In a two-day experiment, ARD invited 84 people to engage in an open discussion with one another on camera, transcending differences in age, background, and political views. The HBI is supporting the initiative with a multi-part survey. PD Dr. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt examined how participants evaluated the dialogue project and what they took away from it. Our blog post, “How Conversations with People Who Think Differently Can Make a Difference,” summarizes the initial survey findings. Various media reports provide information about the project and insights from the accompanying research.
Media Reports on the ARD Dialogue Project “What Unites Germany”
The selection is only available in German:
- tagesschau.de: „Miteinander reden – was bleibt davon?“ [Talking to Each Other – What Comes of It?] | 6 June 026 | https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/gesellschaft/was-deutschland-verbindet-teilnehmende-100.html
- hr INFO Das Thema: „Was Deutschland verbindet: Bilanz einer Dialogaktion“ [“What Unites Germany: A Review of a Dialogue Initiative”] | 1 June 2026 | https://www.ardsounds.de/episode/urn:ard:episode:79d2624ff5a60a76/
- hr Radio Der Tag: „Menschen, Meinungen, Miteinander – Was Deutschland verbindet“ [People, Opinions, Togetherness – What Unites Germany]| 1 June 2026 | https://www.ardsounds.de/episode/urn:ard:episode:57a3ed48d8d0549f/
- hr die Ratgeber: Beitrag zu Was Deutschland verbindet (ab Minute 19) [Segment from “What Unites Germany”, starting at minute 19] | 29 May 2026) https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/die-ratgeber/die-ratgeber-vom-29-05-2026/hr/MjQyMTM2OTMtZGMyNC00MDFkLWJmM2EtMjFhY2Q3MTk3MTMx?
- NDR Info: „Kommunikationsforscher Schmidt: Dialogische Fähigkeiten einüben“ [Communication Researcher Schmidt: Practicing Dialogue Skills] | 27 May 2026 | https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/kommunikationsforscher-schmidt-dialogische-faehigkeiten-einueben,audio-3267360.html
- NDR 2 Spezial: „Wir statt ihr: Wie ist wieder mehr Miteinander möglich?“ [Us, Not Them: How Can We Bring People Together Again?]| 21 May 2026 | https://www.ndr.de/ndr2/ndr-2-spezial,audio-3263622.html
- radio3 rbb: „Brauchen wir mehr offene Gesprächsrunden? Ein Gespräch mit dem Soziologen Jan-Hinrik Schmidt“ [Do We Need More Open Discussions? A Conversation with Sociologist Jan-Hinrik Schmidt] | 12 May 2026 | https://www.radiodrei.de/programm/schema/sendungen/radio3_am_morgen/archiv/20260512_0600/radio3_aktuell_0710.html
- NDR Info: „Medienforscher: Wir sind noch in der Lage, miteinander zu sprechen“ [Media Researcher: We Are Still Able to Talk to One Another]| 11 May 2026 | https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/medienforscher-wir-sind-noch-in-der-lage-miteinander-zu-sprechen,audio-3253000.html
- hessenschau: „Was Deutschland verbindet – Zuhören statt zuspitzen“ [What Unites Germany – Listening Instead of Escalating] | 11 May 2026 | https://www.hessenschau.de/gesellschaft/ard-dialogprojekt-was-deutschland-verbindet—zuhoeren-statt-zuspitzen-v1,was-deutschland-verbindet-100.html
- tagesschau.de: „Miteinander reden – statt übereinander“ [“Talk to Each Other—Not About Each Other”]| 10 May 2026 | https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/gesellschaft/ard-aktion-was-deutschland-verbindet-100.html
The Hamburg section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC), located at the HBI, has been conducting several research projects since 2020 to examine the role that media and communication play in fostering or undermining social cohesion.
More information about the Hamburg section of the RISC
Image: HR/ARD