Correctiv

Correctiv
Founded2014
FounderDavid Schraven
TypeNon-profit
PurposeInvestigative journalism
LocationBerlin, Germany; Essen, Germany
Region served
Abuse of power, corruption, environment, education, health, social justice, right-wing extremism, religious extremism
MethodFoundation and member supported
Key people
David Schraven (publisher), David Crawford (senior reporter)
Employees70
Volunteers>500
Websitecorrectiv.org/en

Correctiv (self-styled CORRECT!V) is a German nonprofit investigative journalism newsroom based in Essen and Berlin. It is run by CORRECTIV – Recherchen für die Gesellschaft gemeinnützige GmbH ("CORRECTIV – Investigations for the Society (Non-profit company with limited liability)"), which also runs the online journalism academy Reporterfabrik.

Its stated goals are to provide free, independent journalism accessible to everyone. Furthermore, the collective aims to counter disinformation to strengthen democratic structures.

Correctiv counts more than 70 employees and associates and states to be the first nonprofit investigative center in Germany due to being exclusively financed by donations and fundings since 2014. The collective describes itself as an organization that is "one of the many answers to the media crisis." Correctiv publishes reports in multiple languages beside German including Arabic, English, French, Russian and Turkish, via its website and partner outlets.

History

Correctiv was initiated in January 2014 by the charitable organization "Correctiv – Recherchen für die Gesellschaft" ("Correctiv – Research for Society") based in Essen with an initial financial support by the Brost Foundation with a grant of €1 million per year for three years.

In 2017 Reporterfabrik, an independent journalism school was founded partly by people from the Correctiv collective. Correctiv continues to host and closely work with Reporterfabrik.

Correctiv.Lokal, a network for joint research by local journalists, bloggers and experts, was launched in August 2018 together with the Rudolf Augstein Foundation.

In May 2020, the Salon5 youth editorial team was founded with the support of the Ruhr Conference of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia and the RAG Foundation.

In January 2024, Correctiv published a report on a gathering of far-right extremists in Potsdam, a meeting held at the Villa Adlon on Lake Lehnitz on November 25, 2023. Both the revelations in the report and the connections between the far-right AfD party and other right-wing extremists sparked a widespread wave of outrage and condemnation among numerous representatives from the worlds of politics, business, and culture. The report on the meeting sparked massive protests against right-wing extremism across Germany, in which approximately one million people nationwide participated over the weekend of January 20–21, 2024.

In 2025, Correctiv was designated as an undesirable organization in Russia. This will result in the media outlet's activities being banned in Russia and cooperation between Russian citizens and the outlet being criminalized.

Organization

Correctiv is a member of the International Fact-Checking Network.

Funding

Correctiv is a nonprofit organization and exempt from taxation under German law. The funding comes largely from establishment foundations and corporations, such as the Open Society Foundations, Google Germany GmbH, and German Telekom, as well as membership fees and donations from the users and readers. All donations of more than €1000 are listed on the website. Despite depending on establishment foundations and corporations for most of its funding, Correctiv claims to be "nonprofit, independent and investigative".

Press research in 2026 showed that the activists continued to receive government funding from the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth through the "Demokratie leben!" program. In 2025/2026 €280,991 were allocated by the Ministry for a Corretiv-run "anti desinformation" project aimed at children.

Board of directors

David Schraven is the publisher and Jeannette Gusko the executive director.

Editorial stance

Correctiv wants "to make investigative and informative journalism affordable and accessible to media organizations throughout Germany."

Reports/Publications

Correctiv reported amongst other things on

Flight MH17

Correctiv described the Flight MH17 as one of the greatest war crimes of modern times. Over several months it gathered facts, investigated in eastern Ukraine and Russia, and found witnesses to the missile launch, unveiled a clear chain of evidence that MH17 was downed by a BUK missile ground-launched by a unit of the Russian 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade from Kursk. The brigade unit operated in mid July on Ukrainian territory without displaying national emblems. Correctivs handling of the question whether German authorities failed to warn airlines, which included projecting personal accusations against Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the building of the German Foreign Ministry and threatening him with a related personal lawsuit drew public scrutiny and raised questions whether Correctiv was engaging in journalism or campaigning.

In January 2024, Correctiv published a report titled "Secret Plan Against Germany" (German: "Geheimplan gegen Deutschland") that described a meeting between AfD and CDU members and far-right elements to plan a program of forced "re-migration" of immigrants and others considered undesirable. The report led to mass demonstrations in Germany against AfD.

