SPD on culture and media

The SPD wants to promote media literacy statewide and for all age groups. In the platform's view it should become as natural as arithmetic and writing, also because of the growing use of artificial intelligence. Campaigns against misinformation are part of the plan.

People should be able to check news and sources well. This is called media literacy. The SPD wants to promote it for young and old. Teachers and child care workers should get more help for this. There should be campaigns against false news.

Teachers, educators and educational institutions are to be strengthened so media literacy appears early in all education programs. Offerings outside school are to add to this and reach all age groups. The SPD will look into making media workshops and media education more available across the state. The platform argues that democratic resilience depends on being able to assess information and spot manipulation.

The SPD is committed to strong, independent public broadcasting, which it sees as irreplaceable for informing the public. At the same time its structures should be efficient so that the shared funding model stays accepted.

The SPD wants to keep public TV and radio independent. They should inform people well. But the broadcasters should work in a thrifty way. Then people will keep accepting the broadcasting fee.

According to the platform, public broadcasting stands for high quality, explaining democratic decisions and an educational mission. Reporting should be neutral toward political parties and not driven by clicks. Efficient structures are meant to secure support for the shared funding.

The SPD wants to secure local and regional media and community media for the long term because they report on what happens locally. Delivery of printed newspapers in rural areas is to get federal support. The state media authority would gain more powers on youth protection.

Local newspapers and stations report on your own town. The SPD wants to keep them. Community media keep getting money. The federal government should help so newspapers still reach rural areas.

The platform promises conditions that let local and regional media do their job in the long run. Community media (Bürgermedien) are to keep receiving reliable support because they contribute to local public debate, participation and media literacy. At the federal level, the SPD backs a delivery subsidy for printed newspapers. The powers of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern media authority are to grow, together with the other media authorities, mainly for effective youth protection.

The SPD wants cultural offerings to be accessible and inclusive, regardless of income, age, origin or disability. Apprentices and students are to get reduced admission to state-owned institutions. Cultural education and volunteer work are to be supported.

The SPD wants everyone to be able to enjoy culture. Offerings should be free of barriers. There should be offerings in easy language and sign language. Apprentices and students should pay less for entry.

People with disabilities are to be reached both as audiences and as artists. Cultural education is to be supported from daycare to university and at out-of-school learning sites, with reliable funding structures set up together with counties and municipalities. The SPD wants to examine with local governments how affordable spaces for art can be preserved and how the music and events industry can be strengthened. Digitizing the state's film heritage is also to be examined. The state culture prize will continue to be awarded.

The SPD wants to defend the freedom of art and support artists who deal with social issues. Projects in civic and intercultural education are to be funded. The program sees culture as a tool against exclusion, hatred and extremism.

The SPD says: art is free. It wants to protect this freedom. It wants to fund projects that strengthen democracy and diversity. Remembering history should also stay alive.

Cultural education offerings are to be linked more closely with all-day schools, and out-of-school learning sites strengthened. The SPD supports a culture of remembrance that ranges from the work of memorial sites to contemporary forms. In the program's view, independent culture is currently being called into question by opponents of democracy and diversity.

The SPD wants to keep supporting the Low German language, regional history and the state's cultural heritage. Paid staff and volunteers working in heritage preservation are to receive support.

The SPD wants to preserve the Low German language. It is also called Plattdeutsch. The history of the region should also be researched. People who care for local heritage should get help.

Partners remain the advisory council on heritage and Low German, the Heimatverband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (state heritage association) and regional initiatives. The work is based on the Heimatprogramm (heritage program), jointly updated in 2026. Intangible cultural heritage is also to be cared for.

The SPD wants to continue and adapt the Theaterpakt (theater pact) between the state and municipalities beyond 2028. State cultural funding is to be updated in light of rising staff and material costs. Libraries, archives and museums are to be strengthened and made more accessible digitally.

The SPD wants to continue the theater pact after 2028. The pact secures money for the big theaters. Cultural funding should stay effective despite higher costs. Libraries, archives and museums should get more digital offerings.

The aim is to avoid cuts to programming, audience reach and cultural education. The SPD is sticking to plans for a Pomeranian state archive in Vorpommern, together with the University of Greifswald, and for a state archaeological museum in Rostock. After a review, smaller municipal archives are to get better support through advice and networking. The party wants to press the federal government for programs supporting digitization in the cultural sector.

The SPD wants to push for fair pay and good working conditions in the cultural sector and points to the minimum fees already introduced. It also wants to start a debate on anchoring art and culture as a state objective of the Federal Republic.

The SPD wants artists to be paid fairly. There are already minimum fees. The SPD also wants to start a debate. It is about making culture a state objective. A state objective is a fixed task of the state.

The "Runde Tische Kultur" (culture round tables) are to continue. There, the SPD wants to keep discussing with municipalities and the cultural scene what counts as basic cultural provision and what technological change means for culture. The program regards libraries and music and youth art schools as educational institutions with a cultural mission that should get lasting support. Music and youth art schools are to remain able to work with both permanent staff and freelancers.

The SPD wants to use European funds in a targeted way for cultural heritage and small cultural initiatives. EU programs are to be used more for cross-border encounters. The program sees culture as a bridge to neighboring countries.

The SPD wants to use more EU money for culture. It wants to preserve cultural heritage with it. Small cultural groups and village halls should also get money. People from neighboring countries should meet through culture.

Investments in cultural heritage are to be financed from the European Regional Development Fund (EFRE in German). Through the agricultural fund ELER and its LEADER program, small cultural initiatives and village community centers are to keep being strengthened. INTERREG and Creative Europe are to be used more intensively.

The SPD wants to give targeted support to cultural projects that bring offerings to villages and small towns. The Bürgerfonds Kultur (citizens' culture fund) is to stay and gain a regional focus. Volunteer cultural work is to face less red tape.

The SPD wants to support culture in villages and small towns. The citizens' culture fund should stay and grow. There should be book buses, mobile stages and traveling cinemas. Volunteers should have less paperwork.

Sociocultural centers and other so-called third places will continue to be funded. Application procedures are to become simpler, and there are to be training programs for volunteers in culture. Culture and tourism are to work together more closely, partly to enliven town centers with cultural routes, festivals or public art. A culture atlas is to regularly make offerings visible and reveal gaps in provision.