With our video series Augsburger Allgemeine Original, we aimed to engage our audience with important stories that matter — regionally and beyond. Our latest video documentary, “In Prison – The Scandal,” which exposes human rights violations in one of Bavaria’s most modern prisons, has become the most successful video production in our newsroom’s history.

This documentary is the fifth installment in the Augsburger Allgemeine Original series. We launched the format in 2021 with a four-part series on the Fuggerei, the world’s oldest existing social housing complex.

Since then, we’ve produced one or two documentaries per year, each covering topics that are relevant and compelling to people in and around Augsburg. With “In Prison,” we elevated our storytelling through an exclusive investigation that gained national attention.

Uncovering abuse

In October 2023, we became the first camera team to gain exclusive access to JVA Gablingen, one of Germany’s most modern prisons. The footage revealed the strange power structures inside the prison.

A year later, the investigative work of the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper was instrumental in bringing the Gablingen prison scandal to the public. On October 25, 2024, our investigative team uncovered the allegations based on an anonymous tip and was the first media brand to report exclusively on the case.

At the centre of the investigation were the so-called “BgH” units — high-security basement cells intended for extreme cases. According to our findings, some inmates were allegedly held in these cells for unlawfully extended periods, at times naked, without mattresses, and potentially deprived of adequate food and water.

To date, prosecutors and state investigators are examining the case. Seventeen individuals — among them the former deputy director and the long-time head of the facility — have been suspended or removed from their positions.

In December 2024, we released our investigative video documentary. To deepen the narrative, part of our team travelled to Kosovo to interview a former prisoner. The documentary also featured footage from press events with the Ministry of Justice and statements from the legal team of the suspended officials.

Engagement and public response

The response to the “In Prison” documentary highlights the public’s hunger for impactful investigative journalism. Over 550,000 people read the exclusive research in our print edition alone.

On social media, the freely accessible videos from Augsburger Allgemeine Original were viewed more than 250,000 times across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

One particularly memorable aspect of the project was the opportunity for direct audience engagement. We hosted exclusive live screenings of the documentary on big screen. These cinema events gave attendees the chance not only to watch the film, but also to speak directly with the journalists and filmmakers behind the series.

As a multimedia news organisation, we strive to reach our audience across all platforms. With Augsburger Allgemeine Original, we’ve developed a format that blends storytelling, journalism, and accessibility.

The success of “In Prison” demonstrates that when investigative journalism is combined with innovative multimedia storytelling, it not only informs but also inspires dialogue, both locally and nationally.

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