Weltzeit 1 | 2018: Freedom. Speech. Expression.

weltzeit DW Magazine

JUNE 2018

Freedom. Speech. Expression.

The fact that Deutsche Welle came into being on the date the United Nations proclaimed as World Press Freedom Day is, as we say in ­Berlin, “ein glücklicher Zufall” (a happy coincidence). In its 65 years, DW has tenaciously protected and furthered that freedom, not just in the ­exercise of its own right to unfettered expression, but in the assurance of that right to the women and men who are its audience. In working to protect those who tell the truth, the United Nations, like Deutsche Welle, continues to cast off the chains that deny the dignity and the worth of human beings.« Alison Smale, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, United Nations

Polarization in our politics and growing economic ­inequality is threatening to tear our societies apart.

But while we are seeing more examples of how inequality is wreaking havoc on people’s lives and basic ­human rights, we are also seeing people rise up with renewed energy to challenge these injustices. The desire to live a life of opportunity that is free from oppression and ­indignity is an aspiration that billions of people share.

Now is the moment to celebrate and champion their ­stories.« Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International

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Editorial

It feels good to be able to look back on a 65-year-long tradition of journalism.

We at Deutsche Welle are proud of what we have achieved. Since its launch in 1953, DW has witnessed enormous changes. We have evolved from a shortwave radio station for Germans abroad into one of the leading ­international multimedia broadcasters.

Every day we feel the privilege and the accompanying responsibility as Germany’s voice among international media. DW has become a reliable source of information for a consistently growing number of u ­ sers all over the world. In our work, we push back against the crackdown on freedom of expression with a type of journalism that is, without exception, impartial and objec­tive in its nature. The appreciation we ­receive for this work is a wonderful source of motivation.

Our transmission signals continue to be blocked by many regimes around the world and yet, people living under dictatorships still find ways to read our content and to share it with others. For us, this means that

we must always maintain the highest technological standards, for instance utilizing special software to bypass censorship.

Our goal is to help people understand the greater context and to form their own

»DW is idealism brought to life.« opinions. Digitization has opened new horizons for us, allowing us to offer s­ ignificantly more people a voice and have them participate in the global dialogue, many more than DW’s founding fathers would have ever dreamed of.

Every day I work with highly motivated colleagues from 60 nations to make the world a better place, a world in which one’s individual opinion counts. DW is idealism brought to life. Of course this idealism has its limits but we persevere. Nothing and no one will prevent us from telling the truth.

Looking back on these 65 years is not a moment of mere contemplation. It is ­rather an opportunity of encouragement to meet our users’ high expectations and to ­accompany and inspire them. We must build upon the foundations of responsible journalism seen in our long history thus becoming part of how we perceive ourselves. DW is the ­foreign broadcaster of one of the strongest d ­ emocracies in the world but we understand that we are not without imperfections.

Encouragement and inspiration are the main topics of this edition of Weltzeit, which ­deals with the aspects and goals of our d ­ aily activities. We prefer not to look back but ­rather to focus on the ­challenges we continue to face now and will in the future as ­Germany’s international broadcaster.

Yours sincerely, Ines Pohl twitter.com/inespohl

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ENCOUNTERS

Julia Hahn has been reporting for DW from

Istanbul since the beginning of the year. “For me, it’s a dream come true,” said the 32-year-old, who studied international politics in Erfurt, Istanbul and Zurich.

She also completed a traineeship at DW and has since reported from many locations—including Turkey— and worked as a news moderator in Berlin.

After receiving her permanent accreditation from the Turkish authorities, she has been able to assume her post at the new DW bureau in the city where ­Europe and Asia meet. “Istanbul has become my second home.

I’ve built a good network here,” said Hahn. The office

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near Taksim Square is equipped with modern TV and communications equipment and offers a bird’s eye view across the city.

In light of the current difficulties in the relationship between Germany and Turkey and the impact of restrictions on freedom of the press in Turkey, it is even more vital for DW to provide objective reporting about developments in the country. That is the mission that Director General Peter Limbourg presented the correspondent as she headed off to her new position. twitter.com/juliahahntv

Contents 18 Interview with Peter Limbourg We are the voice of all of Germany

ENCOUNTERS 4 Julia Hahn New DW Istanbul correspondent

20 Controversy Journalism and the terror trap

6 Sharon Momanyi A moderator in paradise

22 Verification Sherlock Holmes 4.0

6 Ofelia Harms Peace: A matter of the heart

Jamshid Barzegar Strengthening freedom of expression in Iran

24 Digitalization

Change is the new normal

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25 Strong partnerships

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Rüdiger Rossig An expert for the Balkans

26 Testimonials 28 China Riding the red dragon 30 Myanmar On air: A rural revolution

UP TO DATE 8 DW Freedom Fighting for free speech

32 DW Akademie From free speech to media literacy

8 Newsroom opening A new(s) beginning

34 Africa #The77percent: The future of Africa History project: African Roots

9 Freedom of Speech Award 2018 Sadegh Zibakalam, Iran

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36 Arab World From the Arab Spring to the Ice Age

FEATURE ARTICLES 38 Latin America In the public interest

10 DW anniversary

Still hoping for news of a better world

39 Imprint

13 Our mandate

Telling it like it is

40 Corporate culture

Communicating and living our values

14 Western Balkans

Fact checking ‘stabilocrats’ Multimedia project: Balkan Booster 16 Greece The show of the ‘free smokers’ Video project: Amazing Greeks

AROUND THE WORLD 42 Carolina Chimoy Between two worlds

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ENCOUNTERS

©© DW

A moderator in paradise Sharon Momanyi considers herself a Kenyan through and through. As an award-winning journalist, Momanyi has dedi­ cated herself to reporting on environmental issues from her home base in Nairobi, where she moderates DW’s environmental TV program Eco@Africa.

DW’s English-language TV series Eco@Africa is a unique ­uropean-Pan-African co-production. Since 2016, it has been E ­produced in cooperation with Channels TV in Nigeria and Kenya Television Network (KTN) and is broadcast by more than 60 partners. The 100th episode of the series aired in the spring of 2018.

The series focuses on ecological innovations and best-practice examples from Africa and Europe as well as clever ideas for climate protection from all over the world. It is a show about solutions that is jointly presented by Momanyi and Channels TV moderator ­Nneota Egbe.

Momanyi studied journalism and public relations in Nairobi and has a master’s degree in international relations. She worked for more than four years at KTN as a news presenter and reporter. Environmental reporting is her passion but some of her other areas of interest include health, education and development.

Sharon Momanyi has been part of the Eco@Africa team since autumn 2017 and says that the show “deals with key issues in an innovative way. For a dedicated environmental journalist, the ­program is paradise.”

Sharon Momanyi

dw.com/eco-africa twitter.com/dw_environment

Peace: A matter of the heart

Ofelia Harms and her colleague Aitor Saez

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Colombia is undergoing a crucial peace process making it an ­exciting place to be for a young correspondent. Ofelia Harms runs the new DW bureau in Bogotá. Her objective is to improve and strengthen DW’s reporting from Latin America.

“Colombia is a symbol of hope for all of Latin America and a shining example of a civil society seeking solutions to a conflict ­together in order to bring an end to violence,” DW’s Director ­General Peter Limbourg said on the occasion of the opening of the new office in January.

Ofelia Harms, the head of the Bogotá office, delivers news r­ eports as well as background stories analyzing issues from across the region mainly for DW’s Spanish and English TV channels. The 31-year-old says that addressing issues often avoided by South A ­ merican news outlets, such as corruption and disadvantages suffered by indigenous people, is a matter of the heart for her.

Harms is familiar with both the European and the Latin ­American world. Born in Puebla, Mexico, she later studied communication sciences. At 24 she moved to Bonn to complete her master’s ­degree, which was followed by a traineeship at DW. She has been with the Spanish department in Berlin since 2015 and has also worked for the DW Akademie.

Ofelia Harms has a busy year ahead of her as several countries in the region will hold elections in 2018. twitter.com/oharruti

Strengthening freedom of expression in Iran

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Jamshid Barzegar has been the head of DW’s Farsi service since February 2018. The renowned journalist wants to expand DW’s news offerings for Iran and use social media to increase the broadcaster’s reach.

“Deutsche Welle has a long and successful history of building bridges throughout the world. To be a part of the DW family is a strong motivator,” said Barzegar. Prior to his new job in Bonn, he was a senior Iran analyst and editor with the BBC in London.

Iran is one of the most heavily regulated markets targeted by DW. The blocking of internet services by the government in Tehran is “completely unacceptable,” said DW’s Director of Programming Gerda Meuer. “On a positive note, the use of tools by citizens to work around censorship is widespread and the interest in information from international sources is quite high.” For Deutsche Welle, it is vital to contribute to the advancement of freedom of expression in Iran.

Barzegar has been working as a journalist for almost 30 years.

Until 2001 he worked for numerous print media outlets in Tehran, then for the BBC in London and Vienna. After two years with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, he returned to the BBC in 2008 where he was responsible for the Persian-language radio and online services.

Barzegar has produced, among other things, eight TV documentaries on Iran, has written several books and is a frequent guest on television and radio broadcasts. dw.com/persian facebook.com/dw.persian

Jamshid Barzegar

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An expert for the Balkans Rüdiger Rossig took over the management of the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian services in April. He has worked for DW’s Balkan languages as a freelancer for several years and is also an author and documentary filmmaker.

Born in Mannheim in 1967, Rossig previously worked for the newspaper taz ­beginning in 1993, focusing on the conflict in the Balkans. Rossig studied ­Balkanology and Southeastern European history. He started his career as a local reporter at the Mannheimer Morgen newspaper in 1987.

In the mid-1990s he moved to Zagreb, Croatia to work for UNTV, reporting about the work of the UN peacekeeping troops. He later transferred to ­Sarajevo, Bosnia to work as a radio producer for the UNIPTF policing mission there. In 1998, he returned to taz in Berlin, penning and editing opinion pieces.

In 2006, he was also involved as a senior editor during the launch of the monthly ­ newspaper The German Times.

Rossig has always had a keen interest in people who moved to Germany from Yugoslavia and its successor states. He has

Rüdiger Rossig

been following the movements of so-called guest workers coming to Germany since the 1980s and during the Balkans War he supported refugees coming to Germany from all parts of then Yugoslavia.

In 2008, he brought all his experiences ­together in his book entitled “(Ex-)Jugos” and went on to film the documentary ­“Europe’s forgotten protectorates” which was produced in Bosnia and Kosovo with director Zoran Solomun.

“Rüdiger Rossig has known the people of this region for decades,” said Adelheid

Feilcke, head of the European desk. “Not only does he have the journalistic expertise needed for the role but also brings along the cultural sensitivities required for dealing with a region plagued by so much war and trauma.” ruediger-rossig.de dw.com/bs | dw.com/hr |

dw.com/sr

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UP TO DATE

Fighting for free speech The new online project “DW Freedom” informs users about violations of free speech rights and liberties while providing a networking platform denouncing censorship.

From convictions for publishing alleged propaganda to the murder of journalists to restrictions of women’s rights, on the DW Freedom website and on social ­media, Germany’s international broadcaster compiles the latest stories and background articles on violations as well as on the advancement of freedom of speech, freedom of expression and media freedom worldwide.

