Bridging Academia and Industry: A Collaborative Approach for Developing a Responsible News Recommender System

News is vital for understanding the world and engaging in society. In the digital era, news recommender systems (NRSs) have become central to news consumption, providing personalized content tailored to users' preferences. Research on news recommendation has grown over the past decade, with increasing attention to the responsible design of these systems. We argue that the development of responsible NRSs requires a multidisciplinary approach that integrates technical, journalistic and user-centered expertise. However, collaboration between academia and industry in this area remains rare and little guidance exists on structuring such partnerships for mutual success. This paper addresses this gap by sharing insights from a collaboration between academia and the German news organization DER SPIEGEL on developing a responsible NRS. We outline the project's framework, detailing its phases, milestones and the current state of the system. Additionally, we discuss the challenges encountered, the lessons learned and the benefits gained by all parties involved in the collaboration. By sharing our experiences, we aim to inspire and support similar partnerships and drive responsible news recommendation through a mix of practical and academic strategies.