A newsletter magazine in which sustainable products are screened in an investigative way. Afterwards, the community can decide whether it is a flip or a flop. The founders Christian Salewski and Felix Rohrbeck have a background in journalism and have worked for media such as DIE ZEIT, ARD Panorama and STRG_F in recent years. Co-founders Christian and Dominik Sothmann, on the other hand, come from the business world with a focus on new business models and digital strategies. Together they are now practising business journalism and thus show sustainability from a completely new perspective. In an interview with Haus von Eden, you can learn all about the idea for the modern format.
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Flip founder team
Why did you decide to found Flip?
We founded Flip because there are so many people who want a different, better economy. One that doesn't destroy and exploit, fuel climate change and concentrate wealth among the few, but solves problems. However, when it comes to what one can do oneself to contribute to such an economy, many are at a loss - and have the feeling that they can't change anything on their own anyway. This is where we come in with Flip. We research what really helps - and what is just greenwashing.
What is special about Flip and how do you differ from other platforms?
We started last autumn as a newsletter magazine. You can subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter for free on our homepage. In each issue, we present a very concrete idea that should contribute to a better economy. This can be an initiative, a product or a petition. We take a close look at these ideas, talk to the creators, but also to independent experts. In the end, our readers decide: Is the idea a flip or a flop? That means: we research, really carefully and, if in doubt, for several weeks. We leave the evaluation to the Flip community. This mixture of investigative, solution-oriented and participatory journalism has never been seen before in Germany.
What exactly is "investigative journalism" and why is it so important in the area of sustainability?
Investigative journalism means doing extensive research and bringing things to light that would otherwise have remained in the dark. In the field of sustainability, this is important from our point of view, because many companies today present themselves as sustainable, but consumers can hardly tell: What really helps? And what is just marketing?
How do you determine the topics for the Flip newsletter?
In the beginning, we decided on the topics ourselves. But now we also get a lot of ideas from our readers. That helps us a lot. Because of course we don't get to see everything. And there are really great, smart people in our community who have been dealing with the topic of sustainability for much longer than we have. We also live from their expertise.
What is the Flip score all about?
We do the research, the community decides: That is the principle of Flip. Each idea is rated by our readers on a scale from 1 to 10. The Flip score is the result of these ratings. The combination of investigative journalism and a strong community creates a new approach to measuring the quality of ideas for a better economy. In best cases, this leads to more orientation and impact. Small, good ideas become big. And big bullshit is also named as such.
What can we expect from you in the future?
Our first, really big research will start soon. I can't reveal much yet. Only this much: it's about sneakers. Apart from that, Flip will be based on three pillars. The basis for us are reliable facts. That's why we do careful and critical journalism. Based on this, we want to bundle the power of consumers in a strong community. That is the second pillar. And finally, we want to develop innovative solutions for a better economy together with our users. We don't yet know exactly what these solutions will look like. But that's what makes it really exciting.
Here you can register for the Flip magazine newsletter
