Lea Thies

After graduating from high school, Lea Thies completed her journalism traineeship (Volontariat) at the Deister- und Weserzeitung in Hameln, during which she also managed the local youth magazine "UnKRAUT." She has been an editor at the Augsburger Allgemeine since 2001. In the Aichach local newsroom, she designed and spearheaded the youth page "Klartext," which was subsequently rolled out across all local editions. After a stint as a police and features reporter in the Augsburg local newsroom, she moved to London to study Global Politics at Birkbeck College (University of London), graduating with a master’s degree. Upon her return, she worked in the "Journal and Culture" department, where she was also responsible for the daily children's page "Capito." In December 2021, she took over as head of the Günter Holland Journalism School (GHJS), where she completely restructured the traineeship program and significantly expanded the curriculum. Today, trainees (Volos) from the Augsburger Allgemeine, Allgäuer Zeitung, Main-Post, and Südkurier learn together in joint seminars. Her team also designed and implemented a mental health concept for the newsrooms of the Augsburger Allgemeine. Recently, the GHJS’s collaborative fact-checking project was honored with the WAN-IFRA Digital Media Award: "Augsburg checkt's" is now recognized as Europe's best regional initiative combating disinformation.