Stern Investigativ’s cross-media Inside Tesla story from 2023, which exposes corruption at Elon Musk’s gigafactory outside Berlin, received first place at the 2024 Helmut Schmidt Journalism Awards and second place at the Otto Brenner Awards. The Otto Brenner Award was presented on 12 November 2024, followed by the Helmut Schmidt Award on 13 November, which journalists Marc Neller, Tina Kaiser, Christian Esser, Manka Heise and Isa von Heyl accepted on behalf of the entire team.

The Otto Brenner jury said: “Inside Tesla is an investigative deep dive into the dazzling realm of Elon Musk. The journalists scratched at the image of the idiosyncratic US entrepreneur and showed the detrimental consequences of unchecked capitalism for employees.” The jury also praised the cross-media aspect – the report was broadcast on flagship channel RTL, published in Stern magazine with extensive accompanying stories on stern.de, and available as a five-part podcast on RTL+ and other podcast platforms.

The Helmut Schmidt jury said: “In a highly sensitive investigation, the Stern Investigativ team manages to infiltrate the strictly sealed-off world of the Tesla gigafactory in Brandenburg. The team uncovers new, previously unknown health and safety issues, as well as violations of labour law and environmental regulations. The role of politicians and authorities is also critically examined in podcasts, articles and a film documentary.”

Launched in 2023, Stern Investigativ is a cross-media format from RTL Deutschland that uses in-depth research to expose abuses in business, politics and society. Stern Investigativ received €15,000 for the Helmut Schmidt Award and €5,000 for the Otto Brenner Award.

Honouring a life’s work

Günter Wallraff, the 82-year-old investigative journalist behind RTL Deutschland’s Team Wallraff format, was honoured with a special award of €10,000 at the Otto Brenner Awards. They jury described Günter as a “legend” who has “written German and European history with his research, reports and books.” When reporting on repression in companies and dictatorships, Günter suffered for his work – “he was wiretapped, followed and tortured as a political prisoner,” explained the jury. He has also been “praised, honoured and celebrated” as “one of the greats of journalism,” concluded the jury.