The project is closely linked to the “­Freedom of Speech Award,” which DW has been giving out at its Global Media F ­ orum in Bonn since 2015. Laureates and their initiatives will be featured by DW Freedom, promoting solidarity with victims like Raif Badawi, the 2015 winner who is still ­detained in Saudi Arabia for publishing a blog. DW Freedom is also connected to numerous ­international human rights organizations.

As DW celebrates its 65th anniversary, it is focusing on its core goals with this proj-

dw.com/freedom

ect. Part of DW’s mission is to stand for the strengthening of liberties and democratic values worldwide while promoting intercultural dialogue. These are issues that have grown in importance considerably in recent years. “Every journalist has the right to do his job. Every artist has the right to express himself. And it should also be the right of every human being to openly voice their opinion,” said DW Director General Peter Limbourg at the launch of DW Freedom.

The latest contributions and s­tudies, as well as interviews with i­nternational

­ ctivists, scientists, cartoonists and h a ­ ackers, can be found on the website, on Twitter and Facebook. Discussions among users focus on secure communication and data protection. DW Editor-in-Chief Ines Pohl is convinced that “freedom is the ultimate human right whether it is freedom of ­expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly or religious freedom.”

dw.com/freedom twitter.com/dw_freedom facebook.com/dw.freedom

A new(s) beginning

Peter Limbourg speaks at the newsroom opening

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©© DW/J. Röhl

DW has recently opened a freshly designed newsroom at its ­Berlin offices. The new premises are another milestone for DW as a fully integrated digital media organization.

News planners are working alongside journalists from business, culture and sports in the new workspace which spans three floors. They are also joined by the social media desk as well as the politics and society departments.

Parliamentarians from the Bundestag and representatives of government ministries joined Director General Peter ­Limbourg at the opening ceremony. Limbourg thanked the politicians in attendance for their support of DW, hoping that all departments would start off on a good foot.

Limbourg said that the newsroom sent a signal of “a new beginning,” stressing that the competition and pace of the news business had increased significantly in recent times. He added that the new space would help propel DW forward in playing a decisive role in the media field.

“The improved interplay between various departments and workflows will help speed up the procedures allowing us to reach users even faster across various media platforms,” Limbourg said. dw.com/news

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Sadegh Zibakalam from Iran is this year’s DW Freedom of Speech Award recipient

DW Freedom of Speech Award 2018 For the fourth time, Deutsche Welle is honoring a person or initiative promoting freedom of e ­ xpression and human rights in an exceptional way. This year’s award recipient is Sadegh Zibakalam, born in T ­ ehran in 1948, one of the most prominent public intellectuals and political analysts in Iran.

Sadegh Zibakalam, a professor of political science at the University of T ­ ehran, is currently appealing an 18-month jail sentence handed to him in April 2018. He was charged and then sentenced following an interview with DW’s Farsi service in which he commented on the recent n ­ ationwide unrest in Iran. “The bitter ­reality is that having a contrasting opinion with the ­ ­establishment amounts to a political crime,” Zibakalam told DW. The reformist has become a prominent figure across the nation for his heated debates with hardliners during which he ­ publicly challenges the government stances on many sensitive political issues including the country’s nuclear program and its ­foreign and domestic policies.

He is the author of several bestselling books in Persian, including “How Did We Become What We Are?,” “Hashemi Without Polish,” “Tradition and Modernity” and “An Introduction to the Islamic Revolution.” His books are popular amongst students and ­intellectuals and are available in Iran.

Zibakalam earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Huddersfield in England. During a visit to Iran in 1974, he was arrested by the s­ ecret police of the Pahlavi regime and ­imprisoned for three years. The accusations ­behind his imprisonment included “­sabotage against the government” and also for participating in “propaganda” ­activities.

Following the Islamic Revolution, ­Zibakalam returned to England in 1984 and completed his PhD degree from the Peace Center at the University of Bradford. In 1990, he returned to his home country and two years later he started working at the University of Tehran. Since then, Zibakalam has frequently appeared in international news outlets, including the BBC and Al ­Jazeera.

Zibakalam nominated himself in 2000 as an independent candidate to run for parliament. He was later disqualified to run by the Guardian Council. Zibakalam is not a member of any political party.

DW Director General Peter Limbourg said: “Our utmost concern is to reach p ­ eople

who live in countries with limited freedom of speech. One of those countries is Iran.”

Former laureates are imprisoned ­Saudi blogger Raif Badawi who received the first Freedom of Speech Award in 2015. His wife, Ensaf Haidar, accepted the award on his behalf. In 2016 the award went to Sedat ­ Ergin, then editor-in-chief of the Turkish daily “Hurriyet,” the last independent newspaper which dared to oppose the government of President Erdogan. Last year DW honored the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA).

The ceremony for the Freedom of Speech Award 2018 will take place at the Global ­Media Forum, DW’s international media conference, in Bonn in June.

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FEATURE ARTICLES

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JOHANNES HOFFMANN, HEAD OF THE DIRECTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE

Still hoping for news of a better world Giving people around the world free access to reliable information so they can form their own opinion has been Deutsche Welle’s mission for the last 65 years. This was true at the height of the Cold War and during the division of Germany, especially with regard to Eastern Europe. This still applies today especially in the face of expanding restrictions on freedom of the press in an increasing number of countries.

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few days before the presidential elections in March 2018, a report by Deutsche Welle caused a stir in Moscow. In an online ­article, the Russian desk examined protest strategies during the campaign. Some Russian supporters called it a “blatant violation of journalistic ethics and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of a state.” The Russian foreign ministry said it was “a particularly cynical and insidious intrusion of the Russian electoral sphere.”

That sort of aggressive rhetoric is reminiscent of bygone times and 30 years after the end of the East-West confrontation, a new Cold War appears to be emerging, this one between a self-confident nationalist Russia on the one hand, an erratic U.S. on the other and a despondent, ­eroding Europe in between.

Interests and demands, social ­models and values are once again situated inter­

»Values are again ­situated ­inter­nationally ­in ­contradiction.«

nationally in violent contradiction. A competition for ideas and the fight for the heads are—as before—being carried out through the media. This occurs mainly today on television and digital platforms, powerful tools for shaping opinions and winning over the public.

Launched on May 3, 1953, DW is a child of the Cold War. Through 1989 a media arms race helped Germany’s foreign broadcaster prosper. DW went on air for the first time with a radio program in German but soon the service expanded to an audience of “dear compatriots all over the world,” as Federal President Theodor Heuss said at the launch of DW. In 1962, there were already 17 broadcasting languages. Four years later, that number rose to 28 and by 1973, it had 33. The budget and number of employees grew correspondingly.

After the fall of the wall The fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe in 1989 brought about a turning point as international broadcasters experienced painful cuts. They nearly spanned the globe but the immensely expensive shortwave capacities seemed to have ­ fallen behind the times. Dismantling was the ­ motto and financiers of the state questioned the legitimacy of the broadcaster.

Still DW achieved a small interim high.

In 1992, German foreign television b ­ egan broadcasting from Berlin via satellite. ­Reunited Germany wanted to present ­itself as a cosmopolitan, peace-loving and European-driven nation to the world through the power of television. All the same, some DW broadcasting language offerings were significantly reduced or discontinued.

Hungarian, Czech and ­Slovak seemed dispensable in view of the policy of detente, the process of European unification and from that perspective, irreversible democratic developments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Radio for new crises The war in former Yugoslavia shocked Europe awake from its dreams of peace.

Educational radio programs in Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian and Bosnian were the order of the day at DW. By the time 9/11 stunned the world followed by wars in ­Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, final hopes for a more peaceful world were dashed.

At the same time, media markets worldwide underwent dramatic change. Liberalization, deregulation and ­ digitization brought new actors, exacerbated competition and profoundly changed usage patterns within just a few years. These were

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»Any investment in DW is an investment in the promotion of democratic values.«

developments that DW—like other foreign broadcasters—had to consider from a technical as well as a programming perspective while also keeping in mind their impact in regards to distribution channels.

New job, new tasks The DW law was amended in 2005 in order to take the changing times into account ­allowing DW the explicit use of “telemedia” to bring its content to the people.

In spite of the challenging budget cuts that have taken place since 1998, DW has managed to keep up with international standards. Savings programs and the redeployment of funds have made it possible to react quickly to political challenges. When the Arab world and Afghanistan came to the forefront of public attention after the attacks on September 11, 2001, DW intensified its activities in these regions. In 2002, a two-hour TV window for Afghanistan was launched marking the first time such a television program was produced specifically for a crisis region. At the same time, DW Akademie started training Afghan journalists. A few months later, three hours of TV programming were offered in Arabic as a contribution to dialogue with the Islamic world and to conflict prevention.

It is global developments like these that are putting DW back into focus. The government and parliament are increasingly recognizing the value that a high-achieving foreign broadcaster has for Germany. TV, radio and online offerings in 30 languages remain an effective way to convey German and European positions and perspectives internationally.

Although it has gone largely unnoticed by the broader public in Western countries, China, Russia and Iran have over the past decade professionalized, expanded and ideologically positioned their instruments

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of foreign communication. CGTN, RT and Press TV represent efforts to flank power and foreign media with propaganda and disinformation.

Enlightenment versus propaganda DW counters this with comprehensive information that is based on its journalistic values and quality standards. Only then can it convincingly defy the new “Cold Warriors.” The massive increase in the use of Russian and Ukrainian programming since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is impressive and stands as proof that DW is still regarded by many as a credible and reliable source of news and information.

In order to remain capable of acting in the interests of Germany in a politically volatile world, the diversity of languages at DW is essential. But even then new trouble spots flare up with regularity, requiring ­media reaction, be it the increased migration to Europe or the shift in Turkey t­ owards an autocratic system. DW also offers an information service to people between ­ the ­ Bosphorus and Anatolia that is free, independent and diverse. Plans to launch a Turkish TV program with other Western overseas broadcasters are being prepared and could kick off soon.

Any investment in DW is an investment in the promotion of democratic values and global access to reliable information, prerequisites for the formation of opinions and the development of critical dialogue. dw.com/65years

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FEATURE ARTICLES

©© DW/S. Takato

No topic ist taboo on DW’s Shababtalk

GERDA MEUER, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING

Telling it like it is We have breaking news that moves the world. We provide uncensored information that no one in our target region provides. We inform and we question, we explain and enhance. We are quick and thorough. This is what we stand for.

We tell it like it is.

Telling it like it is: That’s a motto for journalists from the analog world coined by Rudolf Augstein, the founder of the German magazine Der Spiegel. Right from the time it was founded, there was value in following this creed. The motto is even more relevant in the digital world today, at a time in which everything appears to be given equal weight and no evidence is provided or proven. It is a world in which Deutsche Welle is moving dynamically and is, itself, a player.

All over the world communities are ­becoming frustrated with the internet. Our answer to this is to pay greater attention and to have even more journalistic diligence whether working on a thoroughly investigated story, conducting a confrontational interview with a politician or reporting from a country where terror reigns. We offer facts instead of fake news, attitude in lieu of hate, exchange instead of isolation.

To top it all off, we have the appreciation of those we are there for: our users worldwide who value us as a credible source and who

have free access to information via our platforms and can communicate with others around the globe as a result.

The fruitful debates sparked on the digital platforms of our Arabic program, the controversial discussions that our African users are having on Facebook, the great commitment with which our Asian language editors have been so successfully addressing their audiences in the digital world and the widespread acceptance of the English-language TV channel are just a few of the many examples highlighting the power DW has had in its 65 years of existence.

