Laura-Lena Förster (stern): Trust over Traffic, Editorial Voices & Media Brands as Lovebrands

When people can no longer distinguish between AI-generated and human-made content – who do they trust?

In this episode of narrative now, host Max speaks with Laura-Lena Förster, deputy editor-in-chief at stern. Since 2014, she has guided one of Germany's most iconic media brands through its digital transformation – today, she is responsible for areas including social media, video distribution, and editorial voices. Together, Max and Laura discuss how stern preserves its core brand identity while the places where people consume journalism continue to shift: from print and apps to Instagram and TikTok, and into a future where ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and other AI systems increasingly influence which content becomes visible.

At the heart of the discussion is why trust is becoming more important than traffic. Laura explains why stern does not chase reach at any cost, why qualitative followers are more valuable than raw numbers, and why media brands today must be more than just information providers. The conversation covers orchestration instead of "print first" or "online first," social video, paid content, platform logic, and the question of how a major traditional brand can grow digitally without diluting its identity.

At the same time, the episode shows why proximity is becoming the new strategy for trust. Newsrooms must now make it more visible who is behind their content, how stories are created, and why journalistic work has its price. Editorial voices, behind-the-scenes formats, and a transparent culture of handling errors are becoming not just editorial tools, but genuine brand levers. Because as feeds become more crowded, information harder to categorize, and AI-generated content increasingly sophisticated, we need brands that provide people with orientation.