Between children’s animation and investigative youth documentaries, an important question is being answered: How seriously do we take the next generation in media?
In 2026, I once again had the privilege of serving on the Children & Youth Jury of the Grimme Award. And once again, one thing became very clear: children’s and youth programs are not a side category. They are the innovation lab of our media system.
The Full Range of Social Reality
The nominated productions covered an impressive range. They included high-quality animated and educational formats, fictional stories with intergenerational relevance, and documentary as well as investigative youth formats that directly address social realities.
There were also gaming-oriented concepts, magazine formats with a strong editorial stance, and special recognitions for outstanding moderation, acting, and long-term thematic work.
What connects this diversity is not just creativity. It is attitude.
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Courage to take a clear perspective
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Seriousness in addressing young audiences
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The willingness to embrace complexity instead of simplifying it
In the children’s and youth category, we can clearly see how storytelling is evolving. This is where new formats are tested, hybrid distribution models are explored, and platform logics are reflected upon. What works here often shapes the entire media system tomorrow.
Jury Work as a Quality Discourse
Our jury discussions were remarkably harmonious, yet analytically precise. Different professional backgrounds and perspectives were not treated as opposition, but as productive input. This is how a differentiated understanding of quality emerges: through discourse, not confrontation.
My sincere thanks go to all jury members, and especially to the jury chair, Sandra Das, for her thoughtful and steady leadership.
The Grimme Institute once again provided a professional and respectful framework for this process. Quality requires structure and time for careful judgment.
The “Bergfest”: A Public Moment of Reflection
A special highlight of the jury week is traditionally the “Bergfest” a midpoint event that also serves as a public forum.
Meeting the nominees in person, asking questions, understanding production decisions, and discussing creative risks adds another dimension to the evaluation process. It makes a difference whether you only assess a production or also meet the people behind it, who invested conviction, research, doubt, and passion into their work.
In her speech, Grimme Director Çiğdem Uzunoğlu emphasized a core principle of the award:
“There is no alternative to the independence of our juries and commissions. They are the heart of the Grimme Award.”
In a conversation with media journalist Annika Schneider, Torsten Zarges discussed the boundary between activism and journalism a debate that reaches far beyond individual awards. Credibility does not emerge from volume, but from transparent standards.
The fact that these discussions are held openly is not a side issue. It is a sign of a healthy media culture.
Quality in the Age of AI and Algorithms
We are living in a media environment where algorithms pre-structure attention and AI increasingly co-produces content. Distribution, visibility, and even creative processes are changing rapidly.
Precisely for this reason, independent human judgment is becoming strategically important.
Children’s and youth programming is a particularly sensitive field. It is not only about market share or reach. It is about values, perspectives, and the question of which stories we trust young audiences to handle.
Quality is not created by an algorithm.
It is created through discourse.
The announcement of the award winners is still to come. Until then, the anticipation remains. Along with the certainty that what is at stake here is more than recognition. It is the setting of standards.
The nominees are: https://www.grimme-preis.de/62-grimme-preis-2026/nominierungen
