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At Burda, responsibility isn’t just a buzzword—it’s at the heart of everything we do. In a time when accountability means more than just looking inward, we’re focused on shaping the future. “We have a responsibility to our company, to the people who work here, and to society as a whole—including our environment. We want to play our part in building a better future,” says Holger Eckstein, member of Burda’s Executive Board.
A perfect example of responsibility in action is Focus Online's Constructive World Award, which received the BurdaAward in the category "responsibility" this year. The initiative proves that journalism isn’t just about uncovering and reporting problems—it’s about offering new perspectives and highlighting solutions.
Since its launch two years ago, the BurdaForward team has used the Constructive World Award to honour outstanding journalism that takes a solutions-driven approach. In 2024, for the first time, the award recognized duos: visionaries working to change the world and the journalists bringing their stories to light. The response was overwhelming—180 submissions, nearly double the previous year’s entries. The award ceremony in Berlin was a huge success, and the stories reached more than three million people on Focus Online alone.
Behind the Constructive World Award is a team deeply committed to constructive journalism. Isabella Kurth, the Project Manager, brings the right people together and continually expands the initiative. Malte Arnsperger, Editorial Director, works with his team to bring solution-oriented journalism into the mainstream. Florian Festl, Editor-in-Chief of Focus Online, is committed to future-oriented reporting and sustainable storytelling. Their common goal? "To create a platform that highlights solutions to the biggest challenges we face today—and that's exactly what we've done," says Festl.
The Constructive World Award is just one example of how Burda puts responsibility into action. In the run-up to European elections, the editorial team at Freundin used their platform to encourage voter participation, sending a strong message in support of democracy. With its "Democracy in Transition" series, BurdaVerlag fosters dialogue between media and politics to help safeguard democratic values. Both projects were also nominated in the category "responsibility".
Whether through constructive journalism, political engagement, or meaningful conversations—each of these initiatives underscores a simple truth: At Burda, we take our responsibility for the future seriously.
