With the spread of Web 2.0, the “participatory web,” the business models of the traditional media are being put to the test. Cyberspace has created a civil-society public that makes its own news, critically examines political institutions and companies, demands to have a say, and increasingly emancipates itself from the traditional media. Professional journalism tries to respond to these challenges by distinguishing itself through high-quality content. This in turn raises the question of how to finance this high-quality journalism, as extensive research is costly, both in terms of manpower and money. As the trend towards lower sales and advertising revenues continues, professional journalism has to reinvent itself.

These current challenges are the focus of the first workshop of the dialogue forum on “Foundations and Democratic Publics.” Workshop participants include foundation experts, but also practitioners such as journalist Christoph Koch, science, health and technology editor at STERN news magazine, who will talk about the topic from the media’s perspective. Josef-Otto Freudenreich will present his citizen-funded web portal “kontext:magazin,” offering concrete insight into creative funding models.

The workshop is open to all foundations and is to serve as a forum for a coordinated exchange of ideas among all participants.

The event will start at 2 p.m. and end around 6 p.m.

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