Dear friends of SLEEK,

The new issue of SLEEK explores the theme of trust and creativity.

Why is trust so important for creativity? Trust is the foundation of every interpersonal relationship, be it in private or professional contexts. It enables us to feel safe, to open up and to engage with others. Trust creates an atmosphere of respect, cooperation and growth. Without trust, it is difficult to freely express and share our ideas and creativity. Incidentally, this is also the main reason why people in liberal systems fare much better.

Unfortunately, we have recently observed a sharp decline in trust in institutions and especially in the media. The reasons for this are manifold and complex. Mistrust can arise from misinformation, scandals or the feeling of alienation. Increasing digitisation and the flood of information often make it difficult to distinguish between facts, fakes and opinions. And this is where we – the media – have a special role to play.

Diversity of opinion is one of the cornerstones of democracies. We live in times of ever-increasing social division, and public discourse escalates on almost all major issues.

Added to this is a world that has become confusing, more global, more complex, faster. This is precisely why it is important that free and independent media fulfil their very own tasks: to select topics, to explain and classify facts and to report in a balanced way. Unfortunately, the attitude in journalism that is often found today leads to an increasing loss of trust in the media and an additional polarisation of the public.

Therefore, SLEEK’s reporting is not limited to describing negative things. It is designed to highlight opportunities and ways in which we can make our world a better place. We are convinced that this kind of constructive journalism is becoming increasingly important.

And we need to make the increasingly complex world easier to understand. The fact that more and more young people are turning away from media content because they don’t understand it is a warning sign. We need more formats in which contexts are explained in a simple and catchy way. We are now trying this with the Sleekverse – our Metaverse site. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasise that trust can be rebuilt. Trust comes from transparency, openness and honesty. It requires a dialogue in which people listen to and respect each other. Even if opinions are not shared, the old English saying “Let’s agree to disagree” applies.

I wish you an enriching read and hope that new insights will be gained to start your own creative journey to make our world a little bit better.

With trustful greetings,

Christian Bracht