Project
For the first time since World War II, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has a realistic chance of winning a governing majority in a state election, a scenario long considered unthinkable. But this is not just a political story. It is also a story about the forces reshaping public discourse: platform algorithms, disinformation networks, fragmented audiences and political actors willing to exploit all three.
Hosted in Berlin on 2–3 October, just weeks after pivotal local elections, this n-counter brings together journalists from Germany and across Central and Eastern Europe to examine this moment together. What can Germany learn from journalists in countries that have spent years grappling with media capture and authoritarian pressure? What is the media sector still failing to see? And what does it take, professionally and personally, to navigate this fast-changing reality with integrity and purpose?
Part conference, part reunion, this is a gathering of the wider n-ost community: members, partners, friends, and colleagues from across Europe. Through conversations, workshops and shared reflection, we will draw on our different experiences and perspectives to challenge assumptions, learn from one another and make sense of a rapidly changing landscape.
How does journalism reclaim reality in a shifting information ecosystem? In this block of parallel sessions, Berlin’s media outlets, innovators, and NGOs will tackle this exact question. Attendees can choose between simultaneous tracks exploring topics like how to rebuild trust and connection in digital environments, climate reporting, legacy or community journalism.
How do you report the facts when the public no longer agrees on what is real? From algorithmic bias to coordinated disinformation, this opening session maps the rise of the post-truth era and asks where journalism finds its footing in this fractured landscape. A keynote intervention, followed by a collective activation and networking session.
What questions would journalists from countries with years of experience reporting on illiberal politics ask Germany today? In this reverse panel, reporters from across Europe interview a German colleague about the rise of the far right, the changing conditions for journalism and the profession's own blind spots. The audience joins the conversation in the second half of the session.
Three speakers. Three visions for the future of journalism. In a media environment shaped by algorithms, disinformation, polarisation and platform power, what needs to change, and what is still worth holding on to? Each speaker pitches one approach to making journalism more effective and relevant in agenda-setting under today's conditions. The audience is then invited to test, challenge and build on these ideas together.
This facilitated conversation creates space to reflect on what it means to be a journalist at a moment when many of the profession's old certainties no longer hold. As political realities shift and media environments fragment, what assumptions, habits and identities are becoming harder to sustain, and what do we want to carry forward?
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