Constructive Institute

Our class of fellows is visiting Australia this week - and one thing has already become clear:

Constructive journalism is far from a fluffy idea Down Under. It’s being practiced at scale and with remarkable success.

That’s our biggest takeaway so far after visits to The Age, The Conversation Australia + NZ, and and Australia’s national public broadcaster ABC Australia.

We kicked the week off at our sister institute, Constructive Institute Asia Pacific at Monash University in Melbourne. A huge thank you to director Kate Torney and her brilliant team for the warm welcome.

Today, we also had the pleasure of visiting our Danish colleagues Caroline Christensen at DR Sydney. Thank you for welcoming us and for the insightful conversations.

Ulrik Haagerup

Ses vi på Folkemødet på Bornholm? I år kan du finde Constructive Institute torsdag, fredag og lørdag på Ungdommens Plads (A21), hvor du kan prøve at interviewe andre folkemødedeltagere, tegne fremtidens journalistik i et storyboard eller give din stemme til kende i vores utopiske stemmeboks, der er bygget om til en videobooth.

Psst... Kig også forbi Kommunernes Telt (F9) lørdag d. 13. juni kl. 12.00-13.00, hvor vi debatterer fremtidens lokaldemokrati med afsæt i erfaringerne fra det hidtil største, danske mediesamarbejde 'Dit Valg. Vores Danmark', hvor Constructive Institute samlede journalister, kandidater og borgere gennem workshops, stormøder og valgfestivaler over hele Danmark.

Nu stiller vi så spørgsmålet: Hvordan styrker medier, kommuner og borgere i fællesskab det lokale demokrati mellem valgene?

Læs mere om debatten her: https://constructiveinstitute.org/news/28251-2/

’Skolens tabte børn’ får Folkets Journalistpris for at rejse 'en vigtig, national samtale' DR’s dokumentarserie ’Skolens tabte børn’, som i efteråret satte fokus på et tiltagende problem – børn og unge med ufrivilligt skolefravær, er blevet prisbelønnet.

Alumni Day 2026: Friday, we had the pleasure of welcoming back all nine classes of fellows and bringing our entire alumni community together in Aarhus for a day filled with constructive conversations, new perspectives, and meaningful connections.

A huge thank you to newly appointed TV 2 News Director Anne Mette Svane, AI analyst Anders Bæk and comedian and storyteller Jan Gintberg for sharing their insights and reflections with us.

And of course: no Alumni Day without a volleyball tournament and dinner together!

It’s amazing to see how the CI alumni community has grown to more than 100 fellows. Seeing so many of you spend the day back at the institute in Aarhus was truly special.

Thanks to all of you and see you again soon! 🌞


Ulrik Haagerup Orla Borg Jesper Steen Himmelstrup Christian Olesen Dagmar Eben Østergaard Esben Seerup Kassaaluk Kristensen Knud Lind Mathias Friis Morten Vestergaard Kristina Lund Jørgensen Peter Damgaard Kristensen David Arnholm Tine Rud Seerup Hans-Christian Lauritzen Anne Sofie Hoffmann SchrÖder Simone Kohsel Terndrup

“One of the biggest threats to democracy today is that people don’t just have different values and opinions - they have different facts as well” - Francis Fukuyama.

One of the world’s most respected democratic thinkers, Francis Fukuyama, visited Aarhus today as part of the MatchPoints Conference at Aarhus Universitet.

He generously took the time to discuss democracy, constructive journalism, and the role of the media with the current cohort of fellows of Constructive Institute.

He spoke about how we live in an age of information overload, where much of the available information is low-quality, biased, or even misleading.

He argued that journalism therefore has a crucial role to play in ensuring the quality and reliability of information.

We can definitely agree on that!

Ulrik Haagerup

This week, 19 journalists and editors started their fellowship at the Constructive Institute Asia Pacific Hub
at Monash University in Melbourne. 🌏

This very first group of fellows from across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region represents an impressive range of leading media organisations, including national broadcasters and global newsrooms such as

ABC Australia
SBS Australia
The Guardian
Herald Sun
News Corp Australia (news.com)
CNN Indonesia
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Age
and other well-established outlets across the region.

The fellows will collaborate, learn, and develop new ideas aimed at strengthening trust in journalism, fostering dialogue, and supporting democracy, as part of the fellowship programme, under the leadership of director Kate Torney .

We’re excited to follow your work!

Ulrik Haagerup

The number of research articles on constructive journalism has now reached 100 💡

The interest in - and evidence-based knowledge about - constructive journalism has never been greater.

And neither has the need for journalism that strengthens democracy.

To help move things even further, 24 Danish and Norwegian researchers, journalists, and educators gathered in Oslo over the past two days including Ulrik Haagerup and Esben Seerup from Constructive Institute.

Journalists shared insights from the newsroom: here’s what we know… that we need to know more about.
Researchers, in turn, presented their latest findings and are bringing those real-world perspectives back into their research.

Thanks to all the participants, and a special thank you to Gerd Maria May , Cathrine Gyldensted and Peter Bro - and to Fondet for dansk-norsk Samarbeid / Fondet for Dansk-Norsk Samarbejde - for making this possible, and for continuing to strengthen the bridge between research and practice in ways that help shape the future of journalism, media, and democracy.

When a third of a leadership team is replaced, proper onboarding seems like a good idea

- particularly when it concerns the leadership of a nation.

Yet it’s far from a given that elected officials receive any formal introduction to legislative work, collaboration, negotiations, media relations, workload management, or prioritisation.

That’s why it’s so encouraging that, for the third time, Ulrik Haagerup, CEO of the Constructive Institute, together with former Minister for the Environment Kirsten Brosbøl, is facilitating an onboarding seminar for newly elected members of the Danish Parliament:

24 Hours for Democracy / 24 timer for Folkestyret

The first two editions took place at Rødding Højskole and Ry Højskole.
This time, the Presidium of the Danish Parliament is hosting, while Kirsten Brosbøl and Ulrik Haagerup have helped design the programme and are guiding the newly elected politicians through a packed agenda featuring strong contributions from

Michael Bang Petersen, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, Rasmus Jarlov, Mai Villadsen, Karsten Lauritzen, Kristian Vendelbo, Trine Torp, Magnus Heunicke, Mikkel Gudsøe, Margrethe Vestager, Ask Rostrup, Søs Marie Serup, Anders Langballe, Bertel Haarder and Jan Gintberg.

Thanks for making this possible Søren Gade, Marie Hansen, Iben Bryld Gaardmand og Morten Outzen Larsen.

Photo credit: Ólafur Gestsson / Folketinget

40 journalists and editors from across Croatia are taking part in Constructive Institute’s two-day workshops in Zagreb this week, exploring how constructive journalism can create impact across TV, radio, and digital media.

From the Constructive Institute, Project Manager Jesper Himmelstrup is leading the radio workshop; former fellow and journalist at TV2 Østjylland, Thomas Gam Nielsen, is leading the TV workshop; and Head of the Fellowship Program, Orla Borg, is leading the workshop for print and online media.

The Croatian media organization Media Regulatory Authority, with support from the EU, organized the workshops. As Vice President Robert Tomljenovic puts it, this is about shaping a more meaningful role for media.

“Through it’s highly significant work, the Constructive Institute provides a clear example of how this can be achieved. That is why we invited them to Croatia: to share their knowledge and ideas with Croatian media professionals and to inspire us all to believe that positive change in journalistic practice is possible,” says Robert Tomljenovic.

Thank you to all participants for the strong engagement and important discussions.

Curious about bringing constructive journalism to your newsroom?� 🌱
Reach out: [email protected] / [email protected]