#UseTheNews gGmbH began in 2020 as a joint venture of Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA), the largest German press agency. Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and the Hans-Bredow Institute. In 2022 the project was converted into an independent non-profit company in Hamburg while remaining a dpa subsidiary. The initiative studies youth news use and develops remedy formats across three tracks: News Literacy Lab, Open News Education and the NewZee community. Its database bundles studies, lesson plans and tools. The Interior Ministry pledged up to €1 million for the 2023-24 “Year of News,” and the Federal Agency for Civic Education adds €30,000 for nationwide Newscamps. Supplementary grants include €25,000 from Schöpflin and ZEIT foundations (2021),€195,000 from Brost Stiftung (2024) and a sum from Robert Bosch Stiftung. Dozens of Newscamps, backed by more than fifty partner outlets, ran in all 16 federal states.
Go back
#UseTheNews
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)
German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), German Federal Agency...See all
German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), German Federal Agency for Civic Education [Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (BpB)], Schöpflin Foundation, Zeit Stiftung Bucerius, Brost Foundation , Robert Bosch Stiftung See less
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg), Leibiniz Institute for Media Research/Hans-Bredow Institute (HBI), Hamburg Ministry of Culture and Media
Commentary:
#UseTheNews's funding profile reveals certain loyalties. The Interior Ministry’s €1 million covers most 2023-24 costs, the BPB adds €30,000 and private foundations supply token sums. A DPA subsidiary teaching critical thinking while relying on the federal security portfolio risks circularity: the state pays the news agency to inoculate pupils against distrust of the state. Research topics are chosen by publishers whose readership is shrinking, so reports blame platforms and fake news rather than editorial stagnation, or indeed the political unpopularity of official consensus as reflected by large media companies. The touted 4,000 Newscamp participants are of course only a fraction of a percentage of this cohort. Bosch and Brost funds may add prestige as judged by some, but likely cannot really mask a quasi-official cultural program.
#UseTheNews's funding profile reveals certain loyalties. The Interior Ministry’s €1 million covers most 2023-24 costs, the BPB adds €30,000 and private foundations supply token sums. A DPA subsidiary teaching critical thinking while relying on the federal security portfolio risks circularity: the state pays the news agency to inoculate pupils against distrust of the state. Research topics are chosen by publishers whose readership is shrinking, so reports blame platforms and fake news rather than editorial stagnation, or indeed the political unpopularity of official consensus as reflected by large media companies. The touted 4,000 Newscamp participants are of course only a fraction of a percentage of this cohort. Bosch and Brost funds may add prestige as judged by some, but likely cannot really mask a quasi-official cultural program.
English 
Deutsch (Sie)