Michelle Bohlmann is studying B.A. Journalismus und Unternehmenskommunikation (B.A. Journalism and Corporate Communication, German only) journalism and corporate communication at the Berlin campus. In the winter semester of 2021/22, she and her fellow students Paula Bossung, Nathalie Götz and Ketsia Mbala set up a website project on human trafficking in the “Journalistic Practice” module with the lecturers Richard Elsner and Daniel Lehmann. In the interview, Michelle told us more about her intentions, working methods and the biggest challenges.
Prostitution and human trafficking: two topics that are often still taboo in society and are usually not talked about much. How did your journalistic project come about?
It was actually more of a spontaneous idea. We spent quite a long time thinking about which topic we wanted to address in our project. Human trafficking and prostitution are definitely not easy topics, and they are very sensitive in any case. At the beginning, we were still quite skeptical about it: Do we really want to do this? The lecturer also said that it was a very difficult topic and told us that we really had to be careful about what we write and how we write it, but that he would give us the freedom to do so. So we got started!
How did you approach the topic?
First of all, we looked at what is meant by human trafficking, i.e. what all falls under this definition. And then we set about dividing up the tasks. It was relatively clear to me and Paula that we wanted to get right in there – we wanted to do a report, conduct interviews. So we did research in various places in Berlin, including on the street where sex workers work on the street in Kurfürstenstraße in Berlin-Tiergarten. Nathalie was more interested in research, so she took on the research part. Ketsia also wanted to do a report. This was a good opportunity for her, because an event was taking place a few days later at the IJM (International Justice Mission), which she went to and then did a report on.
What were some of the biggest challenges?
I can speak for myself and Paula in particular, since we worked together very closely on the project. I would say that it was actually the implementation that was a major challenge. We had a lot of ideas and wanted to do so much – but we had to decide on thematic priorities. I finally came up with the idea of creating a website to combine all our contributions.
Do you want to continue the project? If so, what are your plans for the future?
There is a contact form on our website, so anyone can send us their comments. For us, the project is not yet finished. Sure, for now, because we are still studying and have to devote ourselves to other projects there. But we definitely realized that we are still far from having dealt with all the aspects that interest us. It was also really difficult in the time frame of one semester to do the topic of human trafficking justice as it would have deserved.
What advice do you have for Media University students who are thinking of starting a project similar to yours?
First of all, I would say that the topic of the project should interest everyone. I also think it’s important that everyone plays to their strengths, so that someone who likes to go out and is more of an investigator can take on that part in the project. Of course, this should be discussed with the lecturers first.
Otherwise, time management is actually very important. We definitely had a time problem due to the many other projects. So you definitely have to see how many projects you can implement at the same time.
Michelle Bohlmann
It was worth it in the end, but it was a really big workload. And otherwise, I would advise everyone to have fun, develop a passion for the topic and the group should stand together behind the project, even if something goes wrong.
Thank you for the insights into your project. We wish you all the best and lots of inspiration for future projects!
