Programm 2023

Opening

With Kübra Gümüşay, Markus Beckedahl und Ellen Heinrichs

The grand opening of the inaugural b° future festival for journalism and constructive dialogue is here! Why is a journalism festival that gazes into the future, ignites hope, and celebrates diversity more crucial than ever, especially in times of crisis? Why are we opening the doors of much of our program to the very people we work for – our fantastic audience? Listen to what Ellen Heinrichs, Markus Beckedahl and Kübra Gümüsay have got to say!

What are the world's newsrooms doing with AI this year?

With Charlie Beckett

Prof. Charlie Beckett of the LSE's JournalismAI project gives a sneak peak at their latest global survey of 100 newsrooms around the world. He will reveal how they are responding to the latest developments in AI technology, such as ChatGTP.

Humans AND Machines: How to use AI constructively

With Charlie Beckett, Astrid Maier, Christina Elmer und Peter Damgaard-Kristensen

Generative Artificial Intelligence has taken center stage this year, sparking responses from media companies worldwide. Get ready to dive deep into the AI-human collaboration at the b° future festival!

How to create reporter mission statements & staff bios that build trust

With Nicole Ely und Lynn Walsh

Learn how to create an individual mission statement for your reporting. The Trusting News team will share data about why this is important and why it works and then walk you through how to create one and where to share it.

Building Bridges: Constructive Journalism, Threads and the Power of Community Management

With Yasmina Al-Gannabi

Why objectivity is not the future of journalism

With Martina Monti und Julius Fintelmann

Join our panel as we challenge the norms of objective journalism and explore what lies beyond objectivity. Discover how empathy can transform storytelling and gain practical insights on navigating biases and striking a balance between opinion and values when striving for fairness. We will delve into the impact of fair journalism in empowering local voices and activate a remote investigative team across Europe. This is why objectivity is not the future of journalism.

Are the kids ok?

With Diana Filimon

We often hear statistics – some bad, some good – about how Gen Z is growing up. Their values, their habits, and their understanding of what is happening will shape the world. So what is Gen Z really like? Are they anarchists? Libertarians? Socialists? Do they care about the climate change? Will they be kinder or more cruel? Will they be able to face the world as it is now? Diana Filimon will share her thoughts after over 6 years of coordinating and implementing both online and offline projects focused entirely on our youngest generation. Spoiler alert: it's complicated.

Mental Health: How to stay sane in the news business

With Irene Caselli, Lea Thies, Chiponda Chimbelu und Hannah Storm

What's the way forward to ensure that journalists can keep doing their job and staying connected with their audience during tough times?

Dealing with potentially disturbing digital content – avoiding trauma, guarding mental health

Dealing with digital content can have negative impacts on mental health. This session raises awareness about the potential of secondary trauma when doing digital investigations, and provides tips and techniques for guarding mental wellbeing.

Transition Journalism: How journalists can contribute to solving 21st century crises

With Uwe H. Martin

In the hands-on workshop "Transition Journalism," we explore what journalists can contribute to solving the crises of the 21st century when they combine constructive journalism with eco-social design approaches.

Navigating Complexity: Climate Reporting for Engaged Audiences  

With Alexandra Borchardt, Ruona Meyer, Lisa Urlbauer und Peter Schniering

The climate crisis is not only a scientific and environmental concern but a deeply interconnected challenge that touches every aspect of human life. How can journalists effectively engage our audience with the intricacies of the complex and abstract climate crisis? In this panel discussion, we will unravel hands-on approaches to bridge the gap between complex climate science and public understanding.

Focusing on human experiences and solutions, for more constructive and inclusive conflict reporting

With Méline Laffabry

How can focusing on human experiences and solutions from the ground help journalists give their audience a more accurate representation of the world?

Trauma-informed interviewing — what to consider when interviewing children, migrants and other people who have been affected by trauma

With Irene Caselli

How do journalists report ethically and effectively on children and other people who have faced traumatic events and involve them in their reporting without causing further harm? This workshop will help deepen people's understanding of what trauma is and how to do interviewing that is trauma-informed and does not retraumatise children and other survivors, creating check-lists of what to consider before, during and after an interview.

Build Trust with underrepresented Communities

With Derrick Cain und Aparna Mukherjee

How do you engage with underserved communities? Does your audience feel heard and represented? During this talk, you will learn about Resolve Philly's community engagement strategies.

Constructive Journalism at +90: Overcoming challenges and fostering engagement in Turkey

With Çağrı Özdemir, Özge Artunç, Defne Altıok und Lars Boering

Discover how +90, part of Deutsche Welle, overcame hurdles to deliver quality journalism in Turkey's challenging political landscape. At our proposed panel discussion at b° future festival, we share lessons from tackling the 2023 earthquakes and covering the recent general election. Learn about the power of constructive journalism and help shape the future of media in Turkey and beyond.

What we have learned during our fellowship at the Constructive Institute

With Nanna Holst und Jesper Himmelstrup

In Aarhus, Denmark, you can get a 10-month education as a constructive journalist. Learn more about the works and meet two former fellows from The Constructive Institute. 

Let’s create constructive charts!

With Guillermina Sutter Schneider

How can the ideas of constructive journalism be applied to data visualisation? In this workshop, you’ll learn how more context, longer timelines and fewer aggregates in data visualizations can change the way your audience looks at the world. Plus: Watch me create charts!

