With Publix in Berlin, the Schöpflin Foundation is developing a place to promote journalistic innovation and strengthen the critical public sphere. A place for networking and for the future. More than 4,000 square meters and several floors will house editorial offices, co-working spaces, living and retreat spaces, a café and event spaces. Publix brings together people from very different fields - media professionals, civil society organizations and committed citizens.
We are facing major social challenges, the traditional media are coming under increasing pressure, and the social divide is deepening. This development calls for a new infrastructure that enables synergies to be exploited and competencies to be exchanged. With Publix, we want to create a place where networking and new forms of cooperation and knowledge transfer in the field of media, journalism and the public sphere can be tested.
Publix offers media professionals and civil society a framework for education, exchange and debate, and pool knowledge on topics such as polarization, digital opinion formation and freedom of information. People from Germany, Europe and the world will come together here to work together to preserve and strengthen a free and critical society and thus the foundation of our democracies.
Maria Exner has been the founding director in charge of the development and content of Publix since April 2022. She was most recently editor-in-chief of ZEITmagazin, and in 2021 she was one of the magazine editors-in-chief of the year. Prior to that, she developed as deputy editor-in-chief of ZEIT ONLINE innovative digital and civic projects, including the dialog initiative "Deutschland Spricht" and the ideas festival Z2X. Her work has been awarded, among others, the Jean Monnet Prize for European Integration and the Grimme Online Award. In 2023, she will be a Fellow of the Thomas Mann House in Los Angeles.