There is a crucial difference to earlier times for those in charge of programming today at Deutsche Welle. Active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms, we exist in a public sphere where it is not only journalists who are broadcasting messages but where everyone contributes. Members of the public, who had previously only been the recipients of messages, can now produce their

»Facts instead of fake news, attitude in lieu of hate, exchange instead of isolation« own. That creates an implied closeness as we are in d ­ irect e ­ xchange with the user and can t­ ailor our offerings to better meet him or her. We are using data which had never been available before through the analysis of the individual successes and failures of each format.

What makes us strong? Distinguished heads of programming who maintain a perspective that is agile in regards to output and who can recognize a good story. They lead the way to wherever is possible, they correct our direction where course correction is necessary and are, as a result, role models for their younger colleagues.

Working together, we have set our program goals for the coming years. We want to place greater emphasis on digital, to become increasingly focused and to offer more exclusive content. We want to tell more of our own stories and rejuvenate e ­xisting programs. Above all, what we broadcast to the world must not leave anyone indifferent as we should not be indifferent. “That which you want to ignite in others must be sparked from a fire burning within you.”

That’s another sentence from analog times which remains valid in the digital age. The journalism which we want to inspire must continue to inspire us.

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FEATURE ARTICLES

ADELHEID FEILCKE, HEAD OF EUROPEAN DESK

Fact checking ‘stabilocrats’ Europe is facing a crisis! Democracy is facing a crisis! These kinds of headlines are becoming more common. Nationalism and populism are on the rise while liberal sections of society are being eroded. Southeast Europe, however, is rather used to these ­developments. People there have been observing the ­worrying rise of many of the same crises for years. There’s a sense of ­fatigue spreading when it comes to democracy and ­further ­weariness with regards to the idea of Europe. As DW marks its 65th year, it continues to counter such currents and to provice a platform for skeptical minds and differing views.

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patterns championed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan where democracy is nothing but a means to an end and not an end in and of itself. These leaders know how to abuse democracy and simultaneously ­invalidate it to ensure that no other elite may take over from them. What’s left of the rule of law is merely what’s on paper.

This gradual political erosion marked by a series of “legal ­reforms”, has even reached more established young ­ democracies in central Europe such as P ­ oland and Hungary while the Romanian government has also been trying to tighten its grip on power.

Access to alternative news sources Whenever these increasingly ­authoritarian regimes start to try and undermine the separation of powers in their countries, attacks on the media usually follow. They use a host of legal tricks and employ economic displacement policies to marginalize or cut off dissenting voices. Reporters

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ountries in the Western Balkans, especially Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, have long lost their enthusiasm for d ­ emocracy, leading to much disillusionment and stagnation. This has helped a stale political class to remain in power using populist and ­nationalist slogans despite being steeped in corruption and cronyism. With no change in sight, the result has been a major “brain drain.”

It’s no surprise that people continue to migrate from EU member and accession states in the Western Balkans. Those who can find a way to seek a better future in Western Europe take the opportunity, turning their backs on their seemingly ­ hopeless homes between the Adriatic Sea and the Danube River.

Now there is a new form of government taking shape in the Balkans where authoritarianism meets nationalism backed up by a neoliberal economy. These so-called “stabilitocracies” follow the same power-­grabbing

Balkans: The lives of others DW’s multimedia project “Balkan Booster” hopes to shed light on sociocultural aspects of life in the Balkans and to dismantle prejudice by bringing together young journalists, activists, authors and cartoonists.

Working in teams of two, participants from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, ­Macedonia and Serbia visited each other in their different home countries in order to gain insight into the everyday lives of others. By granting each other this access, participants discovered both similarities and differences as they dealt with the prejudices still underlying life in the region. What does a young woman from Republika Srpska expect when she visits an Albanian-influenced region in Macedonia? Or a Croatian who goes to Gracanica in Kosovo?

With the support of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, journalists from Deutsche Welle’s West Balkan editorial team accompanied the teams on their trips and let Facebook users participate with their own text contributions, videos and picture galleries.

Approximately 240 videos in five regional languages—Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian and Serbian—were viewed nearly four million times and received thousands of reactions and comments on social media. multimedia.dw.com/balkan-booster

»Whenever authoritarian regimes start to try and undermine the separation of powers, attacks on the media usually follow.« Without ­Borders (RSF) ranks Bulgaria 109, Macedonia 111 and Montenegro 106 on its press freedom index (out of a total of 180 nations).

That’s why it is increasingly important to provide spaces for skeptical minds and differing views against the backdrop of the loud voices of government-backed media propagating populist ideas. Over the past few years, RT, Sputnik and Al Jazeera have expanded their programming in the region and are fanning anti-­ European and anti-­ democratic sentiments.

DW is the only remaining Western ­European news organization in Southeast Europe offering content in local languages.

DW and the plurality of opinion

Colors of protest: A monument in ­Macedonia after a protest march in August 2016

Since the beginning of the war in the Balkans, DW has established itself as a voice of reason in the region. DW journalists are regarded as trustworthy and their reports are given credibility whether the language is Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Albanian or Macedonian.

DW’s language teams managed to succeed in cultivating this trust by using i­nnovative formats as well as their ­regional expertise.

By building partnerships with m ­ ajor TV channels and delivering c­ontent in local ­languages, DW contributes to the public discourse in Albania, Bulgaria, ­Serbia, ­Kosovo, Romania, Moldova, Croatia, ­Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

DW’s Western Balkans language departments also use their programming to teach young people about fact checking and to encourage them to enter a dialogue with each other. The weekly internet video format #DE_Facto and the dialogue format “Balkan Booster” got millions of clicks and thousands of responses last year.

65 years after its founding, DW maintains a strong presence in Southeast Europe that is youthful, fresh and visible. As a voice of freedom and equality, and therefore, an advocate for a democratic future in Europe, DW is an indispensable broadcaster in the region.

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FEATURE ARTICLES

SPIROS MOSKOVOU, HEAD OF DW’S GREEK SERVICE

You are listening to the show of the ‘free smokers’ Deutsche Welle’s presence in Greece is steeped in history. The high point of the Greek program came in the late 1960s during the military dictatorship when millions of Greeks sat glued to the radios every night, eager to hear what was actually going on in their country. DW has maintained a reputation as a credible, reliable source of information ever since.

In January DW published a report on the dire situation in the Greek labor market.

Although unemployment fell from 27 to 20 percent, the report said that six out of ten workers are employed only part-time and on average, these workers are waiting six months for their salaries. The report came at a time when the Tsipras government was increasingly broadcasting stories about the success of its labor market ­policy. In ­response to these claims, a conservative politician wrote in a Greek newspaper: “As during the time of the dictatorship, we r­ emained silent and listened to Deutsche Welle.” Even today, the Greek politician a ­ dded, his countrymen and women are depending on the German broadcaster to reveal the reality of the situation in the country.

During the period of the military junta, DW was one of just a few sources of free ­information in a country where there was no longer any freedom of the press. Radio was seen as enlightenment and an exercise in freedom under the watchful eyes

Amazing Greeks Reporters from DW’s Greek service produced a series of video portraits of successful Greeks in Germany.

Produced as a mobile reporting initiative, the editorial team presented reports about a dozen successful Greeks living in Germany in what turned out to be a popular series.

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of a ­ dictatorship where listening to foreign broadcasters was frowned upon. DW ­became a collective experience, one which many Greeks still remember today.

At the time, DW was ­comprehensively reporting on the activities of the resistance that was taking shape abroad. People learned about the fate of resistance fighters in Greece—­ arrests, torture—for the first time. Through a broad network of ­sources, the Greek editorial staff collected and disseminated important news that would have otherwise fallen under the censorship of the colonels. Our colleagues at the time castigated the regime in Athens with no ­uncertainty.

Since the fall of the junta in 1974, Deutsche Welle has been considered the ­ most important ­ German contribution to the restoration of democracy. The author and ­ journalist A ­ lexander Skinas, one of the main c­ ommentators of the Greek DW broadcasts, explained the situation in an interview: “What Deutsche Welle created

The show, called Amazing Greeks, ­ttracted a lot of attention on Deutsche a Welle’s Greek-language website and on Facebook. The portraits included a fish monger in Cologne, a 90-year-old ballet dancer in Stuttgart, a cardiologist in Berlin and a s­ oprano in Wuppertal.

“The financial crisis has really hit Greece hard,” Spiros Moskovou, head of the Greek service, explained.

in these s­even years of struggle against the dictatorship was a moral and political investment in Greece by Germany. To this day, DW represents the confidence that the Greeks have in German democracy.” This is a challenge, considering the devastation Nazi Germany left behind in Greece.

This historical legacy explains the ­renaissance of the Greek DW program in 1989, when private broadcasting was permitted for the first time in Greece. Since then, DW’s programs and services have been picked up by dozens of local broadcasters in Athens and its premium partner SKAI TV. DW maintains its reputation as a serious and reliable broadcaster in Greece. Over all these years, even during times when the slightest noise resulted in a restriction of civil liberties, people have always counted on this well-known media brand. After the Greek government first announced a smoking ban in public buildings and restaurants in 2002, a large Greek newspaper responded with a cartoon featuring a Greek man barricaded in his apartment, sitting in front of his radio and smoking in despair. Coming from the radio, he hears with relief: “This is Deutsche Welle. You are listening to the show of the free smokers.” dw.com/greek

“Many people were hurt and felt insulted that the German media made Greeks look lazy and extravagant.” He added that in contrast to this perception, the DW project ­actually flattered “the Greek soul.”

Interest for the show quickly moved on from social media to more traditional platforms as Greece’s largest private TV channel and DW’s premium partner, SKAI TV, included the series in its popular morning show.

Promoting freedom of speech We cannot have strong and healthy democracies without high-quality journalism that protects people’s interest. In the time of online disinformation, we need more than ever trusted and independent media that helps citizens make informed d ­ ecisions. It is part of the principals and values on which European democracy is built on. ­Deutsche Welle is a real and inspiring example of media leadership showing us that informing people and guarding public i­ nterest is a high standard mission that can be reached.« Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Bulgaria

At a time when autocratic governments are attacking media freedom and challenging factual reporting to avoid public exposure of their misrule, Deutsche Welle stands out for its dedication to accurate journalism in multiple languages. Human Rights Watch is proud to have served as a reliable source for Deutsche Welle for many years. We ­attentively follow its dispatches and gratefully benefit from its broadcast of our own investigations and analysis.«

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Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch

»Even today, DW is a symbol of the trust that the Greek people have in German democracy.«

CUNY TV airs a number of DW programs from news and features to the talk show Quadriga as well as the magazines ­Euromaxx, Focus Europe and Global 3000. Our audience values the informative, educational and entertaining formats as we can see in our positive feedback.« Oksana Israilova, Broadcast Associate, CUNY TV, New York

Indian music has grown over thousands of years and is still alive today. Its power derives from ­ open-minded people in the past and the present who have been unconfined by boundaries. The music award commissioned by DW and the Beethovenfest Bonn promotes that freedom.« Rakesh Chaurasia, Indian flutist and this year’s composer for the campus project of Deutsche Welle and Beethovenfest Bonn

Deutsche Welle

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FEATURE ARTICLES

CHRISTOPH JUMPELT, HEAD OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

‘We are the voice of all of Germany’ Deutsche Welle has 65 years of eventful history to look back on and continues to face challenges.

