After receiveing my degree in journalism at JMG, University of Gothenburg, in 2012, I worked as a researcher with Laika Film & Television, conducting investigative journalism for the SVT program "Dokument inifrån". Then I started working as a reporter at the Swedish Broadcasting Company, with both local and national news programs. In recent years I've been focusing on longer stories and documentaries for the radio. For a few years, as a freelancer, mostly for SR, and now as a full-time employee at Soundtelling.
Since 2016 I run the non-profit association Min Mic together with freelance journalist Lasse Edfast. Through the association we teach youth from the Gothenburg area Hisingen about radio, journalism and democracy to give them the means to tell their stories. Read more about the project (in Swedish) on: Min Mic.
For inquiries about lectures on journalism and dramaturgy, see contact info below.
I have also been taking on assignments as a fixer in Sweden for international media.
Story for the newspaper Göteborgs-Posten about Mahfouz Ould al-Walid, former mufti in al Qaeda and personal spiritual advisor of Osama bin Laden, who was once chased by the US but now lives freely in the open in Mauritania.
Published in 2020. Full story, in Swedish, here: Här lever Usama bin Ladins rådgivare Mahfouz Ould al-Walid i frihet
Story for Svenska Dagbladet about heart transplanted William, whose family is used to live close to death and to whom social distancing has been part of life since before the pandemic.
Published in 2020. Full story, in Swedish, here: Pandemins oväntade följder för hjärtsjuke William
I mainly work with the longer documentary format but also with shorter stories for the radio. Most of the work I do is for the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, Sveriges Radio.
2021
For P3 Dokumentär. For over a year the 52 14-year-olds have been excited about the ski trip. But they never arrive in Klövsjö. Early in the morning on the 2nd of April in 2017, the double-decker bus ran off a narrow road in Härjedalen. A story about bottomless grief, the challenges faced by emergency medical responders in rural Sweden and the safety of our roads. https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/1679006
2020
For P1 Dokumentär. About the effects of the pandemic on a rural community in Sweden. A conspiracy theorist who doesn't believe the virus to be dangerous but still delivers groceries to those who have self-isolated. A man who fears the loneliness and a priest and his wife who hopes the pandemic will make people realize the benefits of living in the countryside. https://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt/1568716?programid=909
2020
For P3 Dokumentär. https://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt/1460350?programid=2519
2018
For P3 Dokumentär. About one of Europes most notorious refugee smugglers. https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/1185129
2017
For P3 Dokumentär. About one of the most disastrous fires in Swedish modern history in 1978. When students celebrating graduation gets caught in a fire at a club. https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/938141
2017
For P3 Dokumentär. About the accident in 1987 when two passenger trains collide at full speed. https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/881595
2016
For P3 Dokumentär. About what happens in a tiny rural village when one of the "bad boys" kills a young girl when he hits her with his cross bike. https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/790931
2016
For P3 Dokumentär. About a murder mystery that will take unusual turns in the Swedish judicial system and become the the break through for the organization Missing People. https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/721186
2016
For P1 Dokumentär. About an amfetamin addict and dealer trying to go clean and become a better father to his kids. https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/682932
2019-05
2018-08
2018-07
2018-01
+4670– three nine six eight three one nine
maria.hansson.botin@soundtelling.com
maria.hansson.botin@gmail.com
Find my public encryption key at: pgp.mit.edu. Email address for encrypted email: maria.hansson.botin@gmail.com