ESG

• DPG Media Printing Amsterdam replaced one of the two large central heating boilers with an industrial heat pump. This allows us to use less gas. In 2023, the printing facility used 240,318 m³ of gas, versus 390,000 m³ to 560,000 m³ in previous years. In 2024, gas consumption will decrease further, as this is the first full year the heat pump is operational.
• New company cars and cars that have reached the end of their service lives are replaced by electric cars. The share of electric company cars increased to 27 percent of the entire fleet in 2023. At the end of 2024, we expect this to be around 40 percent. At the end of 2028, the fleet will be fully electric.
• We closed the data centre in Kobbegem. This data centre’s function was taken over by cloudhosting. This is efficient and more sustainable, because our cloudhosting provider uses sustainably generated electricity.
• The Hilversum office (Independer) was made more energy efficient. This will only have a tangible impact in 2024.
• We took stock of energy saving opportunities for the Vilvoorde location. This resulted in a plan involving the renovation of the boiler room, which we are executing in 2024.
• The three printing facilities drafted an energy saving plan. They are implementing the measures in 2024, which include new lighting machines, energy-efficient compressors and heat recovery
• The construction of Mediavaert, the new headquarters in the Netherlands. This building is set up in a very sustainable way: solar panels on the roof, heat and cold storage, gas-free and supplied with sustainably generated energy from the Netherlands once it opens its doors. Mediavaert is expected to be four to five times more energy efficient than the current offices in Amsterdam and Hoofddorp.

Read more about Mediavaert ➝

• Renewal of our electricity contracts: as of 2025, all electricity we purchase for printing facilities and office buildings in Belgium and the Netherlands will be certified wind energy from those countries. As a result, we expect to save 4,000 to 5,000 tonnes of CO₂e in 2025.

DPG Media will contribute to European climate agreements. This is why this year we’re working on a prediction of our greenhouse gas emissions until and including 2030. We’ll set a reduction target for each year. We’ll also start additional projects to reduce our emissions, both internally and together with our suppliers and other parties in the production chain. We’ll have our reduction approach validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This is an independent body that assesses companies’ sustainability plans and CO₂e footprints against the climate agreements. It was set up by the United Nations, the World Resources Institute and the World Wildlife Fund. What’s more, DPG Media is pushing for standardisation of CO₂e measurements and emission reductions in sector associations and initiatives such as the European Publishers Council, CommToZero, VIA Nederland and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media.

Journalism is undergoing a major transfor-mation, which has only just begun. In this digital age, contents and appearance must constantly change to stay relevant for the audience at large. To this end, DPG Media and its editing teams build apps, sites, paywalls, newsletters, push messages and editorial systems.

But this transformation is also a challenge that presents journalism with a lot of opportunities. DPG Media provides help in bringing about the innovation every editing team is working on. An example of this would be De Campus, an internal training institute by and for journalists. In 2023, De Campus taught 152 unique training courses to 1,552 journalists affiliated to our media. These mainly revolved around digital transformation.

De Campus also organises webinars, presen-tations and workshops by experts from all over the world. There is a journalism handbook with manuals, which is continuously updated. And De Campus sends out a newsletter on journalistic innovation. The goal is to exchange knowledge and help editing teams by providing them with best practices from the media sector in their own countries and abroad.

Together with the editing team, journalistic data experts explore the best ways of translating insights on visitor behaviour into practical suggestions for journalists. How can they reach more people with their journalistic efforts and how can they tempt visitors into coming back? How can one give this new tool the right place, but not too dominant a place, in the journalistic process?

Time and resources have also been made available to help editing teams become more diverse and inclusive in their reports and footage selection. In 2023, DPG Media organised its second-ever traineeship geared towards enabling people from culturally diverse backgrounds to become journalists.

On Independent journalism, you will find a detailed explanation of how the independence of news media at DPG Media is safeguarded through such means as editorial statutes, independent foundations and editorial boards.

As a media company, we want to appeal to everyone in the Netherlands. Our editing teams should be a more accurate reflection of our country’s diversity, featuring younger and older people, people of colour and white people, people with and without a disability. As conventional methods have not yielded the desired results so far, we set up the journalistic talent traineeship in 2021. Hasna Elbaamrani completed this traineeship and is a journalist at NU.nl now. “Ever since becoming a journalist, I’ve experienced the marvellous impact I can have with my articles.”

Ten trainees spend five months receiving guidance from experienced mentors and training at De Volkskrant, Algemeen Dagblad, NU.nl and Margriet, amongst others. Elbaamrani: “During the pandemic, I started to think: am I still happy doing what I do? I had never seriously considered a career in journalism, simply because I hadn’t trained as a journalist. This was a unique opportunity to find out of I wanted to do this for a living.”

