Symposium on July 04, 2025 in Berlin

In Berlin, Prof. Lutz Hagen (Institute of Media and Communication at TU Dresden and speaker of the Boysen-TUD-Research Training Group) and colleagues have organized a symposium on the future of local media and local journalism in Saxony, which will take place at the Representation of the Free State of Saxony in Berlin on 4 July 2025.

The head of the State Chancellery, Dr. Andreas Handschuh, who is responsible for the Free State's media policy, will also be among the panelists.

The takeover of the Sächsische Zeitung by the Madsack Group, which already owns the Leipziger Volkszeitung, is just one example with particularly serious consequences: the local offerings of traditional media are losing more and more audience, revenue and are thinning out. Studies have shown that the regional and local daily press in particular plays a decisive role in providing the population with information and that a lack of local information has negative consequences for democracy, e.g. by encouraging polarization.

The event will bring together academics, politicians and practitioners to look at current scientific findings and regional developments in Saxony. Further information can be found in the (German) program:

Program Symposium_Local_media_Local_Journalism_Saxony.pdf

On Wednesday, July 9, 2025, Prof. Hagen will be appearing as an expert on Deutschlandfunk radio's call-in show “Agenda” starting at 10:00 a.m. The two-hour program will focus on the topic “Is the decline of local journalism a threat to democracy?”.