The Hamburg Regional Court issued an injunction at the request of Ulrich Vosgerau against a passage in the report, concerning an alleged statement by Vosgerau regarding election challenge complaints. Correctiv had misquoted Vosgerau by claiming that he considered mass complaints to be promising. The court ruled that Correctiv could not prove the accuracy of the quote and sided with Vosgerau. The application was rejected with regard to two other statements. Vosgerau then filed with the Berlin II Regional Court, who ruled that these statements were untrue factual assertions or, at the very least, "arbitrarily fabricated" expressions of opinion.

In March 2026, the Berlin II Regional Court upheld a lawsuit filed by AfD politician Gerrit Huy and prohibited Correctiv from publishing statements about the Potsdam meeting. Among these was the statement that the meeting concerned a "master plan for the expulsion of German citizens." The Berlin II Regional Court classified this statement as an untrue statement of fact, since the meeting in Potsdam did not concern "expulsions."

However, earlier court verdicts contradict the March 2026 ruling. For instance, the Hamburg Regional Court classified the statement as an expression of opinion in December 2025. If the statements are classified as expressions of opinion, there are broader protections for Correctiv's publications.

Correctiv appealed the ruling, pointing to the role of nationalist euphemisms within the New Right and arguing that it is the task of journalistic analysis to decipher and contextualize these euphemisms. The Berlin Press Chamber failed to recognize the significance of these euphemisms.

In August of 2026 a Berlin court provisionally ruled that Correctiv must not use distorted and shortened quotes to imply that former Defense Minister zu Guttenberg supported a punctual cooperation between conservatives and right-wing populists. Correctiv previously had to correct the article multiple times, amend a reply by zu Guttenberg and accepted 8 cease-and-desist letters.