Director General Peter Limbourg explains why Germany has to keep expanding its media presence across the globe.

What is the greatest challenge for an international media organization today compared to the past?

Deutsche Welle has always served numerous purposes throughout its history. In the early days, we had to be a voice from home for Germans who were far away from their country and wanted to receive reliable news from Germany. Nowadays, DW is an international broadcaster operating in 30 languages across all platforms, from radio to TV to online news and social media. Of course we will continue to deliver a comprehensive image on the things that Germany represents. However, our programming today is aimed much more directly at our audiences across the world than it used to be. We want to engage in dialogue and a lot has happened in the past few years to that end. Co-productions with our international partners are now at the heart of our work, building on our approach to keep both our audiences and partners involved. Our content is heavily based on what is relevant to our target groups.

How much independence does DW have in pursuing its agenda?

Our great strength lies in our ability to work independently and that we’re free from any kind of state control. We are a news organization that is comfortable in dealing with both the government and the opposition in Germany and that is keen to involve all parts of society. As opposed to many other state broadcasters, we are not the mouthpiece of the government. We are the voice of all of Germany. That’s what sets us apart. What we offer is journalism, not PR. We try to do the same in our target

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markets, where our reporting aims to give the government and its opposition equal coverage.

Deutsche Welle is funded by ­German taxpayers’ money. What benefits do taxpayers reap from DW’s programming when they can’t even access its broadcasts in Germany?

The country’s success is held in high esteem internationally. The economy is largely ­dependent on its exports so it is truly open to the rest of the world. In fact its success

»The ­demand for objective reporting continues to grow.« grows the more open Germany is. One way of expressing that openness is by painting a realistic portrait of Germany and Europe and making our uncensored content available to people living in difficult regions. It is important to share the values enshrined in our constitution—the Grundgesetz—such as tolerance, freedom, demo­cracy and social justice. In many countries, these values are under threat.

When certain regions suffer from terrorism and war or famines because of bad governance, we are ultimately all afflicted.

This also happens when people are exposed to nothing but propaganda. German taxpayers have a ­vested interest in living in a peaceful and just world. DW contributes to reaching these goals by ­informing people

that G ­ ermany would otherwise not be able to reach.

DW faces an ever-growing number of journalistic challenges. What are the reasons why our financial endowment should be improved?

We have proven in the past that we know how to achieve maximum effect within our given means while still successfully exploring new things, not only in terms of our global reach but also when it comes to innovation and our commitment to digitalization within DW. In certain regions we are very popular including in the Arab world, Latin America and in parts of Africa. We can still improve a great deal and are committed to this. Our Russian and Ukrainian services reacted swiftly to the annexation of Crimea, reporting in great depth and delivering o ­ bjective information into that region. E ­ xamples like these serve as proof of DW’s success. Our journalists know their trade. We are good at what we do and we will continue to do our jobs as the need and demand for objective reporting ­continue to grow.

It’s in our best interest to meet this demand. This is why I’m convinced that ­ we can still attract many more users. It is our mandate to deliver answers to the big ­issues of our time including war, terrorism, ­migration and propaganda. We are doing our part to address these concerns and are also hoping to work closer with our ­European partners in France and the UK to that end.

Considering the fact that freedom and democracy are facing increasingly ­ ­ serious threats with autocracy and dictatorship on the rise, we need to continue to deliver a counterbalance as a news organization.

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DW Director General Peter Limbourg

Countries like China and Iran, as well as a number of African nations, continue to actively block DW’s journalistic content.

Is this also a badge of honor for you when foreign regimes try to disable DW’s broadcasts and online content?

One could regard it as a badge of honor, but in my view it’s actually quite shameful that these countries have such low self-esteem that they have to censor critical voices. It’s a sign of their weakness. These countries are trying to prevent their people from having objective information about democracy and human rights as well as press freedom.

We’re absolutely convinced that in the long run, our persistence in delivering objective information will pay out in the markets that currently block our content. In some of those regions, we’re actually very ­successful

»I would like for us to continue to enjoy such a strong backing and to be guaranteed future perspectives.«

act during any diplomatic dealings with these countries.

What do you wish DW on its 65th birthday?

We have great support from most leaders in government. I would like for Deutsche Welle to continue to enjoy such strong backing and to be guaranteed future perspectives as a sign of goodwill toward our employees who are all doing such amazing work.

as people take matters into their own hands and seek solutions to work around such blockades by utilizing specific software. That being said, it is also my opinion that our government needs to treat these efforts to actively block such information as a h ­ ostile

Deutsche Welle

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©© picture alliance/Michael Kappeler/dpa

Berlin, December 2016

CHRISTIAN F. TRIPPE, HEAD OF SECURITY AND SOCIAL ISSUES DESK

Journalism and the terror trap September 11, 2001 marked a decisive change in all kinds of fields, including journalism. ­Almost 17 years later, numerous terror attacks have ­occurred, forcing people in the media to continue to evaluate the relationship between terrorism and journalism.

I

n the summer of 2002, the movie “September” went into production. German director Max Färberböck wanted to make a film that dealt with the terror attacks on 9/11. One of the film locations was the DW studios on Voltastrasse in Berlin, as September 11 was a major media event. The images of the collapsing towers were a huge news event and had a lasting impact. This is something that the terrorists involved in the attack must have taken into consideration. With that in mind, the reporting aspect of the attacks had to be featured in the movie.

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The connection between terrorism and journalism has ­repeatedly been referred to as a “symbiotic relationship” with critics lamenting an allegedly unhealthy and even dangerous interplay between the two. After all, who would doubt that reports about acts of extreme violence with political motivations make for high ratings?

Journalists are facing tough questions. Do they want to p ­ rovide terrorists with the media platforms they crave and without which they perhaps wouldn’t commit some acts of terror? Does a ­sensationalist and emotionally driven way of reporting make the­ media silent accomplices? Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri openly said in 2004 that for him half the battle of jihad took place in the media.

To report or not to report?

Acts of terror are designed to achieve the highest possible level of insecurity and fear. But this can only happen if the media ­decide to report accordingly. This creates an ethical dilemma. Does it mean that journalists are feeding into the hands of such violent criminals when they report on these events? Some commentators

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have even suggested that the only reply could be to simply stop reporting on terrorism.

A reasoning given is how local newspapers, for instance, no ­longer report about suicides in order to prevent suicidal people from getting any ideas. However, this kind of advice doesn’t really help to solve anything. Even if all of the people working in traditional ­media agreed to enter such a vow of silence about acts of terror, all it would take would be a tweet or a few posts on social media and the whole exercise would backfire. People would accuse the media of self-­ censorship and the reputation and credibility of established news organizations would be forever tarnished.

Acts of terror have become too big to ignore and one cannot not report on these events. Before 9/11, the rationale of many terrorists was to discount the number of victims as their main metric and to focus on spreading fear instead. However, this equation has since changed. Terrorism has turned into a matter of mass murder. The attacks on the Brussels airport, the slaughter at the Bataclan music venue in Paris, the homicidal van attack on the sea promenade in Nice all show that assailants now try to blindly score the highest number of victims instead. This forces those who have to report on such events to confront some serious challenges.

When the attacks on September 11 happened, newsrooms across the world were rather unprepared to address a calamity of that magnitude. Reporting on these terror attacks was a challenge, which hardly anyone managed to rise to. There were no live broadcasts of any noteworthy length and no real-time analyses looking at the terrorists, their backgrounds and their motivations. In that regard, 9/11 was a wake-up call for German journalism, leading to a series of modernizing initiatives. Like many other media companies, DW is constantly reevaluating its standards in reporting on terrorism.

Is terrorism a form of warfare? Perhaps not in the original sense of the term. However, terrorism shakes those who are immediately affected by it in the same ways that wars would. Berlin-based politi­ cal scientist Herfried Münkler says that these are “new wars” and describes contemporary acts of terror as a “scattered mix i­ nvolving

various agents of violence.” In this context, he adds, “religiously motivated acts of terror amount to a strategy of violence, which will have to be regarded as a form of warfare in the 21st century.”

Better safe than sorry Journalism will have to find ways to react to this. Journalists will have to reflect on ethical standards when reporting on terrorism and work on honing and refining their skills accordingly. This will have to include a more careful way of dealing with images e ­ merging from these events, greater diligence when handling documents such as alleged confession letters, paying assiduous attention when it comes to analyses and evaluations—even at the risk of being deemed too hesitant—all while fastidiously fact checking throughout. It is certainly better to be safe than sorry with premature specu­lations on motivations behind acts of mass violence which may not always turn out to be related to terrorism. The killing spree that took place in Munich in July 2016 is an infamous example of how social media and traditional news outlets can interact in a way that they derail into misjudgment and error.

A study conducted at Georgia State University examining ­violent acts between 2011 and 2015 found that news reporting on acts of violence carried out by alleged Islamists overtook the coverage of similar events involving perpetrators of any different religious or ideological background fivefold. Such results should help sensitize journalists to this new reality. Is our coverage appropriate and proportionate not only when it comes to the amount of reporting but also with regard to the choices of words we use and the emphases we set?

Terrorism happens out of nowhere, but there is always a back story which needs to be dealt with. Terrorists pursue certain goals that need to be addressed. One of those goals is to get us journalists to report on their violent acts. By addressing this dilemma as part of our reporting, we can alleviate its negative side effects.

»Journalists will have to reflect on their standards when reporting on terrorism and work on r­ efining their skills.«

Munich, July 2016

Deutsche Welle

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FEATURE ARTICLES

JULIA BAYER AND JOCHEN SPANGENBERG, SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS TEAM

Sherlock Holmes 4.0 The term “fake news” is being used with increasing frequency mainly to mean wrong information or incorrect statements. At DW we give top priority to truthful reporting and as a result, enjoy a high degree of credibility. Dealing with and ­exposing misinformation is an essential part of our journalistic duties.

Wrong information can be spread in order to generate attention as targeted propaganda, for marketing purposes or to support algorithms for the dissemination of certain views. This can also be achieved with the help of bots. The production of news ­reports that are false can take various forms, from fabrications (lies, untruths), to active manipulation (e.g. altering photographs), to decontextualization (taking information out of a context in which they would be ­understood), to biased reporting.

The question of how to best handle content from social media channels has, as a ­result, been gaining in importance, especially as it can now be distributed quickly and in an unfiltered manner. However, using appropriate tools, information cannot only be manipulated, it can also be verified.

At DW, this is the job of the social media news team, our digital detectives.

One example of a real-life investigation for DW’s digital detectives concerned Firas, a photographer living in East Ghouta, S ­ yria— or so he said. Every day he posts photos and videos on his Twitter account to document what is happening in his home country. But just how can journalists be sure that these images are genuine and can be used for journalistic purposes?

DW reports daily using content from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social networks in their breaking news, ­ television programming, web videos and on their social media channels. If there is

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a story, then the content will be pulled in from various platforms and reviewed to determine its validity. In the case of Firas, we asked when he took his pictures and ­whether they were the originals. Does his information regarding the location and weather match what was provided by other eyewitnesses and local reports?

In order to verify these posts, we use freely accessible tools such as Google Maps, WolframAlpha and TinEye. At DW, we can draw on the linguistic and regional competences of our editorial teams. We also use the Truly.Media verification platform, which was developed jointly by DW and our Greek partner Athens Technology Center.

