piqd: 'Like the start up version of our studies'

We are so exited to share that Frederik Fischer (Mundus Journalism alumne 2009-11) has launched a new start up - CONGRATULATIONS! Please find an introduction and a call for contributors below:

"Dear colleagues,

My startup piqd is going international and is looking for (paid) experts (i.e. you).

What is piqd? 
The idea is really simple: Experts in various fields recommend an outstanding piece of journalism once per week and accompany their recommendations by a short review, mainly summarizing the core arguments and (implicitly) answering the question „why should the readers care?“.

The bigger vision:
Social media is great at many things. Providing users with reliable information is not one of them. In that regard we see piqd as an alternative to facebook. There’s no hate, no hassle, no fake news. Just our piqers recommending and commenting on the best journalism they find online. And our readers who appreciate exactly that.

What’s it do to with the Mundus Journalism community?
First of all, around half of our experts are Mundus-Alumni. Then also the idea itself is very much influenced by my experiences during the program. The fact that hardly any outlet invests in foreign reporting anymore, narrows down our world view to a dangerous extent. The Mundus experience helped me understand the value of all the perspectives, voices and narratives that are unheard in western media. piqd is our humble attempt to provide a global perspective on the topics we cover. It’s sort of the startup version of our studies.

Who we are looking for:
Good writers with expert knowledge in at least one field (Politics, economy, climate change, health, technology). If that’s you please send me a mail (frederik.fischer@piqd.de), mentioning your field of expertise and one sample article you’d recommend. Furthermore we'd need a CV or a link to your online portfolio, twitter or personal website.

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Best
F" 

For more information about piqd, visit the website: www.piqd.com and additionally, read media commentary about the initiative on journalism.co.uk and European Journalism Observatory.

Image: Screenshot from piqd.com