I’ve asked for feedback, what’s next?

With Lynn Walsh

Newsrooms are getting better at gathering feedback, but what happens next? In this session, learn best practices for: 1. Sharing what you are hearing with your newsroom 2. Determining how to act on feedback 3. Sharing your actions and results from feedback with your community.

How to diversify your newsroom

With Zahra Salah Uddin

How journalists interact with international teammates greatly matters for the success of cross-border collaborations. The effects of implicit bias, lack of awareness about privileges, or the overall lack of diversity in the field of journalism have given priority to white, male, and western voices over others. This norm is in conflict with the traditional understanding of journalists as neutral, objective, and impartial observers of the world and risks omitting perspectives that are necessary for understanding the whole picture.

Aiming for fairness: Confronting bias in foreign reporting

With Sham Jaff, Laura Postma und Zahra Salah Uddin

Foreign reporting in German media focuses on a limited number of countries — recent studies confirm this. Events in the rest of the world go unnoticed. This phenomenon is repeated in many Western countries. The causes of this attention imbalance and the measures that could be taken to address it will be discussed by Sham Jaff, along with Alena Jabarine and Laura Postma.

How constructive journalism pays off for audiences and the media

With Manuela Kasper-Claridge, Mark Sappenfield, Lars Boering und Gordian Fritz

To reach audiences in times of increasing news avoidance and decreasing trust, many media organizations worldwide are focussing more on constructive reporting. But how much does this actually boost success? What KPIs indicate that constructive reporting is not just good for society, but does also pay off for media organizations?

Communicate, Don’t (Just) Infuriate: Strengthening how journalism converses with the world

With Allen Arthur und Kristine Villanueva

What do restorative justice, community psychology, and the amygdala have in common? They can each help journalists get healthier outcomes from their reporting.

Better Listening - Shortcut To A More Listening Mindset In The Newsroom

With Nanna Holst

"Let's talk more about how the media can show greater trust in the population by listening and involving our taget audiences. I have developed a model for building a more active and systematic listening mindset. The Better Listening Method helps to create results by including and listening methodically to those we are put in the world for. So they will continue to see the value in listening to us." - Nanna Holst

How can we effectively combat disinformation?

With Caroline Lindekamp, Joscha Weber, Rachel Baig und Kian Badrnejad

"On every social media platform, we encounter a plethora of false information, propaganda, and fakes. With the rise of AI applications, the question of what is authentic and what is not has become more pressing than ever. Journalism must provide constructive answers in this scenario - but how? How effective are fact-checks, explainers for improving media literacy, and preventive measures?

From propaganda to truth: engaging undemocratic audiences in times of war and fake news

With Ilona Vinogradova

How to rebuild trust and maintain audience engagement with people living under the bombardment of state propaganda, which often portrays independent or foreign media as “fake news”, “foreign agents”, or “enemies”? Inspirational and solution-focused talk based on my recent work and interviews with over 50 journalists, producers and editors from diverse countries, such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burma, Mexico, Iran and many others.

Stop News-caping!  How to stay relevant for GenZ

With Meinolf Ellers und Maja Micudova

The alienation between Generation TikTok and journalism is greater than ever. Studies like the Reuters Digital News Report confirm new phenomena such as news avoidance, mistrust towards information media, and a lack of knowledge in dealing with disinformation. With a broad partner network, the European initiative #UseTheNews aims to stop this trend and inspire 14 to 24-year-olds with new concepts for news.

Journalism learns to listen - Community engagement workflows in practice

With Martin Tege, Julia Hildebrand, Jos van Essen und Jey Wegner

We talk about how community journalism is key to large scale investigations and small scale engagement, to the development of participation models in cities and how it leads to sustainable business models. We focus especially on how independent newsrooms can establish the workflows and choose the right toolstack to make these practices a daily routine.

Breaking news, not breaking news gatherers – how focussing on the wellbeing of our journalists will make journalism better

With Hannah Storm

In this keynote, Hannah Storm will share how her mental health journey has taught her about the power of empathy in newsrooms, and how when we create cultures where people feel safe to share their stories, our journalists and journalism can thrive.

What’s behind news fatigue, and what can we do about it?

With Nic Newman und Anita Zielina

Anita Zielina and Nic Newman will discuss the issues and possible solutions surrounding the topic of news avoidance.

–Cancelled– Cisnationalism: How right-wing and transphobic forces join forces

With Jasper Steinlein

The fact that hate speech and repressive laws against trans citizens are spreading precisely in countries where right-wing conservative groups wield significant political influence is no coincidence. They deftly manipulate old narratives, which journalists must not fall for.

Analysing and verifying images and video

The session will showcase a tool that can be used to analyse and verify digital images and videos. It is a publicly available tool, developed in EU funded research projects, used by 90,000+ users.

How to create your podcast by using the MethodKit for Podcasts. A hands-on workshop with DW Akademie

With Barbara Gruber

Whether you’re an audio pro or just starting out, the MethodKit for Podcasts developed by DW Akademie and MethodKit can be used across every aspect of your podcast — from development to production to distribution to marketing or from audience growth to content ideation and more.

99% of our DNA is the same as everyone else’s!

With Lena Roche

Journalism is about telling true stories, lived by other humans like us. With screenings of short documentary films from around the world, all subtitled in German, 99 would offer Bonn's residents the chance to swoop down into extraordinary lives.