#100K: Sandra Noetzel
Hello Sandra, you are blessed to live with your family at one of the most beautiful places in Bavaria/Germany, so it sounds like the three years of the pandemic and the lockdowns due to Covid were easy for you. Tell us how you experienced this time and – looking back - is there anything that remained from this. Is there anything you´ve learned for yourself and want to take with you?
First of all, I was shocked. Shocked that a global crisis could affect us in such an extreme way and what consequences this caused for each and every one of us. I would never have dared to dream that something like this would happen. Especially not here - in Western democracies. I was shocked how quickly - even here - a free, easy living can turn into a life with restrictions, prohibitions and fundamental limitations - dictated by politics. Although we live in a democracy, I suddenly got an idea of what a repressive system feels like and what it does to you personally. I am a very freedom-loving person. I´ve learned that in particular during this time. I can follow rules. Well I support rules. But only rules that make sense to me. In the beginning, the Covid restrictions made sense, but the longer it went on, the more it became contradictory and confusing. At one point I couldn't deal with that anymore.
There are a few nice things I remember too. For example, a wonderful art-activity: painting stones and laying them along the bike path from Utting to Schondorf. That's three kilometres. During Corona, one colourful stone followed the next.
We also built two raised beds for our vegetables in our garden during Corona which are still there. And even today, my husband and I occasionally take a walk around the sports field in front of our house with a glass of wine or tea in our hands. A habit that remains from the time when that was all we were allowed to do.
All this seems light years ago. So much happened since then. Looking back I remember the solidarity between people at the very beginning of the pandemic which, unfortunately, has faded along the way.
And I particularly remember - and this impression will remain strong - how astonished I was about the reporting on Corona in the German media. I was with ARD, Germany´s public TV station, for almost 20 years, but the power of the media, and especially social media, has never been so present to me. Over-communication on all channels. In the beginning I was addicted to consuming all the information. Until it became too much.
I remember one day, I had to give up. I could not take any more. I had to reduce the news level and set myself specific times when to watch the news and when to avoid it. And then, seemingly from one day to the next it all stopped. The topic was more or less gone. Out of sight from media. No coverage. End of game. Media economy is simply a tough business. You can see that again with the war in Ukraine. Or the issue of climate change. First the media are full of it, overflowing with information and then suddenly... the next topic comes up.
What we learned so far by the way? Life goes on! Somehow it always goes on! That's what our grandparents probably thought during World War II. And that's what we have to adopt again: life goes on.
"Life goes on" is also a great motto for my next question. But I'm sure you´ll have a better answer. During your career as PR-manager, and also during your time as a marketing-manager at ARD, you always had to deliver one thing: fresh ideas. That's the deal, when "somehow working with media". We are responsible for great communication ideas to generate attention for topics and projects. So my question to you, as to all my guests: What do you need to be creative? What resources do you tap into to come up with your best ideas?
One thing is for sure: pressure doesn't work for me at all. The best ideas come to me when I'm not actually looking for them. In other words, the exact opposite of pressure. It’s like when you want to buy new clothes but can’t find anything. And if you are not actively looking for your new pair of jeans, you’ll find it. Ideas come to me when I least expect them e.g. doing sports, driving etc. Another great way to come up with “creative solutions” is the interpersonal exchange with colleagues or friends. That really inspires and motivates me and all of a sudden the idea is in the room.
Fresh ideas come from everywhere. That's why I like to browse social media like Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. I find LinkedIn particularly interesting because it gives you expertise and tips without the burden of reading a whole book on a topic.
Social media is unstructured and random. It is helpful - but it gets exhausting after a certain point. It is important to consciously build in stops. Too much can be too much. I´ve learned that painfully during the pandemic. The creative warm energy you get from social media can quickly turn into a dangerous wildfire. So be careful. A mix of creative chaos and disciplined structure is the best.
“Structure and chaos” - this describes the state of the world, right? Unfortunately, it seems that chaos is increasingly taking over. There are more and more bad news. Wars, climate crisis, inflation, right-wing populism, radicalization, cracks in society - wherever you look, crises are on the rise. And many of them are directly linked to media and communication. As communication professionals, this gives us special responsibility, don't you think? How do you personally see this and where do you see your contribution to making the world a little bit better?
Yes, these are wild times. Especially as a mom, you try to do everything right. We live as environmentally conscious as possible. We invested in a sustainable solar system on our roof and produce our own electricity. We avoid plastic as much as possible. I recently found the last two plastic bags in the basement of our house. So I try to use them as often as possible rather than throwing them away. We are raising our children to become environmentally aware. School actually does a lot to encourage that as well. At the same time, we want them to grow up to be tolerant, open-minded, polite and responsible people. There are so many issues that need to be considered and taken into account. And yet the education of children and how we behave as role models is one of the most important levers to shape a better world.
One of the biggest challenges of our times is how parents and children are dealing with the consumption of media. We need much greater efforts to train children - and adults - in dealing with media. I see my contribution here in the " SCHAU HIN!" (“Take a look”) initiative for media education, which I participated in establishing and further developing during my time at ARD.
The website www.schau-hin.info provides a wide variety of information for parents to help them deal with the media education of their children. For example, you´ll get tips what to consider when using WhatsApp and other messenger services or how to handle cyberbullying. But you’ll also find advice on how to help children deal with the disturbing images of war and crime news they may be exposed to.
Parents get pragmatic help in a field that is becoming increasingly important. If we guide our children well in dealing with modern media and help them question and assess the news, we´ll make an invaluable contribution to safeguarding our democracy in the future.
(Feel free to ask for advice and recommend: "Schau hin!" - a joint initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, the public broadcasters Das Erste and ZDF and the AOK-Bundesverband to raise awareness of children's media use).
