Time for Local Heroes

Mayors and local politicians work in cities andmunicipalities to stabilise the very basis of democracy- no matter the political party. Most of the time theywork on a voluntary basis and almost always with highstakes. But they don’t get enough recognition and praisefor their work. On the contrary. They’re often attackedand threatened. BR and rbb Reporters observed andasked: Why do they go through with it? What inspiresthem to keep on going despite the threats on social media(SoMe) and physical attacks? And why are there moremayors called Thomas than female mayors overall? As across-media team, we want to reach as many people aspossible through different publications (Radio, TV, SoMe).We succeded: via TV screens alone, we reached 6.9 M.viewers. We narrate the little challenges the ‘Heroes ofDemocracy’ face every day, pointing to virulent issues,like climate change, diversity, female engagement inpolitics, municipalities’ financial struggles.Available on ARD Mediathek, broadcast on ARDMittagsmagazin. Documentary: https://www.ardmediathek.de/sendung/zeit-fuer-local-heroes/staffel-1/Y3JpZDovL2Rhc2Vyc3RlLmRlL2xvY2FsLWhlcm9lcw/1/Podcast: https://www.radioeins.de/archiv/podcast/local_heroes.html Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zeit.fuer.local.heroes/