About Die Neue Norm

Die Neue Norm

Die Neue Norm is a Berlin-based online magazine devoted to disability mainstreaming, inclusion and diversity. Published at dieneuenorm.de under the tagline "Das Magazin für Vielfalt, Gleichberechtigung und Disability Mainstreaming", it examines politics, work, culture, sport and innovation through the lens of disability, questioning the social norms that define who counts as "normal". Its journalism is produced substantially by authors with disabilities, giving the magazine an insider perspective that distinguishes it from mainstream coverage of disability issues. Alongside the magazine, Die Neue Norm produces a monthly podcast in cooperation with Bayern 2, hosted by journalists and activists Karina Sturm, Jonas Karpa and Raúl Krauthausen.

Overview

Die Neue Norm starts from a simple observation: norms are everywhere, from the DIN standards that define paper sizes and ramp gradients to the unspoken social expectations about bodies, abilities and life courses, and not everyone fits the norms that the majority defines. The magazine sets out to question and break open these norms, placing disability at the centre of society rather than at its margins. Whether the topic is politics, film, football or space travel, the editorial approach asks what the issue looks like from the perspective of inclusion.

The magazine's sections span Arbeit (work), Gesellschaft (society), Innovation, Sport, Kultur (culture) and Politik (politics), with articles appearing more frequently online than the monthly podcast cycle. Dossiers collect longer investigations on themes such as violence against people with disabilities. A monthly newsletter rounds up new articles and offers behind-the-scenes insights into the editorial work. The tone is political and personal at once: analytical about structural discrimination, including ableism, and grounded in the lived experience of the authors.

The podcast extends the brand into audio. Produced with Bayern 2 and available in the ARD Audiothek as well as on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, the monthly episodes feature the three hosts discussing topics from representation in children's books and disability and poverty to allyship, self-determined living with assistance, and current political events. The podcast's longevity, with dozens of episodes produced, has made it one of the most prominent German-language audio formats on disability and inclusion.

History

Die Neue Norm was founded as an online magazine to give disability a permanent, professional journalistic platform in the German media landscape. Where disability coverage in mainstream media has often been confined to charity appeals, medical stories or inspirational profiles, the magazine claimed the full range of journalistic topics for the disability perspective, insisting that disability happens in the middle of society and must be discussed there.

The project grew its audience through consistent, high-quality publishing and through the visibility of its contributors, many of them established journalists and activists in the German disability movement. The cooperation with Bayern 2 on the podcast brought the brand to a broader public through the ARD's audio platforms, with episodes tackling both everyday questions, such as assistive devices and life hacks, and structural issues, such as the reform of the German disability equality act or the accessibility of Deutsche Bahn services.

Over the years the magazine has built a recognizable editorial identity: unsparing about discrimination, impatient with token inclusion, and committed to the principle "nothing about us without us". Its dossiers, columns and reported features have made it a reference point for journalists, policymakers and activists working on inclusion in Germany.

Coverage and Content

Work and employment form a signature beat. The magazine investigates the realities of the labour market for people with disabilities, from the low employment rates of people with cognitive disabilities to projects that guide young people into dual vocational training, and campaigns for fair wages and inclusive workplaces developed with partners such as JOBinklusive. The coverage combines personal stories with structural analysis, asking what has to change for the general labour market to become genuinely accessible.

Politics coverage follows legislation and debates affecting people with disabilities: the reform of the Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz (disability equality act), accessibility in transport and digital services, and the political representation of disability interests. Society articles examine language and self-determination, from the debate over phrases like "an den Rollstuhl gefesselt" (confined to a wheelchair) to the realities of chronically ill people who describe themselves as bedbound, alongside topics such as loneliness, sexuality and experiences of violence.

Culture and sport coverage looks at representation: disability in film, literature and children's books, disabled athletes and artists, and interviews with cultural figures. Innovation articles explore assistive technology and design. Throughout, the magazine's authors write from lived experience, a deliberate editorial choice that shapes both the topics chosen and the language used.

The magazine's language politics are themselves part of the journalism. Debates over person-first versus identity-first language, over which terms empower and which patronize, play out in the magazine's pages, with columnists arguing for self-determined terminology. This reflexivity about language distinguishes Die Neue Norm from mainstream outlets that cover disability sporadically: here, how something is said is understood as inseparable from what is said.

Organization and Ownership

Die Neue Norm operates as an independent journalistic project based in Berlin. Its editorial team and contributing authors include journalists and activists with disabilities, among them the podcast hosts Karina Sturm, Jonas Karpa and Raúl Krauthausen, all established voices in Germany's disability rights movement. Detailed, current information about the project's formal organizational and funding structure is not publicly confirmed in available sources.

The cooperation with Bayern 2, the cultural radio channel of Bayerischer Rundfunk, gives the podcast institutional backing within the ARD system while the magazine maintains its independent editorial line. The project is supported by its readership and by partnerships around specific topics and dossiers, and it reaches its audience directly through the website, the podcast platforms and the monthly newsletter.

The magazine's Berlin base places it at the centre of Germany's disability rights movement, close to the associations, activists and policymakers who shape the inclusion debate. From this vantage point, Die Neue Norm functions not only as a publication but as a networking hub, connecting authors, readers and organizations across the country and amplifying voices that rarely reach mainstream newsrooms.

Digital Presence

The website dieneuenorm.de is the magazine's home, publishing articles across its sections with dossiers, columns and reported features, complemented by the monthly newsletter that opens each month with updates on diversity, equality and disability mainstreaming. The podcast is distributed through the ARD Audiothek, Spotify and Apple Podcasts, where its episodes on inclusion topics reach listeners beyond the magazine's core readership.

Social media channels extend the magazine's debates, with articles shared and discussed by a community of readers, activists and policymakers. The combination of the continuously updated magazine, the monthly audio format and the newsletter gives Die Neue Norm a multi-channel presence in the German inclusion debate, sustaining its role as the country's most prominent journalistic platform for disability mainstreaming.

The podcast's episode history illustrates the breadth of the project. Installments have tackled Deutsche Bahn's accessibility failures, the reform of disability equality legislation, democracy and inclusion recorded live at the Leipzig Book Fair, assistive devices and life hacks, loneliness among people with disabilities, and intimate topics such as shame, grief and resilience. This range, from the political to the personal, mirrors the magazine's conviction that disability mainstreaming means bringing the disability perspective to every topic, not confining it to a social-policy ghetto.