All of the freely accessible verification tools are integrated and connected to a checklist where the answers and notes are collected and archived.

We use Truly.Media for keyword ­searches.

In the case of Firas, these would include #EastGhouta, #SaveGhouta and Firas. His pictures can thus be compared with those of other eyewitnesses and correspondents from the region. His most relevant tweets and posts are collected on Truly.Media and are accessible to all DW journalists. So while social media experts are working to analyze a source, a colleague from ­Syria can compare Firas’ comments and ­pictures with the situation on the ground.

Another tool is reverse image search with which we can largely exclude photos and videos that have been previously

published elsewhere. By comparing Firas’ accounts on Facebook and Instagram, we can also ascertain that he is on the ground.

Cross-checking with Wikimapia’s satellite images, the location from which his images are taken can be confirmed. All of this information is then gathered by the verification team working from a checklist. Afterwards, the colleagues in the TV newsroom can schedule an interview based on the information from the checklist and also request permission to use the pictures.

Truly.Media makes it possible to collect and verify content from social media in a structured manner. Various departments work closely together to contribute their expertise in the best possible way and as quickly as possible. This is how we ensure that DW, even in its 65th year of existence, continues to stand for truthful coverage in a time of growing fake news. www.truly.media

Perfect reflection We are proud to offer programming from Germany to our viewing public. DW provides our viewers with a different perspective on world events, something which is especially important for us in southern California, one of the most diverse regions in the country.« Dwayne Bright, Director of Programming at KCETLink, DW partner station in Burbank, California, USA

DW is the perfect reflection of Germany. With their offerings, ­ they mirror the creativity, openness and generosity of the country. Our partnership profits on both sides and allows for constructive exchange. We are excited to continue with it for many years to come.« Rim Saidi, Program Director at Nessma TV, Tunisia

As the largest cable services provider in Pakistan, we are proud to have been a partner of the German ­foreign broadcaster for more than ten years. We are optimistic that we will be able to expand this successful partnership in the coming years. DW has a ­ cquired a reputation as an authentic, reliable source of information amongst our public. Our wish for DW is that they continue to maintain this excellent reputation around the world.«

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Akhlaq Ahmed, CEO of Karachi Cable Service, Pakistan

DW is the most important instrument for promoting media pluralism in Europe, especially in regions where freedom of the press is of little importance. The significant expansion of DW’s activities in Southeastern and Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Russia and the Arab world means that the calls for freedom and democracy are getting louder.« Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe at the German Federal Foreign Office

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FEATURE ARTICLES

GUIDO BAUMHAUER, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF DISTRIBUTION, MARKETING AND TECHNOLOGY

©© DW/K. Danetzki

Change is the new normal

Global Media Forum 2017: Yusuf Omar explains the tips and tricks of mobile reporting

For decades, digitization has been moving ­technology forward at a rapid pace but never as fast as in the 21st century. ­Technology is ­getting faster, more powerful and more compact.

how we understand ourselves. As an international media organization, DW has experienced these changes for decades, leading to the expression “change is the new normal.” Audio cassettes have long been obsolete at DW as we’ve become more and more digitized.

As the first public broadcaster, DW launched an ­online service in 1994. Since then digital change has become something that we are not merely observing but experiencing.

In 2008, my eight-year-old daughter hit the nail on the head: “I think that mine will be the last audio cassette generation.” Today this thesis might sound a little nostalgic, but it was all set off by her friend’s younger brother who confusedly pointed at a cassette and couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t just play music directly from a smartphone.

Dating from 1965, “Moore’s Law” states that every two years the processing capacity of computers doubles. Many users believe that this concept is now outdated.

Technology is one of the most important drivers of change in our society and in our work environment. Technological progress not only simplifies workflows, it changes job descriptions and a­ ffects

Dividing roles is passé

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In the 1990s, media companies, editors and journalists still held a monopoly on information. They decided which topics were relevant for which audience. Users played a relatively passive role as recipients of information. These roles have become obsolete as the internet has rapidly developed. Technological advancements and the emergence of worldwide networks enable and strengthen the direct exchange of information between individuals. This has diminished the essential role of traditional media as intermediary “gatekeepers.”

At the same time there are new, omnipresent players including Facebook, Google, Youtube and Amazon. These companies today

have the same customer relationships with users that broadcasters used to enjoy. Because of these factors, the roles of journalists and technicians at media organizations like DW have fundamentally changed. Now our primary challenge is to think digitally. So what exactly does that mean?

It means that we need to continually reposition DW to define our role within these transforming and fragmented media markets. Why should users turn to DW content when technology allows ­everyone to produce and disseminate content themselves? From a technical standpoint, another challenge is how to produce and distribute content in 30 languages that relates to the specific needs of audiences in different regions around the world.

Accepting progress The answers to these questions sound like technical buzzword bingo: Be innovative, an early adopter with a digital mind, put smart production and mobile first and, of course, be platform-agnostic.

If we were to translate this, it would mean high-quality production done cheaply with flexible distribution models so that we can reach the partners and platforms tomorrow that we aren’t even aware of today. And if possible, not lag behind development but anticipate what is coming next. “When I look ahead to where computing is heading, it’s clear to me that we are evolving from a mobile-first to an AI-first world,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai. He added that these are devices that people will have conversations with and will supply information without human interaction.

Whether or not these developments are the “next big thin­g ,” will be found out quite quickly. One thing remains certain, that technology drives change and at the same time provides solutions.

»Technology drives change so we must continue to adapt,­ ­expand, renew and plan.« It is a means to an end and therefore we must continue to adapt, expand, renew and plan.

In order to best serve our target audiences around the world across all media (TV, radio and online), we require a robust, power­ ful and flexible landscape that can be contoured to meet our needs. I think I know now what my daughter was talking about back then.

If you would like to predict what technical challenges we will face in the future, please get in touch: guido.baumhauer@dw.com

Strong partners make all the difference Media markets in our target regions are very competitive with national and international players fighting for the attention of listeners, viewers and users. A deciding factor in the perception of the content is related to its placement which is exactly why DW has created a worldwide network of solid partnerships.

More than 4,000 partners integrate DW content into their TV and radio lineups or make it available on their platforms or websites. Not only does DW profit from the infrastructure of local platforms, but it can also harness the reach and selling power of established providers and broadcasters. At the same time, our partners’ market intelligence helps DW develop its programming palette, allowing it to adapt and localize content or create tailored co-productions.

The editorial control, however, remains with DW. We also profit from our network of influential partners when it comes to

marketing. Regional partners have a ­vested interest in ensuring that DW content is well-received and are therefore open to cooperating on marketing campaigns and cross promotion.

The number of weekly TV viewers has increased from 19 million to 85 million over the last year and the main drivers have been well-placed programs and live segments with DW experts that are used as part of our partners’ news programming.

The viewership through our partners that incorporate DW magazines and news represents three-fourths of the ­total usage, with nearly 90 percent of radio and online usage via partners depending on the language. At the same time, digital distribution continues to gain importance as our channels are steadily being ­improved.

One of the latest examples of this is DW ­becoming a launch partner for Google’s Echo and Amazon’s Alexa.

DW Premium was developed with DW’s best partners in mind in order to make this partnership strategy even more successful. The focus is on content that is tailored to the individual needs of our partners. To make this possible, DW is expanding the development of co-productions, increasing the presence of experts in partners’ programming and making it possible for partners to adapt DW magazines through web videos for online, mobile and social media.

The result is content that is tailored to each market and target audience that partners want and, most importantly, can place prominently in their lineups. If everything goes according to plan, we will continue to make gains towards reaching DW’s goal of 210 million weekly contacts by 2021.

Sarah Daman, Distribution, Marketing and Technology

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FEATURE ARTICLES

DW is one of our oldest partners, in radio since 1975 and television since 1993. DW News is seen by ­Australian audiences as very reliable and trustworthy.

The information coming from Germany is a benchmark for our listeners and viewers in the global news jungle.« Paul Williams, Manager, Special Broadcasting Service, Australia

It’s an honor for us to be partnered with a medium whose prestige has grown steadily thanks to the quality of its information and ­ independence and whose internet ­ presence has a pioneering character.

We hope that DW will continue to be a beacon in international journalism that continues to support understanding in an ­increasingly challenging world.« Christian F. Leal Reyes, Director of BioBio, Chile

DW stands for professionalism and balance. The French-­ language radio programming is largely dedicated to ­current African issues. These are what people here want to hear.

In particular they want to be given the information to better ­assess what is happening in their own country and those things which directly affect them. DW sets the right priorities. And the series Crime Fighters is a quite popular one, especially among our listeners who speak Hausa.« François Djékombé, Director of Radio Oxygène, Chad

DW has opened the doors for many journalists through their DW Akademie trainings and via participation in international forums.

For that, we have to give DW our heartfelt thanks together with our desire for future cooperation in other areas.« Thomas Japanni, Head of Radio Maisha, The Standard Group PLC, Kenya

The partnership between DW and EBC began in 2013 and has been expanded and strengthened over the years. We started with the broadcast of the DW TV program Futurando and a short time ­later Camarote.21.

Science and culture from Germany has been well received by our viewers.

Both programs are among the most watched on TV Brasil, t­hereby increasing the relevance of our programming. That the DW formats are moderated by Brazilians in Portuguese is a big plus. We hope to work together in the future to develop a joint production that would bring together our respective strengths.« Marina Ferraz Barbosa, Executive Content Acquisition, EBC, Brazil

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Our long-term partnership and numerous co-productions with Deutsche Welle have built bridges ­between Germany and the Arab world.

I wish them many more s­ uccesses in the region.« Ali Aljanabi, CEO of Alrasheed TV, Iraq

»A beacon in international journalism«

After 65 years, DW continues to stand for credibility and professional journalism. Their long-term commitment to partner with local ­media companies proves that DW has placed great worth in exchange, ­diversity and common values.« Dimitri Khodr, CEO of Aljadeed TV, Lebanon

Our trust in the news, reports and magazines of DW’s Hausa program is growing. It has been our most important and reliable source for ­ more than 50 years. The most ­successful programs, however, have been the Bundesliga live reports in Hausa that were launched last year!

They have made a decisive contribution to bringing a piece of German culture deep into the rural regions of Nigeria.«

DW has contributed immensely to the dissemination of information in our society. In addition to providing reliable news and content, DW also supports our network of broadcasters with equipment, ­training and internships. DW has become a part of our lives.

Congratulations DW!« Umar Saidu Tudunwada, Managing Director of Kano State Radio Corporation, Nigeria

Faruk Dalhatu, Managing Director of Dandal Kura Radio International, Nigeria

DW is a reliable media partner and a major contributor to the broadening of people’s horizons around the world. I wish DW continued success.«

DW has become a brand name in the West African nations where Hausa is a majority language. It stands for balanced programming with a commitment to the truth and facts. By supplying people with reliable information, it also promotes civic ­ ­education.« Bonkano Bawa, CEO of Radio Fara’a, Niger

Anas Abbar, CEO of the digital platform 7awi, United Arab Emirates

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Censorship as a continuing challenge

©© picture alliance/ZUMA Press

©© picture alliance/AP Photo/Jeff Widener

Soon after its launch in 1965, DW’s Chinese service faced censorship and blockades by the Chinese government which sought to control the flow of information into the country. The shortwave radio program that ran from 1965 to 2012 was hampered by jammers. Web pages continue to be blocked by the “Great Firewall of China.” China has denied DW access to its most popular social networks Sina Weibo and WeChat, which, like all media, are controlled by the state.