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Impressum – Reporterfabrik" (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  2. ↑ "Über uns". Correctiv.org. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "About Correctiv". Corrrectiv. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  4. ↑ "Unser Team". Correctiv.org. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  5. ↑ Caroline O'Donovan (17 July 2014). "Germany is getting a data-centric nonprofit newsroom and hoping to build new models for news". NiemanLab. Harvard University. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  6. ↑ "Reporterfabrik". Reporterfabrik.org. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  7. ↑ "Correctiv gründet Netzwerk für kollaborativen Lokaljournalismus" (PDF). correctiv.org. 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  8. ↑ "Correctiv startet Jugendredaktion "Salon5"". correctiv.org (in German). 2020-05-14. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  9. ↑ Correctiv: Geheimplan gegen Deutschland
  10. ↑ Нежелательные организации пополнились 10 октября
  11. ↑ Humprecht, Edda (2020-03-15). "How Do They Debunk 'Fake News'? A Cross-National Comparison of Transparency in Fact Checks" (PDF). Digital Journalism. 8 (3): 310–327. doi:10.1080/21670811.2019.1691031. ISSN 2167-0811.
  12. ↑ "Finances". correctiv.org. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  13. ↑ "Trotz „Masterplan"-Debakel: Weiter Steuergeld für „Correctiv"". focus.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  14. ↑ "Board". Correctiv. Archived from the original on 2016-08-04. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  15. ↑ "The System Of Putin". correctiv.org. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  16. ↑ "Das TTIP-Dossier". correctiv.org (in German). 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  17. ↑ "Fllug MH17 | MH17 – Hauptgeschichte – English". Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  18. ↑ "Correctiv –– Recherchen für die Gesellschaft". correctiv.org. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  19. ↑ "Weisse Wölfe – correctiv.org". weisse-woelfe-comic.de. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  20. 1 2 "Who gets money from judges and prosecutors?". correctiv.org. 2014-09-15. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  21. ↑ "Restituiti villa e denaro all'imprenditore Pelliccioni". correctiv.org (in German). 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  22. ↑ "Deadly Superbugs". correctiv.org. 2014-11-27. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  23. ↑ "Doping in football". correctiv.org. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  24. ↑ "generatione.correctiv.org | Generation E – Hauptgeschichte – English" (in German). Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  25. ↑ "Correctiv | Couchsurfing" (in German). Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  26. ↑ "Business Cheats". correctiv.org. 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  27. ↑ "Das Olivenöl-Kartell |" (in German). Archived from the original on 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  28. ↑ "Correctiv – Investigative. Independent. Non-profit". cumex-files.com. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  29. ↑ "Grand Theft Europe - A cross-border investigation". correctiv.org. 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  30. ↑ "Flight MH17". Correctiv. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  31. ↑ ""Correctiv" und MH17 – eine Analyse". WIR!. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-21.
  32. ↑ Fromm, Anne; Metzger, Reiner (2015-04-14). "Klage gegen Auswärtiges Amt: Bei Schweigen Projektor". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
  33. ↑ Beitzer, Hannah (2015-07-15). "Ein Jahr Recherchebüro "Correctiv" - Neuer Journalismus". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 2026-08-26.
  34. ↑ "Secret plan against Germany". correctiv.org. 2024-01-15. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  35. ↑ "Geheimplan gegen Deutschland". correctiv.org (in German). 2024-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  36. ↑ "Germany sees second day of large protests against far right – DW – 01/21/2024". dw.com. Retrieved 2024-01-21.
  37. ↑ "LG Hamburg: Correctiv muss nur wenig ändern". Legal Tribune Online (in German). Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  38. ↑ "Unterlassungsantrag gegen Correctiv-Berichterstattung nur teilweise erfolgreich". Retrieved 2025-01-07.
  39. ↑ "LG Berlin II: Vosgerau siegt im Hauptverfahren gegen Correctiv". Legal Tribune Online (in German). Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  40. ↑ LG Berlin II, Urteil vom 17. März 2026, Az. 27 O 379/25, veröffentlicht bei aufrecht.de.
  41. ↑ LG Berlin II, Pressemitteilung vom 17.03.2026 zum Urteil vom 17. März 2026, Aktenzeichen 27 O 379/25.
  42. ↑ Felix W. Zimmermann (2026-03-18). "Correctiv verliert Streit um Kernaussage in Potsdam-Bericht". Legal Tribune Online (in German). Retrieved 2026-04-15.
  43. ↑ "Martin Sellner, die AfD und der Rechtsstreit um völkische Tarnbegriffe". Correctiv. Retrieved 2026-04-17.
  44. ↑ "„Vernichtendes Zeugnis" – Correctiv verliert vor Gericht wegen Berichterstattung über zu Guttenberg - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 2026-08-26.
  45. ↑ "Gericht: Correctiv hat zu Guttenberg in Sachen Brandmauer verkürzt, verzerrend und damit falsch zitiert". FAZ.NET (in German). 2026-08-20. Retrieved 2026-08-26.
  46. ↑ Begründung der Jury 19 December 2014, retrieved 19 June 2015.
  47. ↑ "Grimme Online Award 2015. Ausgezeichnete Infos und Unterhaltung". Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved November 12, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). tagesschau.de, 19 June 2015.
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  49. ↑ "Grimme Online Award 2015 – Preisträger". Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  50. ↑ "Deutscher Reporterpreis 2015: Fünf Auszeichnungen für die Zeit". Meedia GmbH & Co. KG. 2015-12-08.
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  52. ↑ Reporterpreis 2016 - Das sind die Preisträger In: Spiegel Online, 6 December 2016.
  53. ↑ "Deutscher Reporterpreis 2016 in Berlin verliehen". Reporter-Forum e. V. 2016-12-02.
  54. ↑ Medium Magazin (2016-12-23). "Das sind die Journalisten des Jahres 2016". medium magazin für Journalisten.
  55. ↑ "Die Preisträger Hauptkategorie Online Independent des Jahres". Leadacademy für Medien e. V. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  56. ↑ "Axel-Springer-Preis für "Die Tierdiebe" von Correctiv und "FAKT"". MDR Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. 2016-05-02.
  57. ↑ Marc Bartl: „Stefan Baron für sein Lebenswerk ausgezeichnet: Gabriele Fischer ist 'Wirtschaftsjournalistin des Jahres'". kress NEWS, 21 December 2016.
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  62. ↑ Pharmazeutische Zeitung online (2018-04-24). "Journalistenpreis: Platz eins für Recherche zum Zytoskandal". Mediengruppe Deutscher Apotheker GmbH.
  63. ↑ "Otto Brenner Stiftung zeichnet zum 14. Mal herausragenden Journalismus aus". 2018-10-18.
  64. ↑ "Deutsche Umwelthilfe e. V.: Die Preisträger".
  65. ↑ "Nannen Preis 2019: Das sind die Nominierten in den einzelnen Kategorien". Meedia Newsletter. Meedia GmbH & Co. KG. 2019-05-09.
  66. ↑ "Die Nannen-Preisträger 2019". Deutschlandfunk. 2019-05-28. Archived from the original on 2019-06-03.
  67. ↑ "Virtuelle Vergabe des Deutsch-Französischen Journalistenpreises (DFJP)". Deutsch-Französischer Journalistenpreis e.V. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  68. ↑ "Reporter:innen Forum". Reporter:innen-Forum e.V. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  69. ↑ "Die Preisträger 2023". Deutscher Verlagspreis. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  70. ↑ "Grimme Online Award". Grimme-Institut Gesellschaft für Medien, Bildung und Kultur mbH. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  71. ↑ "Correctiv erhält Carlo-Schmid-Preis in Mannheimer Universität" (in German). 2024-07-07. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  72. ↑ Christine Wahl (2024-09-26). "„Correctiv" erhält Albert O. Hirschman Preis 2024". nachtkritik.de. Retrieved 2024-09-30.
  73. ↑ "Correctiv". leipziger-medienstiftung.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-10-07.

Further reading