In mid-career, at age 50, he began his theological studies, first in Chicago, then in Boston. During these studies, Siemon-Netto freelanced as a magazine correspondent. At the time of the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and Germany's subsequent reunification, he served, concurrently with his academic work, as an editorial consultant and—as independent contractor—executive editor for "Bild", launching its East German editions, helping plan newspapers for Leipzig and Dresden, training Eastern German journalists, and developing a new curriculum for Journalistenschule Axel Springer.