About Us
We are Swantje and Peter, and we are the founders of unlock - the platform for quality journalism. Because good journalism deserves to look good. And paywalls shouldn't prevent anyone from getting diverse and well-founded information.
There's no shortage of texts, audio, and video. However, anyone who wants to dive deeper than a social media tile and moves beyond public broadcasters must search for journalism between ads or become a subscriber. Sometimes both. Many cannot or do not want to afford multiple subscriptions. And at the latest, the third newspaper subscription is like the gym membership that you visit once a year. You could if you wanted to, but there's never time.
That's why unlock exists.
With us, you can create your own news feed from a variety of media brands - either with just one subscription or by buying each article individually. This way, you can read, listen, and watch what really interests you. Don't worry: We'll regularly pull you out of your self-built bubble and offer you content you didn't search for but still need.
We license content directly from publishers, media houses, journalists, and content creators. Usually, we don't offer the complete portfolio of a brand; for that, there are the publishers' own offerings.
Are you a publisher and want to become a partner? Here's all the information.Why do we do this?
Because journalism is important to us.
Independent journalism is important for all of us. For a functioning democracy, it's crucial that journalism not only exists but is also actively used. That's why we give it a platform and give you the opportunity to shape it.
Swantje has worked in various editorial offices for more than 20 years, was editor-in-chief, newsroom manager, and local editor. Peter is a serial entrepreneur, including the e-book platform Readfy, and has shaped the startup ecosystem in NRW with 1stMOVER and the Digital Innovation Hub Düsseldorf/Rheinland in recent years.