DPG Media’s aim for the traineeship is to make sure news is delivered from an even wider range of perspectives. Hasna says she wants to give people something to think about. “I used to do so as a programme maker, organising debates on societal themes, and now I’m doing it as a journalist. During the traineeship, fellow trainees and I got to do job shadowing in several editing teams. But NU.nl really made me feel at home right away. I immediately got the space and freedom to write about subjects I thought were important and didn’t receive enough attention.”

For a media company to continue to be a market leader, the continuous development of its employees is essential. DPG Media ensures sufficient advancement opportunities and invests in talent, knowledge and skills, for example through the training institutes Academy by DPG Media and De Campus. Yann-Michaël De Hauwere told us about his personal growth path within DPG Media.

Having joined the organisation as a data scientist eight years ago, Yann-Michaël currently holds his fourth position within the company: B2C Data Strategy Manager. De Hauwere: “Over the years, data science has become a booming business and more and more attention is being paid to it within the organisation. The moment I saw an opportunity, I was always very vocal about it, which has been helpful. This enabled me to keep taking on more responsibilities and make great steps.”

He learnt a lot by taking internal training courses and figuring out things by himself. “Even managers aren’t omniscient. On the contrary, you need the knowledge of experts in your team,” says De Hauwere. There are many training opportunities within DPG Media, so everyone can choose in what direction they want to develop. From using AI in your work and writing a good interview to personal leadership: there are multiple options for every employee.

This is why De Hauwere gives his team a lot of autonomy. “I’m a huge advocate of freedom in our work, so employees can develop their problem-solving abilities.” But continued in-service training is also important. “It is exactly the combination of autonomy and knowledge that spark the greatest products and applications. I’m sure of this.”

At DPG Media we have a common goal: dealing with data responsibly. “It’s all about being a good host,” says Director of DPG Network Dimitri Heikamp. “We wish to be transparent about how we handle data and explain this to our media users in a simple manner. That’s also what we’re doing right now, for instance by way of a self-developed privacy gate in the DPG Network.”

Some years ago, DPG Media was far too dependent on the conditions of big tech parties, which had access to all of the users’ data. Heikamp: “That felt unpleasant. We investigated building our own network incorporating all of our brands and platforms, which would offer a protected environment to use data responsibly. That’s how the DPG Network came about.”

In 2023, this network was equipped with its own privacy gate, which makes it possible to receive visitors even more personally and give them a clearer explanation of how DPG Media deals with data. “We did this because the standard European language about privacy is so complex, almost legal in nature, that users often don’t know what they’re actually giving permission for.”

This had to change, says Heikamp. “In our own privacy environments, where we of course comply with all European legislation, we really take the visitor by the hand. Using simple terms, we explain to you what we’re doing with your data. This makes things more understandable and manageable. In addition, we make sure you’re logged onto all of our titles after logging onto your DPG Media account once. It’s also becoming easier to customise your settings relating to privacy and data in a single place. Finally, we have an elaborate privacy portal, where we use a Q&A to explain what we’re doing with your data.”

The goal is to create a situation where a bond of trust with our end users goes hand in hand with our commercial objectives. Heikamp: “We’re transparent and honest about this. That’s the only way to build trust with one another.”

In December 2023, Belgian radio station JOE raised 1.6 million euros through the Pakje van je Hart campaign. This meant 35,000 children from disadvantaged families received a present during the holiday season. “This initiative is a great match for the station’s warm character,” says Robin Vissenaekens, Channel Manager at JOE. “Our radio station served as a megaphone to raise awareness of poverty.”

It’s not a given for every child to receive a present during the holiday season. In Belgium, one in five young people grows up in poverty. Vissenaekens: “That’s a depressing figure. Many kids are putting together wish lists, whereas others can’t ask for any presents because there’s no money. When we at JOE asked the charitable organisation Kindergeluk to help us bring some joy to these children, they didn’t take a lot of convincing.”

JOE’s editing team received countless stories, making it apparent that anyone can end up in this situation. Vissenaekens: “The one that has stuck with me was a family with three children whose father got seriously ill and needed expensive surgery. Sadly enough, the father passed away and the family was left in severe debt, whereas they weren’t even living in poverty before. People often say: parents should just work a bit harder. But they’re already working as hard as they can! They sometimes literally skip meals so they can feed their children.”

JOE’s listeners helped make as many children happy as possible. There were three ways in which they could donate a symbolic present: via the online JOE Pakjesshop or the present truck that drove though the country, or at the JOE Christmas House on the Grote Markt square in Antwerp. Afterwards, the children received a gift voucher so they could choose a present themselves. Vissenaekens: “When kids say they finally feel seen, that’s the best present in the world. And the parents were very grateful: their children’s happy faces made them extremely happy.”