Axel Springer teams up with Snap to launch Jobjektiv

Axel Springer has teamed up with Snap Inc. to launch Jobjektiv, a new video show with augmented reality content designed to provide guidance to young people navigating the rapidly changing world of careers. The project is part of a global partnership between Axel Springer and Snap Inc. aimed at developing innovative storytelling formats and preparing a new generation of media creators for the challenges and opportunities of the digital world.

Along with industry insiders such as investor Frank Thelen and other experts, the format provides insights into various career paths and evaluates their future viability. The storytelling is enhanced by an augmented reality lens that offers additional information on salaries, working hours, and education.

Jobjektiv was developed by journalism and tech students at the Axel Springer Academy, who are taught the basics of AR storytelling and production as part of their unique curriculum and through the collaboration with Snap. Thanks to Snap’s AR technology, users’ faces change in entertaining ways throughout the experience, creating fun content to share with friends.

Steven Plöger, Head of Immersive News, Axel Springer Academy of Journalism and Technology, said: “Our partnership with Snap takes journalism to a new level. The goal of the collaboration between young journalists and tech experts is to go far beyond individual stories. With our content, we shape experiences and strengthen the community.”

Suzy Cox, Head of Media Partnerships, EMEA at Snap Inc., added: “It is our common mission to support the next generation of journalists in finding new and engaging ways to tell relevant stories. We are excited to see how successfully the students of the Axel Springer Academy have integrated augmented reality into their work, thus transforming ‘storytelling’ into ‘storyliving’.”

The collaboration between the Axel Springer Academy and training in the field of augmented reality is a key pillar of the global partnership between Snap and Axel Springer, which has been in place since May 2022 to strengthen independent digital journalism worldwide.

Several projects have already emerged from the co-operation, including ‘Mind Stories’, which deals with mental health, and ‘It’s Kosher Habibi’, which highlights friendships between Jews and Muslims and was awarded the European Newspaper Award in the Multimedia Storytelling category in 2023.