A Chat with Journalist Bernd-Uwe Gutknecht

Bernd-Uwe Gutknecht, a radio journalist at Munich’s Bayerischer Rundfunk, has forged an incredible career for himself. With over 30 years of experience, Bernd has witnessed and reported on major news events, rubbed shoulders with celebrities and politicians, and travelled to over 100 countries through his work. I was lucky enough to sit down with him recently to discuss what made him pursue journalism, and why he has stuck with after all these years. 

What inspired you to become a journalist?

It was by incident. I was a very shy guy when I was young, but I went to a fair where there was a radio show going on, and they asked visitors to join in and pretend to be a radio DJ. So I went … the host asked me what topics I was interested in, so I said soccer, and he said, “imagine you are in a soccer stadium and you are the reporter. Go!” So I had to be a commentator on the game, and I did it quite well, they said. Another guy from a private radio station came over and said, “hey, we’re looking for sports reporters, are you interested?” And that was the beginning, at the age of 17.

Do you think studying journalism at university is the best step to take to become a journalist?

No. That’s my opinion. I think the really basic journalistic work you have to learn in the radio or TV station, but I recommend people to study something like medicine, politics, sports or science, become an expert, and then learn the journalistic work by doing. It’s more and more important that you have knowledge about a particular topic. For example, during the pandemic, journalists who knew more about health topics were really important. I think if you want to find your way into media, become an expert and then a journalist. 

Why have you chosen to stick with radio as your main profession over other forms of media?

I just love radio. I love to work with language, with noises, with music. In private, I don’t even watch much TV, so why would I work in TV? I did TV and newspaper while I studied, but since I started here 30 years ago, it was so much work, so I completely concentrated on radio. Now I also do a podcast outside BR and I write a blog. 

So you are a freelance journalist – what made you choose this path?

The freedom. Here at Bayerische Rundfunk I have the big advantage that I can choose my topics, I can choose when I work or if I work, and this is possible as freelance. But on the other hand, I am a ‘Festefreiemitarbeiter,’ or ‘permanent freelance employee’, which is a mixture; I still get some social security, for example, I get 30 days vacation paid and if I get sick, they pay me. I think it only exists in ARD. I couldn’t imagine working Monday to Friday from 9-6. I want to travel a lot for work which is only possible as a freelancer. I want to choose what I write about, so I will write about sport, politics and science, and this also is only possible as a freelancer. 

What do you think is the most important skill for a journalist?

To be a journalist you need to be curious. If I walk around in the city and I see something, I always wonder, what is going on there? What stories does this person have? But you also have to be critical, because everyone who gives an interview has a reason for that. They may want to sell something, or manipulate because they are politicians. So you always have to ask yourself, why are they saying what they are saying? 

What separates a good journalist from a great journalist?

Someone who finds the stories that nobody else sees. To look behind the scenes. I think you have to see the stories that are around the corner. 

Is there a time where you have done this yourself?

The most dramatic story that I ever did was in Kenya about 20 years ago, on a topic that back then was very taboo. People didn’t talk about it. It was about female genital mutilation, which is a traditional thing in Eastern Africa. I found out that there was a German NGO that tried to stop it. They go with social workers to rural areas and small villages, where grandmothers do it to their granddaughters, so it was women to women. So I went with this NGO to these villages where I went into their houses, and tried to convince them that it’s not good. These girls die from infections as they use rusty razor blades. It’s an awful topic. I went there for two weeks and it was a horrible trip. I even went to one of the events where they had 100 girls who were tortured there and I heard them scream and it was really awful, but it was important. 

Fortunately, BR broadcasted my report, it was a half an hour report which is really long. I won a media award for it. When I won this award at a big ceremony in Berlin with the wife of the German Chancellor, I had to give a speech. I said, ‘I would like to encourage other radio stations to air my report,’ because I had tried to sell it to other stations inside the ARD and they refused, because they said they would lose listeners, as it was so disgusting and so tough. I said ‘please now, as we have this big crowd here, think about it again.’

Image: Bernd-Uwe Gutknecht