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Invest in a public asset:
knowledge

Investing in the common good of knowledge

In order for the SMC to be able to work freely and independently, we rely on people and institutions who support us financially. With your donation, you support independent reporting with a focus on science in a liberal democracy.

Journalism and science are essential for our democracy. Freedom of the press, freedom of research and freedom of opinion are important for our society. And for this, not only research funding is important, but also the promotion of an independent press that observes science.  

Media professionals need access to reliable knowledge, for example to be able to debunk so-called alternative facts or targeted disinformation. They need time and resources to distinguish serious information from speculation. Good journalism about science relies on independence and viable arguments. The SMC helps accredited media professionals to do this with the cumulative expertise of domain-specific researchers. We are looking for honest brokers from science for public discourse who enjoy the trust of the audience.  

Your sponsorship supports independent, credible and non-profit journalism. If you want to support the SMC as an intermediary between science, journalism and the public, you should decide to sponsor the SMC. 

Enable the SMC to remain independent.  

     

  • You make it possible for us to make our services available to media professionals in a non-profit way and free of charge, 
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  • You ensure that experts are acquired, media professionals are accredited, voices from academia are conveyed to the media and that we can continue to grow,
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  • You accept the independence of journalistic media in general and the independence of our editorial staff in particular,
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  • you support the irreplaceable key role of journalism in our democracy,  
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  • you help to advocate with us for a stronger role of science journalism in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 
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Our impact as an independent intermediary

It is worthwhile to support our work and mission ideally, but also especially financially, because our impact has been documented and praised many times by independent observers, critical companions and in the press and media.   

     

  • Knowledge on a broad scale: Our expert statements are used steadily and increasingly by the science editors of, for example, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, DIE ZEIT, SPIEGEL and others. A total of 19,365 articles with expert quotes from our broadcasts have appeared (as of 31.12.2021).
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  • Closely connected: 1,636 media professionals from all leading and many regional media are accredited with us (as of 01.01.2022), 1,000 alone with embargo access. They are distributed among online media (1076), print (796), television (459) and radio (373). Double and triple mentions show that media professionals use us widely.
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  • Our foundation: We are in close contact (as of 01.01.2022) with over 2,250 researchers and professionals with expertise. Of these, 1,011 agreed to collaborate. 
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  • Orientation in difficult situations: We organised a press briefing at the start of Pandemic 2020 in Berlin together with the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina on 13 February, with Christian Drosten and Lothar H. Wieler among the panellists. Forty media representatives attended, seven television crews for ARD and ZDF and the daily news coverage. n24 used live statements. Statements by the four experts were used in 459 reports by German-language media.  
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  • Direct classification: In the meantime, our virtual press briefings are used on average by more than 55 media professionals for their print reports in the leading media, but also video excerpts of statements for their current TV reports in ARD and ZDF, in Tagesschau, Tagesthemen or in Heute-Journal.
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Support the SMC - so that arguments from science strengthen the importance of journalism and thus increase society's power of judgement.

If you are interested in financially supporting the SMC or becoming a member of the Association of Friends and Supporters, you can find detailed information under How we finance ourselves. Or you can contact our staff member Franco Zotta.