Read the 2025 SDM annual report
The Democracy and Media Foundation’s 2025 annual report has been published. It was an extraordinary year in many respects. We have long realized that the changes of our time are so fundamental that they call for a serious reevaluation of our role. That is why we are charting a new course.
The Netherlands still has strong public and private media organizations that are indispensable to a thriving democracy. But pressure from large, global tech giants has been mounting for years. The rise of generative AI has further accelerated this trend. The question, therefore, is whether the Netherlands will still have a healthy and pluralistic media landscape ten years from now.
That insight led to an important decision: from now on, we will focus entirely on this crucial issue. We believe that these times call for independent actors who selflessly advocate for the interests of informed citizens in our democracy. We see that SDM can play a unique role in this regard. Because we are independent—we have no self-interest or shareholders—yet we have enough clout to stand our ground where others cannot. This new phase also means that we are largely phasing out our grant-making work, a decision we did not take lightly.
In 2025, we made several major decisions. The first half of the year was dominated by the acquisition of RTL Nederland, which, following a careful process, has found a solid home for journalism at DPG Media. In the annual report, we list eight reasons why we, as an ideologically driven shareholder, supported the acquisition—subject to strict conditions. In the second half of the year, SDM took the initiative to send an urgent letter to the informateur on behalf of the entire media landscape. It was unprecedented for both private and public parties to unite so unanimously behind a single message.
To capture such an eventful year on paper, we decided to publish our annual report in newspaper format for the first time. Be sure to read the poem by Ernestine Comvalius, a member of SDM’s supervisory board, and the farewell interview with Ila Kasem, who stepped down as a supervisory board member in 2025. Be sure to also read the profiles of Jet Roosenburg, an underground employee of *Het Parool*, and Ahmed Abu Artema, a Palestinian journalist for *De Correspondent*, from the book *Vrij, Onverveerd*. Both of their stories show that free journalism is not a given, but a hard-won achievement.
In addition, this annual report naturally includes general information about the organization, its management and oversight, its results, and an overview of the initiatives that SDM supported in 2025. At the end, you’ll find a wordplay diagram that Wisse Beets created especially for us.
We hope you enjoy reading this!