DW continues to use technical innovations to work around this censorship. One example of this came in 2015 when DW cooperated with the company Greatfire to bypass the firewall by storing sensitive journalistic content on cloud servers. China eventually managed to paralyze the company’s servers via targeted attacks.

“Tank Man” on Tiananmen Square in 1989 A memorial event 25 years after the massacre

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RODION EBBIGHAUSEN, EDITOR, ASIA DESK

Riding the red dragon No country in the world has changed more rapidly and profoundly over the past 65 years than the People’s Republic of China. In the mid-1950s, the country was plagued by famine, at a low point economically and, for the most part, politically isolated. Today it is the second largest economy in the world. China has become a global power.

C

hina has seen times of big social and political upheavals, such as the Cultural Revolution, the ­reform and open-door policies of the late 1970s, the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and, at least since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012, a viable political alternative to the model of liberal Western ­democracy.

The only constant throughout has been the authoritarian rule of the Communist Party.

Deutsche Welle’s Chinese service has been a critical companion to these developments since 1965. DW’s objective is to give people in China a view of the world from outside. DW reports on events in China and global developments for the Chinese public from a German and European perspective.

Beethoven and Bach as icebreakers In 1965, DW filled their programming with classical music by Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and other composers from the West who were banned in China as they were labeled “bourgeois.” The people kept listening anyway and a listener who wrote a thank-you note to DW was subsequently arrested. He later learned German and visited the editorial staff in the early 1990s to tell his story.

The situation was not always so tense.

Helmut Schmidt and Deng Xiaoping agreed in 1981 to an exchange of editors between DW and the German program of Radio China International not duplicated with ­ other international broadcasters. Change came abruptly in 1989. In reaction to the

student protest movement rising at the time, DW significantly expanded its radio programs. After China forcefully crushed the Tiananmen Square demonstrations, DW remained as close to the story as ­possible, speaking to students who had resettled abroad and reported their stories. On the 25th anniversary of the suppression of the revolt, DW broadcasted a series of related reports, including an interview with Jeff Widener, the photographer who took the famous “Tank Man” photo.

Olympic freedoms were only temporary After the events at Tiananmen Square, ­China stepped back from the international stage. This made 2008 even more remarkable as the country reached a turning point with the Summer Olympic Games, an event that was momentous for DW’s reporting.

China presented itself to the world more confidently than ever before. Censorship rules were temporarily relaxed though not for DW programs. Even though editors were allowed to enter the Olympic campus, they discovered that internet access was ­restricted inside the press center.

That same year, more than 300 Chinese intellectuals and civil rights activists signed the “Charter 08” manifesto. They called for political reforms and the democratization of the People’s Republic. Signatories included late Nobel Peace Prize laureate ­ Liu Xiaobo. DW interviewed him for the last time in the summer of 2007 when he stated

that “the freedom to lose is part of the job description of a dissident.” Arrested in 2008 and sentenced to eleven years, Liu died of cancer in 2017 while still in prison.

Critics did have a bit of wiggle room up until the Olympics came to Beijing. Since then, the government’s focus has been on Chinese values, Chinese ideas, Chinese ­interests and the “Chinese dream.” In this new China, there is no room for critical thinkers like Liu Xiaobo.

»Giving people in China a view of the world from outside« Meanwhile DW has set up an office in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei. Whether in the Chinese-language offerings or via its ­English-language TV programs, DW is now able to react even faster to d ­ evelopments in the region, giving people access to ­information despite the obstacles. This is the way DW will carry on with its reporting in the future. dw.com/chinese

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FEATURE ARTICLES

KYLE JAMES, ADVISOR, DW AKADEMIE

On air: A rural revolution Myanmar’s first community radio station, Khayae FM, went on air at the beginning of 2018. Volunteers produce radio programs for 25,000 listeners on the outskirts of the capital Rangoon. DW Akademie ­supports the project.

M

ost mornings these days, Ei Thinzar Khine and her mother ride Ei’s moped to the market along the main road to Htantabin township, a rural district of Rangoon, the ­economic center of the country. Loaded with salt, ­garlic, onions, coffee, shampoo and soap, the two women arrive at their family shop and restock. The family business is a combination of a grocery store, beauty salon and ­bicycle repair shop.

Afterwards, the 21-year-old hops on her ­moped again. Her destination is a red TV antenna pole that soon appears behind some trees along the roadside. The Khayae FM studio is nearby. This is where Ei discovered her new passion for creating radio shows for the people of Htantabin.

“In the beginning, I had no idea what a community radio station was, but today I understand that many other radio stations are broadcasting for profit. But we work for the people. I like that,” she said.

Reporting on local issues Khayae FM is a non-commercial, non-profit station catering to the needs of the residents of Htantabin. Volunteer reporters, presenters and technicians produce programs that appeal to local needs and interests. The goal is to share useful information and discuss local concerns in a language that residents understand.

An acquaintance told Ei about the new station and the volunteer opportunities there. She particularly likes the technology and equipment in the studio and ­quickly learned how to use a mixer and to edit sound files on the computer. “At first I was afraid of even touching a computer but

30 Weltzeit 1 | 2018

now it is becoming easier and I just want to learn more,” she said. And that is what she does every day. Khayae FM broadcasts live every afternoon for two hours and the program is then ­repeated the next ­morning.

Radio show topics include agriculture, ­ education and cooking. There are also ­children’s programs and announcements are made by the local non-governmental organization that operates the community radio station.

A milestone in media development Khayae FM has come a long way. It took a ­minor revolution to set up the studio. Community radio stations were unthinkable ­under the military dictatorship in Myanmar.

New freedoms only came with the demo­ cratization of the country. Legislation that was adopted in 2015 ­ explicitly allows for community media but the laws have not been put into action. “Many politicians are still afraid of too much media freedom,” said Thomas Bärthlein, DW Akademie’s project manager in Myanmar. “It takes a lot of time to overcome this skepticism.”

DW Akademie’s proposal convinced the government to set up a joint pilot project.

Together with Khayae FM, the ministry of information can now gain the experience needed to license more radio stations.

Information Minister Pe Myint attended ­ the launch of the station in February.

Ei and the other volunteers are proud of their radio station. Nonetheless, they cannot afford to be around on a full-time basis so additional volunteers are urgently needed. A business plan is being drawn up and potential advertisers are waiting to buy advertising

slots. DW Akademie also provides the station with expert advice on business matters.

Ei’s enthusiasm has made an impression on others as well. At the end of the day, her ­mother makes tea for a group of volunteers.

“Of course we need our child to help out in

»We work for the people.

I like that.« our shop,” she says. But she ­understands that young people want to build something new together. “There is no way I could pull her away from the radio station now. She likes it so much,” she adds.

DW Akademie in Myanmar DW Akademie has been working ­toward transparency in Myanmar’s media landscape since 2007 and in 2014 opened a permanent office in Myanmar. With funding from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), DW Akademie backed two long-term projects: the establishment of a national press council and

©© DW/N. Grzesik

the ­founding of the Myanmar ­Journalism Institute, a journalism school based in Rangoon. DW Akademie also serves as an advisor to the state broadcaster MRTV during its transition into a public ­service broadcaster. With its latest ­project, the community radio station Khayae FM, DW Akademie is helping build local ­media that provide information to the rural population and the over 100 ethnic ­minorities in the country.

DW Akademie in Myanmar has been pursuing a broader strategy with new

­ riorities since early 2018. Its work ­focuses p on media u ­ sers and special attention is given to the impact of the country’s rapid digitization process. As part of its ­global digital ­ strategy, DW Akademie offers digital journalism training and media ­ literacy programs in ­addition to helping media companies s­ eeking to achieve economic sustainability. dw-akademie.com Young radio reporters in Myanmar

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FEATURE ARTICLES

CHRISTIAN GRAMSCH, DW AKADEMIE

From free speech to media literacy

©© DW

Fauna Kazongominga was shy and used to feel intimidated and scared. When she was a t­ eenager, no one could have imagined what she is now accomplishing in eastern Namibia. As a media ­literacy trainer in her early twenties, she teaches young people how to assess and process news and information. Fauna acquired her knowledge in a training course offered by DW Akademie.

DW Akademie media workshop

Fauna Kazongominga is not the only one in Namibia who has grown through her experience. She says her students have also become more open-minded and are now wary of simple messages.

The ­students can apply their knowledge at the community radio station that DW Akademie provides consulting and technology for.

The ­radio studio is open to all residents and caters to their needs.

By getting involved, Fauna is asserting her right to freedom of expression and access to information as stated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At DW A ­ kademie, Germany’s leading organization in international media devel­ opment, fostering this universal human right is the basis of all ­projects and plans. As a part of that mission, DW Akademie ­teaches media skills around the world through discussions, training sessions and practice.

We would all like to live in a world where journalists do not need special protection because the importance of their work is universally recognized. We would also like to be certain that every media user in the world is capable of detecting false information while protecting their data and privacy.

32 Weltzeit 1 | 2018

Freedom of expression and information are more important than ever Projects run by DW Akademie and its partners are becoming ­increasingly important. In 2017, 87 percent of people around the world were still denied their fundamental right of freedom of ­expression. Today more journalists are in prison compared to two years ago and there are no signs that the numbers will decline any time soon. On the contrary, last year’s assessment of the situation of freedom of the press was worse than it had been in the previous twelve years.

The situation in many of the countries we work in is becoming more precarious. Just recently Burundi seemed to be a peaceful country but today just entering the country is a risk. Yesterday we were welcome in Egypt but today we fear for the safety of our participants and trainers.

“Countries that do not protect the press and NGOs often have the highest rates of corruption,” wrote Transparency International in its latest annual report. The systematic restriction of the right

Defending our values to information remains an instrument of oppression. It is a means of retaining power and financial gain for a certain group of people.

Freedom of opinion and freedom of information are a precious but i­ncreasingly rare asset and we must continue to foster these human rights.

Working with partners to counter this ­downward trend As a strategic partner of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), DW Akademie is working to ­counter this negative trend. With funding from the BMZ, the F ­ ederal ­Foreign Office and the European Union, we teach people the skills they need to better understand the media in around 50 countries. We also ­foster the human right of freedom of expression by advocating for better ­legal conditions and by helping media professionals acquire qualifications and develop economically viable media offerings.

More than 100 million people are already benefiting from these programs.

Teaching media literacy is especially important to us. When users are able to identify disinformation and resist manipulation, democracies are nurtured and conflicts defused. Civil society is then able to withstand the negative effects of hate speech and propaganda. Together with our local partners, we focus on the weakest members of society, mainly marginalized individuals or groups, ­especially in rural areas, and the illiterate.

Learners spread the word Under the working title #TruthMatters, we are planning to set up a digital educational platform to teach media literacy in the ­target regions and languages of Deutsche Welle. This type of platform can meet the digital challenges of our world and can enable a ­knowledge transfer across borders. It is clear that when learners pass on their knowledge to others, it makes our work sustainable and we can have an impact. We have already described the project to politicians and are in discussions to implement it with the new German government.

