accessed on February 10, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.politikorange.de
  6. ^ Declaration of transparency, in: Björn Schwentker: Demography and data journalist "About me". (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 9, 2014 ; accessed on February 10, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.demografie-blog.de
  7. ↑ Article by Björn Schwentker. Zeit Online, accessed August 9, 2010 .
  8. ↑ See search function at: Deutschlandradio, Deutschlandfunk, Deutschlandradio Kultur (search function). Retrieved August 10, 2010 .
  9. ↑ Search results at spiegel.de , accessed February 21, 2014
  10. ↑ Search results at faz.de , accessed February 21, 2014
  11. ↑ Björn Schwentker. Freelance writer, accessed on February 5, 2014 .
  12. ↑ Klaus-Jürgen Duschk, Heike Wirth: Childlessness of Women in the Mirror of the Microcensus - A Cohort Analysis of the Microcensuses 1987 to 2003, in: Wirtschaft und Statistics 8/2005, pp. 800–820 - online ( Memento des original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 376 kB). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uni-tuebingen.de
  13. ^ Sybilla Nikolow. Review of Brunner, José, Demography - Democracy - History: Germany and Israel and Ehmer, Josef; Lausecker, Werner; Pinwinkler, Alexander, Population Constructions in the History, Social Sciences and Politics of the 20th Century and Etzemüller, Thomas, An Eternal Downfall: The Apocalyptic Population Discourse in the 20th Century. H-Soz-u-Kult, H-Net Reviews, October 2008 - online
  14. ^ Doubts about the census. Der Spiegel online, January 10, 2014, accessed on February 11, 2014 .
  15. ↑ Demography and Security Research: First Research Prize Science Journalism. idw - Informationsdienst Wissenschaft, accessed on February 5, 2014 .
  16. ↑ From the editorial offices. (No longer available online.) In: medium: online, magazine for journalists. Edition 9/2008, section “Personalalien”, pp. 94–97. www.mediummagazin.de, archived from the original on June 11, 2010 ; Retrieved August 9, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mediummagazin.de

Björn Schwentker's contributions in the series on demography in four episodes, “Die Zeit”: Germany without children?

  1. ↑ a b The breadwinner has had its day. In Germany, traditional family images are petted and women are still discriminated against. But where there is no gender equality, fewer children are born , Zeit Online, June 29, 2006 (version date June 9, 2008) - online
  2. ↑ a b Everyone has a good reason. Economists and sociologists investigate why women in Germany do not choose to have children more often , Zeit Online, June 22, 2006 (version June 9, 2008) - online
  3. ↑ a b Poker games in the cradle. Academics are on childbirth strike? No. The statistics are incorrect. And the Federal Council prevents exact surveys , Zeit Online, June 14, 2006 (version June 9, 2008) - online
  4. ↑ a b Extinction canceled. Germany discovered demography - and with it the demographic catastrophe. Many researchers see no reason to be alarmed , Zeit Online, June 8, 2006 (version June 9, 2008) - online

More articles by Björn Schwentker on demography

  1. ↑ a b Because of 40 percent. Although the microcensus tries to make it so: Academics are by no means to blame for the German baby decline , Zeit Online, October 9, 2005 (version July 29, 2008) - online
  2. ↑ a b End of discrimination. The dispute over the true number of childless female academics is about to end - because it should finally be correctly recorded: The Bundestag changed two statistic laws on Thursday. That could even change population projections. , Zeit Online, July 6, 2007 (version of July 11, 2007) - online
  3. ↑ Life expectancy of low earners is increasing. In: Demography Blog (Schwentker). December 14, 2011, accessed February 11, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Life expectancy of low earners: New data on arithmetic errors of the left. In: Demography Blog (Schwentker). December 29, 2011, accessed February 11, 2014 .
  5. ↑ When the children come: A plea for data journalism on 5½ levels. In: Demography Blog (Schwentker). March 23, 2012, accessed February 11, 2014 .
  6. ↑ a b Demographics instead of truth. In: Demography Blog (Schwentker). Retrieved February 11, 2014 .
  7. ↑ A New Culture of Change - Essay. Federal Agency for Civic Education , accessed on February 11, 2014 .
  8. ^ Die Ökonomie des Familienglücks , Friday, November 11, 2010 - online
  9. ↑ Formulas for Change. Axel Börsch-Supan calculates why the aging society does not have to collapse economically , Die Zeit, March 12, 2009 No. 12 (Zeit Online Version September 28, 2009) - online
  10. ↑ Republic of the Undead. The German population statistics are off by millions due to unchecked files and double counts. This leads to dangerous false conclusions , Zeit Online, November 2008 (version 14 November 2008) - online
  11. ↑ No more drama! The Berlin Institute is presenting a striking collection of data on the development of Europe in a media-effective manner. Serious political advice is not. One comment , Zeit Online, August 2008 (version September 28, 2009) - online
  12. ↑ And yet it moves. The number of children per woman is increasing, according to the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office. Is the new baby boom coming now? , Zeit Online, August 20, 2008 (version September 28, 2009) - online
  13. ^ Poverty Demographics. The world population will continue to grow despite falling birth rates, according to a new UN forecast. This also means that there will be more and more poor people , Zeit Online, March 2007 (version September 28, 2009) - online
  14. ↑ "Abolish retirement age!" The unions are protesting against retirement at 67. Is this the right way to deal with an aging society? The researcher James Vaupel has far more radical proposals. A conversation , Zeit Online, March 1, 2007 - online
  15. ↑ Black painting by numbers. Germany is becoming depopulated, say the statisticians. However, if the assumptions are slightly different, the results are completely different. One comment , Zeit Online, November 7, 2006 (version July 5, 2007) - online
  16. ↑ 40 percent childless academics? Michaela Kreyenfeld in an interview with Björn Schwentker, Zeit Online, 13./15. June 2006, online (audio)
  17. ↑ Overestimation of childlessness. With the new microcensus, the Federal Statistical Office does not present any current figures on childlessness. In return, however, a nine-page explanation why such data is actually not usable. One comment , Zeit Online, June 6, 2006 (version June 7, 2006) - online
  18. ^ The myth of the baby boom. Did the Germans conceive more children when they were lucky at the World Cup? Even if the media would like it: It's complete nonsense , Zeit Online, May 23, 2007 (Version May 24, 2007) - online
personal data
SURNAME Schwentker, Björn
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH 1973