--- title: "Media — reportage and working with images" author: "Jakub Ćwirlej" id: media language: en url: "https://jakubcwirlej.com/articles/media.md" page: "https://jakubcwirlej.com/" translations: pl: "https://jakubcwirlej.com/pl/articles/media.md" fr: "https://jakubcwirlej.com/fr/articles/media.md" nl: "https://jakubcwirlej.com/nl/articles/media.md" updated: 2026-10-14 words: 453 summary: "Jakub Ćwirlej explains why he values working with images, which he says speak a universal language. He describes nearly two decades of reportages and documentary pieces for Polish current-affairs programmes, in which he handled the whole production himself, and his aim of giving a voice to people who have none. He links his curiosity about the world to the way his reporting toolkit moved towards AI-based tools." summary_type: editorial --- # Media — reportage and working with images Jakub Ćwirlej · text language: EN · 453 words ## Summary (editorial) Jakub Ćwirlej explains why he values working with images, which he says speak a universal language. He describes nearly two decades of reportages and documentary pieces for Polish current-affairs programmes, in which he handled the whole production himself, and his aim of giving a voice to people who have none. He links his curiosity about the world to the way his reporting toolkit moved towards AI-based tools. ## Key points (editorial) - He made hundreds of reportages and documentary pieces for programmes such as Magazyn Ekspresu Reporterów, Alarm, Telekurier and Reporterzy. - He started as a journalist in a news department and became an all-round filmmaker responsible for research, camera work, interviews, writing, editing and post-production. - In his account, public-interest journalism means meeting people in crisis; one example is his series on sinkholes after the Olkusz-Pomorzany mine closed. - Field work under time pressure taught him fast problem-solving, pragmatism and self-reliance. - His curiosity led his reporting toolkit towards AI-based tools. ## Full text (the author's own words) Hi! I’m Kuba. I like telling stories that matter. Why do I value working with images so much? It’s simple. Images speak a universal language: they stir emotions and tell stories in ways words alone never can. Working behind the camera has given me a rare freedom to express myself and to shape a narrative. For nearly two decades I’ve made hundreds of reportages and documentary pieces for national current-affairs programmes in Poland, such as Magazyn Ekspresu Reporterów, Alarm, Telekurier and Reporterzy. I started out as a journalist in a news department, but I soon realised that if I wanted to make pieces that genuinely hold a viewer, I had to become an all-round filmmaker who understands every aspect of the television craft. That’s why I don’t confine myself to a single role. I’m responsible for the whole production process: from meticulous research, through camera work, interviews and writing, to the final edit and post-production. My approach is a blend of a love for the visual arts and a stubborn determination to tell stories that have a real impact on the world. It isn’t only about holding a camera, cutting a neat edit or asking hard questions — it’s about using images to build a connection, to engage people and to make them stop and think. In my reportages I tried to give a voice to people who, day to day, have none at all. Public-interest journalism is largely about meeting people in crisis — people powerless against a heartless bureaucratic machine, or struggling with the dramatic effects of environmental degradation. A good example is my series of reportages on sinkholes and on the enormous social costs that fell overnight on a local community after the Olkusz-Pomorzany mine closed. Yet the unforgiving world of public-interest journalism taught me more than empathy: it also taught me to solve problems in an instant, and a brutal pragmatism. Working in the field, often under enormous time pressure and in unpredictable conditions, forced me to become completely self-reliant. Then again, it is precisely this independence that gives me the most freedom: it lets me tell a story from A to Z. I’ve always been driven by plain curiosity about the world. We live in extraordinarily interesting times, which means you can’t stand still: you have to keep developing, test your assumptions and go on relearning everything from scratch. I treat that as a challenge, one in which new technologies are a powerful ally. It was this hunger for knowledge that led my reporting toolkit to evolve, quite naturally, towards AI-based tools. Today I am looking for new challenges where media and technology meet – where a reporter’s experience and hands-on knowledge of AI add up to more than either alone. ## Related texts - [About Me](https://jakubcwirlej.com/articles/about-me.md) - [My approach to work](https://jakubcwirlej.com/articles/approach.md) - [AI in journalism](https://jakubcwirlej.com/articles/ai-journalism.md) --- Jakub Ćwirlej — Journalist who builds with AI · on the site: https://jakubcwirlej.com/ Full context: https://jakubcwirlej.com/context/en.md · https://jakubcwirlej.com/llms.txt