The right of free access to information entails more than ­merely possessing the technical means. For each individual, it means ­making a real choice between sources. This can only work if people are able to see through propaganda, lies and manipulation and thus be in the position to resist them. Freedom of information needs to be protected. Our vision is that every human being worldwide be allowed to fight for her or his right to freedom of opinion and ­information. This includes of course Fauna Kazongominga and the young people she trains in Namibia. dw-akademie.com

For 65 years, Deutsche Welle has played a critical role in ensuring that ­audiences around the world receive the accurate, timely, balanced reporting ­ they need to make good decisions for themselves and their societies. The work of DW in providing reliable news and information to audiences who would otherwise lack access is essential in the long international project of creating a freer and more peaceful world. The Broadcasting Board of Governors values our partnerships with DW in content creation, information sharing and media development.« John Lansing, CEO of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors

The journalism that DW delivers to a global audience has never been more important. When sometimes the news is fake, false, factually challenged, when the algorithms feed our filter bubbles, when arrests of journalists and blocking of websites are growing, then a news organization committed to public service grows in importance too. It is a privilege for the BBC to work alongside DW, facing the same challenges: defending our shared values of ­integrity, accuracy and trust and to work together to continue our mission of challenging censorship and giving information to those increasingly in need.« Fran Unsworth, Director of BBC News and Current Affairs

Deutsche Welle is one of the world’s great broadcasters and a valuable partner to many publicly minded media companies across the world, ­ ­including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. For 65 years, DW has set the highest standards and served ­people across Germany and the b ­ roader world with a focus on the truth, facts and outstanding journalism. It remains as ­ ­important to the public’s ­understanding of a complex world more than at any time in its distinguished history.« Gaven Morris, Director News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation

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FEATURE ARTICLES

CLAUS STÄCKER, HEAD OF AFRICA DESK

The future of Africa #The77percent is the hashtag being used for a major project launched by DW for the A ­ frican ­continent. It is aimed at young people under the age of 35 who make up more than three ­quarters of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project’s various formats are designed to give them a strong voice on radio and social media.

I

n its 65th year, DW continues to receive handwritten letters each week.

Misspellings and the handwriting itself often communicate the ­efforts that went into producing these letters that feature strong opinions and insightful ­observations.

DW continues to share these letters on air. It is a tradition that goes back to the ­beginnings of the African programs on DW. What has changed, however, is the fact that over the years the amount of interaction has risen steadily.

On some days, thousands of comments are posted on Facebook. The DW video ­series Africa on the Move alone led to a 20 percent increase in social media interaction in 2017. Young people want to be heard on Facebook, Messenger and Whatsapp. Their views are often skeptical, confident, constructive and rarely ever insulting.

A future at home According to the World Bank, 77 percent of the people living in Sub-Saharan Africa are under the age of 35. It is a memorable number that stands for youth, hope and generational change. It is a number that bundles the symbolic power of a massive majority of African society while representing the dynamic potential of an entire generation.

These 77 percent are seeking a new future in their respective home countries. They want to be part of a dialogue and contribute to the major decisions of our times. Above all, they want to be part of their communities and not leave in search of greener pastures, or at least not permanently.

Market research in Africa indicates that DW is regarded above all else as a ­reliable

34 Weltzeit 1 | 2018

bridge between the northern and ­southern hemispheres, between young and old, ­between those in government and those in opposition.

This is best exemplified in Ethiopia where DW has the challenge of performing a balancing act between its rural target audiences listening to broadcasts on shortwave radios and its young, urban users and fans on social media. Digital and mobile content, however, both fall under government control and this is why there are—as opposed to other parts of Africa—no FM broadcasts available in Ethiopia. But the 800,000 fans on social media for DW’s Amharic-language content stand as proof that DW is successfully managing that balancing act between its shortwave and mobile programming.

Across all of its Africa programming, DW has managed to increase its followers by over 60 percent in 2017, peaking at a total of 4.1 million fans. Each week DW’s multi-­ platform approach (radio, TV and online) reaches more than 57 million Sub-Saharan users, marking an increase of five million compared to the previous year.

Proud, young and African The idea behind #The77percent is to lend a voice to this young African majority and become a place for dialogue. By approaching the project like that, it amounts to much more than just a new magazine format. We follow issues that move young people and there’s a new discussion each week in six languages: Amharic, English, French, Hausa, Kiswahili and Portuguese.

In this digital age, the youth of Africa is developing a strong passion for pan-­ Africanism. Reporter and presenter Edith

­ imani—who has more than 300,000 folK lowers on Twitter and Instagram—agrees: “Africa barely knew itself up to now, but thanks to social media there are more and more young Africans joining forces. On my travels, I discover what it means to be proud, young and African.”

The ­ English-language radio program Pulse is now also called The 77 Percent.

Thanks to its success, it is also being produced in French and Kiswahili. There are plans to launch a TV format as part of #The77percent as well.

WhatElse?, another new DW format that is part of #The77percent family, a ­pplies a fresh look into everyday African issues through humor and zeal. Satire troupe ­Magamba TV from Zimbabwe also makes its own humorous contribution to this growing momentum, telling the stories of a fictional “Minister of Impending Projects.”

Incredibly talented youth DW receives a great deal of feedback that has confirmed that #The77percent is hitting the right nerves. From the beginning, there were more than 3,000 responses to the program, most of which were encouraging. A Nigerian stated that “Africa’s youth is incredibly talented but there are a million challenges that make it impossible for this majority to flourish.” Finally a user from Kenya wrote that Africans should “share our talents and ideas and let’s all take part in making the decisions that will determine the course of our history.” dw.com/77 dw.com/africa

©© picture alliance/ AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi

»Let’s all take part in making the decisions that will determine our history.«

Zimbabwe: Young people celebrate the end of Robert Mugabe’s rule in November 2017

African stories as web comics The new DW storytelling series African Roots highlights 25 people from African history and recreates their stories through web comics and radio reports aimed at A frica’s youth. The younger generation ­ comprises a majority of the continent’s population.

The portraits create a historical arch connecting Dinknesh, the “Mother of Human-

kind,” from what is now Ethiopia, through Mali’s King Sunjata Keita, the legendary monarch from the Middle Ages, to key ­figures in the independence movement like Congo’s Patrice Lumumba.

The animated stories, which have been created by the successful Nigerian g ­ raphics studio Comic Republic, are primarily featured on Facebook. Radio reports on the topics are being broadcast simultaneously.

DW reaches over four million subscribers on Facebook in Africa while radio reaches around 36 million listeners each week.

African Roots was created in cooperation with African historians, cultural r­ esearchers and authors. According to many users, the discourse about African history is too often presented only from the perspective of former colonial powers.

African Roots is available in English, ­Amharic, French, Hausa, Kiswahili as well as ­Portuguese. The project is supported by the Gerda Henkel Foundation. facebook.com/dw.africa dw.com/africanroots

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FEATURE ARTICLES

NASER SCHRUF, HEAD OF DW’S ARABIC SERVICE

From the Arab Spring to the Ice Age Seven years ago, a revolution swept through the Arab world.

Overnight, several despots were history, removed by their own people. But what has become of those places so nostalgic for freedom and what does freedom of expression and the media look like in the region today?

I

t started in Tunisia in 2011, a wave of protests that swept over civil society in numerous Arab countries. It was a movement led by frustrated youth. After years of repression and marginalization, they wanted to take their future into their own hands and shape it themselves.

But the mood of the “Arabellion” quickly turned somber and bitter. Instead of freedom, work, justice and democracy, there were new repressions, ones which hadn’t been there before, in Egypt as well as terror and wars driven by religion in Iraq and S ­ yria.

The dream of a modern Arab civil society died, at least for now.

Once again, people need to bury their dreams while longing for better living conditions. Many have grown to accept this ­reality as they can live in relative stability and not in fear of terror. But as a trade-off, they have ­accepted a certain amount of suppression and curtailment of their civil rights.

Limited freedom of expression The failure of the Arab Spring is also reflected in the Arab media landscape. ­ Freedom of expression and the press have continued to be massively curtailed through censorship and imprisonment of journalists, as well as through intimidation attempts outside the public view.

In addition, the economic structures of the media landscape have made journalists financially dependent on their respective

36 Weltzeit 1 | 2018

state leadership. As a result, the media in many Arab countries is characterized by its “loyalty” to the ruling regime. This is true for both state-run and private media. In 2017 the crisis between Qatar and its “brother states,” Saudi ­Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, has once again clearly demonstrated how TV channels and online portals are exploited for political mudslinging.

The rankings of Arab countries in r­ egards to freedom of expression and of the press are sobering. In the 2018 Freedom House Report, Syria, S ­ audi Arabia, Sudan and Libya are classified as the “worst of the worst.”

Seven years a ­ fter the Arab Spring, with the exception of ­Tunisia and Lebanon where some media outlets serve as the mouthpiece for opposition parties, freedom of the press and ­ opinion throughout the region have continually been cut back.

DW: A trustworthy voice This is where Deutsche Welle’s Arabic-­ language offerings come in. It’s not only Arab media that have a credibility problem.

Services offered by countries with a colonial history like international broadcasters BBC or France 24, as well as the American ­Al-Hurra and Russia Today, are perceived by many ­media consumers as led by their own ­interests. DW, on the other hand, benefits from the image of Germany in the region as an “honest broker.”

©© picture alliance/AP Photo /Amr Nabil

As the operator of one of the most successful Facebook pages in the Arab world, I am particularly pleased that DW can look back not only on a 65-year tradition in journalism, but is also agile in its presence on social media and cooperates with young media makers of the ‘digital native’ generation.« Aya Tarek, Thaqaf Nasak, Arabic Facebook Page (35.5 million followers)

»We encourage people to partake in democratic engagement.« DW’s Arabic-language service acts as a platform for critical journalism and the free exchange of views and d ­ ialogue. This also applies to “taboo topics” in the region, such as discrimination against women and minorities. Sociopolitical processes in the Arab world from the German-European ­perspective are presented, thereby opening a dialogue. We encourage people to partake in democratic engagement while allowing suppressed voices to have their views heard.

Users respond well to dialogue

Protests in Egypt

The profile of DW’s Arabic-language services has once again been heightened, for example through the development of new formats. These include the one-hour mass-market TV news show Massaiya which includes Arab and German interview partners. Excerpts of these interviews are then distributed via social media. In 2016, the program The Fifth Estate was launched, hosted by the renowned Egyptian Yosri Fouda. The format offers room for in-depth analysis and controversial debate supplemented by investigative reports from the target area. The youth format Shababtalk with presenter Jaafar Abdul Karim is even more strongly connected to social media and is often produced with local partners.

The third season of the Albasheer Show on DW’s Arabic-language TV channel, a

unique format in the region, has been running since the end of March this year. The well-known Iraqi journalist and comedian Ahmad Albasheer discusses topics such as war, terrorism and corruption in a satirical manner.

TV consumption in the Arab world remains high and digital offerings are ­ ­growing rapidly, which is why DW continuously expands its digital offerings. ­Examples include Crash Course in Arabic with Yasser Abumuailek, an educational format whose model was developed by US Youtube star John Green, and Firas Explains hosted by Syrian refugee Firas Alshater.

The users of the Arabic-language offerings form DW’s largest network. In 2017, DW’s Arabic content on social media channels, including partner portals, received more ­ than 73 million hits per month. ­People are embracing dialogue and are actively using DW to build their opinions while giving us valuable, critical feedback.

