Jochen Bendele (*1952) was an editor in the local section of the daily newspaper “Kleine Zeitung” for over 20 years, before that at Austria’s first private radio station “Antenna Austria Süd”, two years at ORF Carinthia (TV and radio) and editorial staff at “Der Standard”. He is a lecturer for the subject “Newspaper Internship” at the Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, supports “Newspaper in School” projects and is often on duty as a moderator. Thomas Cik (*1983) is a member of the editorial board of the daily newspaper “Kleine Zeitung” in Carinthia. He grew bilingual in Southern Carinthia and studied law in Graz and Palma. He started his career as a journalist at the age of 15 with the Kleine Zeitung, the news magazine “profil” and the “antenna Styria”. Cik is a lecturer for journalistic writing at the Karl-Franzens-University of Graz. In 2016 he published the biographical interview book “Heinz Stritzl, the Zeitzeuge”. Peter Fritz (*1961) is Head of the ORF international office in Brussels, previously he worked more than two decades as ORF correspondent in Bonn, Berlin and Washington, from 2003 to 2007 he was the Head of “Zeit im Bild abroad”. Peter Fritz studied German and history at the University of Vienna. At this time he also worked for the newspaper “Kleine Zeitung” and from 1982 in the Regional Studio Carinthia. From 1985 to 1986 he worked at “Radio Austria International”, and then in the domestic editorial. Numerous missions as a special correspondent made him known (the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, the crisis in Albania) all over Austria. Michael Paul (*1968) is a management consultant, interim manager and expert for the preparation of going concern forecasts and company valuations. He is the author of numerous publications on economic topics and lectures at several universities. He completed his studies in economics at the Ruhr University Bochum, with a focus on strategic management, marketing, regional economic policy and economic history. Claus Reitan (*1954) is a professor, journalist, author and speaker. His major issues and priorities are politics, society, migration, integration and sustainability. Claus Reitan was chief editor of the weekly newspaper Die FURCHE and of the Tiroler Tageszeitung, editor at NEWS and founding chief editor of “Österreich”. As a member of the editor’s association Reitan was co-founder of the new Austrian Press Council. He is co-editor of the manual “Practical Journalism”, engaged in training for journalism (professional ethics and quality journalism), initiated in cooperation with the Integration Fund and Trustees for Journalism Education the seminar series “Flight, Migration and Integration”. Numerous publications: “Society in Transition – change of perspective for Austria” (2014), “Franz Schausberger – politician, historian, European” (2015), “The new population movements – causes of migration” (Fall 2016). Sonja Sagmeister (*1975) has been lORF correspondent at the EU and NATO in Brussels for a long time. Now she works in the business section of “Zeit im Bild”. She studied in Graz languages and journalism and was appointed as Special Rapporteur about the euro’s introduction in the business section of the “Zeit im Bild”. Later she focused on social and economic reports on EU enlargement. Sagmeister is also known for her investigative reports on the topics like money laundering and the Amis-investors scandal. In collaboration with the German economist Daniel Gros she published the nonfiction “Nachkriegszeiten” in 2010. Renata Schmidt-Kunz (*1964) is a journalist and Protestant theologian. She has been working as an editor, filmmaker and presenter at ORF in Vienna since 1990. She has been in charge of the Ö1 series “Im Talk” since 2013. She was a co-initiator of the referendum for a welfare state in Austria and deals with contemporary historical, cultural, philosophical and theological issues in her documentary films and radio broadcasts. In her book “Heavenly Free”, published in 2019, she creates a contemporary reading of the transcendence of life as a resource for self-determination and resistance. Mathilde Schwabeneder (*1956) is an author, radio and TV journalist. From 2007 to 2020 she was ORF correspondent in Rome and responsible for reporting from Italy, the Vatican and Malta. From 1992 to 1995 she worked in the German-language editorial department of Radio Vatican, from 1995 for the ORF in Vienna with a focus on religious issues. In 2018 she received the Human Rights Award of the State of Upper Austria. Leopold Stollwitzer (*1958) was a Political Analyst at the US Embassy in Vienna from 1986 to 2022 and has been a lecturer in Business Ethics and Cross-Cultural Communication at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences since 1999. He is currently Executive President of Club Carinthia, board member of the International Christine Lavant Society and the Vienna Academy Orchestra, and founder and director of the private aid organization Hope for Ugandan Lives/Hope-f-u-l (since 2008). Born in Carinthia, he studied American Studies and Romance Studies in Vienna, International Relations in Cambridge (UK) and Perugia (Italy).