DW will continue to work to help ensure that democratic voices in the region do not fall silent in the future. dw.com/arabic

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FEATURE ARTICLES

CLAUDIA HERRERA PAHL, HEAD OF DW’S SPANISH ONLINE TEAM

©© Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

In the public interest

Venezuela: Protests against President Maduro

Deutsche Welle is in demand in Latin America. It serves not only as a provider of reliable information but also as a catalyst towards greater independence and plurality within local media.

In February, DW opened a bureau in the Colombian capital of Bogotá. Both the location and the timing were chosen with deliberate intent. Through its presence in Colombia, DW is even closer to both the ­action and the people and can report more authentically about the breathtaking changes currently underway in the region.

As a nation, C ­ olombia is moving along a path towards peace and reconciliation.

Like no other country in Latin ­America, it illustrates the importance of these values.

The peace process is still young and fragile and the ­nation acts as an example of the ­dangers that can arise in a society where coexistence is not based on values such as mutual respect, tolerance and plurality.

It is within this context that DW, as a partner and a supporter of ­ democratic

38 Weltzeit 1 | 2018

values, has positioned itself and its Spanish-language offerings. At the same ­ time, DW sees itself as bridging a gap as it offers topics and opinions rarely found in Latin American media. The understanding of media as a service provider in the public interest is rather underdeveloped within Latin America.

Unabated monopolization The media sector in Latin America has ­developed in a largely uncontrolled way, very much in contrast to media development in Europe. As a result, the situation there ­today could be said to be characterized by a lack of non-governmental public media.

This absence poses a challenge in r­ egards to the media’s promotion of democrati-

zation processes in society. Although the ­nations on this continent are different in many ways, there are similarities within the media landscape. Latin America has the highest concentration in the world of private commercial broadcasters, most of which are in the hands of a few corporations. This ­media monopoly has led to the centralization of the production of information and entertainment programming.

The majority of these powerful media empires in Latin American countries have risen to prominence in the second half of the 20th century. They lack the understanding of their role in society and their responsibility to citizens.

The origin of these m ­ onopolies is characterized by the objectives of the political and ­ economic elite in each country and

For Colombians it is a great honor that DW has chosen Bogotá as a location for its correspondent's office because we know and admire German television. I used to be a journalist myself and clearly recognize the quality of the reporting.

Welcome to Colombia!« Juan Manuel Santos, Colombian President and Nobel Peaze Prize laureate

r­ educes citizens to objects of their personal interests which are either commercial or political. Although in the recent past governments in some countries have recognized the need for a correction in the media wilderness and have identified the concentration of media as a social problem, the process of monopolization continues unabated.

Growing acceptance

Imprint Deutsche Welle Corporate Communications 53110 Bonn Germany T +49.228.429-2041 F +49.228.429-2047 weltzeit@dw.com dw.com/press flickr.com/photos/deutschewelle issuu.com/deutsche-welle facebook.com/dw.deutschewelle twitter.com/deutschewelle RESPONSIBLE

Christoph Jumpelt EDITORS

The digital revolution and the formation of new media have not changed the central features of this commercial system based solely on advertising. Interregional providers are anxious to be in a position of dominance in various markets and, as such, are growing into multinational media conglomerates.

»The media lack understanding of their role in society and their responsibility.« The accelerated monopolization process in the media sector is ­ ccompanied by an increasing uniformity in their offerings. This repa resents a danger to plurality of opinion in Latin America that should not be underestimated as it hinders the democratization processes ­towards an open and pluralistic society.

Considering this background, Deutsche Welle’s offerings for Latin American gain special importance. Embedded in the long tradition of close cultural, scientific and political relations between Germany and the states of Latin America, DW fills a crucial gap in the continent’s media landscape and promotes the conviction that a well-­informed public, as the basis of a functioning democracy, is indispensable. In doing so, it has been met with increased acceptance within the Latin American public. dw.com/spanish

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FEATURE ARTICLES

Learning German: Participants of a DW project

BARBARA MASSING, ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR

Communicating and living our values We have a global audience. Our employees are key to our success. These are two key components of our mission statement. But what do they mean on a daily basis? Diversity has to be at the heart of a place where people from 60 nations work together to create journalistic content in 30 languages. This is why sharing the same values and actively allowing everyone to be a part of shaping the corporate culture at DW is incredibly important.

40 Weltzeit 1 | 2018

Imagine the following scenario: four blindfolded individuals are standing in front of an object, tasked with describing what they can explore with their sense of touch. The first one says that “it’s like a tube that can be lifted and lowered.” Another replies that “it feels more like a big wall.” The third individual describes it as “akin to a carpet, all soft and bendable.” The fourth person likens it to “a tree trunk, hard and stable.”

As they compare notes they realize that what they have all been touching is in fact an elephant. In order to understand the nature of the elephant, all the people involved had to allow for the differing views to coexist while respecting each other’s perspectives.

This Buddhist parable exemplifies the importance of taking o ­ ther world views and outlooks seriously and paying attention to them.

DW prides itself in representing pluralism, ­independence and credible reporting and is seriously committed to ­ intercultural ­exchange. Therefore, it is crucial for us to lay claim to the values that we represent to our audience around the globe and within our organization.

Respect is an expression of credibility The corporate culture at DW lives and breathes through all the ­different perceptions that our employees bring to the job. As an ­employer, DW has a mandate to encourage dialogue among all these cultures and to create circumstances to facilitate this. We ­often succeed in this endeavor by abiding by our clearly defined managerial values: trust, constructive feedback, loyalty, respect, leadership, transparency and cooperation.

We always work to improve our diversity management. Gender mainstreaming plays a large role in achieving the goals of our corporate culture. DW already offers a number of opportunities. Parttime work and part-time apprenticeships are as much a part of our pursuit to create equal opportunities as promoting the recruitment of women for technical positions. We will not tolerate any kind of unequal treatment. This is why DW has many women in leadership positions.

Mobile work opportunities are also part of a package of solutions intended to facilitate a greater balance between work and ­private life for all our employees, male or female. We are committed to reaching our goal of establishing standards that guarantee equal treatment and career opportunities for all.

We strive to create a work environment where gaps in resumes or temporarily reduced hours are not only tolerated but regarded as opportunities and are aimed to address both men and women of all ages and backgrounds.

#whereicomefrom: Real people, unique stories

The goal of DW’s latest campaign is to focus on the i­ ndividuals that make our organization so unique. With ­#whereicomefrom, DW journalists share personal stories that highlight the journey that many of them have taken in order to work in ­international media.

Keeping our progress in check 65 years into the history of DW, our organization is headed in the right direction. This doesn’t mean that we’ve reached all of our goals and this is why we constantly question and reevaluate our ­accomplishments. With this in mind, we subjected DW to the Equal Treatment Test of Germany’s Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency and continue to gauge how well our management values are being put into practice. Without taking such measures, organizations like DW would not be able to learn new lessons.

We have to identify our blind spots and think ahead. We are ­hoping to have more diversity in managerial positions, establish more leadership opportunities with split responsibilities between equal managers and encourage our employees to see diversity as a major benefit.

The most valuable assets of a company are driven employees who respect each other, listen to each other and develop new ideas and formats in exchange with each other. DW can encourage this potential by telling stories from around the world so that these diverse voices can be heard. After all, that is DW’s mandate both internally and externally.

These stories show what drives them while conveying why they believe that DW is a media organization that people can always turn to for new perspectives.

The videos are available in 15 languages and can be viewed on DW’s social media channels. The campaign has already been a huge success with more than 19 million views on all platforms and reaching more than 30 million users on Facebook alone. dw.com/whereicomefrom

Deutsche Welle

41

Carolina Chimoy in Washington D.C.

42 Weltzeit 1 | 2018

©© DW/M. Cura Daball

AROUND THE WORLD

SIMONE HEUER, EDITOR

Between two worlds Carolina Chimoy has been hosting the talk show Cuadriga on DW’s Spanish-language TV channel for several years. Soon, she’ll be reading the news as well after returning from an eight-month stint in the U.S. as a DW correspondent.

W

ashington D.C.—now that was a challenge. Reporting from the capital of the world’s largest superpower at a time when politics could have long-lasting repercussions. “It is probably the most exciting moment to be ­reporting from this country,” Carolina Chimoy said. When the day was breaking in Washington, Chimoy knew that, once again, there would be reports coming from the White House, tweets from the ­president, ­uproar, provocation.

In mid-August 2017, the moderator packed her bags to move from Berlin to Washington—a temporary move. Along with her baggage, she brought worries about just how much Donald Trump could change the nation. She had often visited the U.S. as a tourist and felt at ease there. But would the country continue to be as open as it once was, an openness which she, a M ­ exican-born journalist, had once treasured?

The reality in the U.S. was that the country remains open and a place where people from all over the world quickly feel at home.

The many conversations with taxi drivers soon became an inspiration for a journalistic discussion on the topic of migration for the DW journalist, a subject which is increasingly becoming heated under ­President Trump.

Chimoy has traveled the world and been influenced by the mentalities and languages of different nations. Born in Mexico, she grew up in Peru, Yugoslavia, Bolivia and Germany. From the metropolis of Lima she moved to the quiet, contemplative city of Augsburg in Germany to study politics.

Three years later, she moved to Berlin to continue her s­ tudies in international relations.

While studying, Chimoy became a wanderer,

l­iving ­between worlds. She focused especially on trans­atlantic relations and is well aware that liberal, democratic ­ Washington, with its ­ numerous i­nternational organizations, ­institutions and think tanks, is ­isolated, a bubble from which its people must emerge to understand the mood in the country. “­ Scientists, politicians, diplomats and journalists, we mainly interact amongst ­ ourselves here, discussing topics that in our own lives we never have to confront or experience”, said Chimoy. So she traveled

»We need to think more globally and put political ­happenings into context.« to small towns, visiting the same Trump supporters with whom DW had spoken ­ before the election in 2016, listening to ­ their reservations about immigrants, their ­reasons for wanting to build a wall on the Mexican border, hearing the nationalist tones first-hand—even from some Latin Americans who once came to the U.S. as migrants.

Chimoy wanted to understand why ­people would support a populist because she had witnessed the phenomena in L ­ atin America where people follow ­ politicians without critically questioning their statements, perhaps because they are economically worse off, ­because they lack education or ­because s­ imple messages draw them in.

Her work became all the more important as she strove to enlighten, to report on the background, to pose questions.

President Donald Trump was the biggest subject of her reporting, of course. But as Chimoy said: “We should not be jumping over every hoop. Let’s not be guided by propaganda. There is—and this is extra­ ordinary—a U.S. president who cannot be considered a reliable source, one who uses Twitter as the main tool for government communications, including the firing of his cabinet members. On both sides of the Atlantic, there’s a lot going on. It’s a time in which we as journalists have an even greater responsibility.”

Looking back at the months in the U.S., Chimoy said: “It’s not enough to review the facts from multiple sources. We have to pose critical questions. We need to think more globally, put these political happenings into context.”

Chimoy has been back in Berlin since April to moderate the Spanish news as well as the talk show roundtable Cuadriga.

“I love political debates,” she said. “With the experiences I’ve had recently, I have gained new perspectives and brought back new ­arguments.”

She left Washington with mixed feelings as there are still so many stories to be told and so much to discover. At the same time, she can also feel the intense interest others have in Germany, a country that is changing and that is increasingly divided—a development that can be felt around the world.

Deutsche Welle 43

31.8. – 23.9.2018

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