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the
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DW was actively involved in
journalist training before
establishing DW Academy in January
of this year. What was the thinking
behind the idea of a training
academy, and what is actually
different now?
The Academy was set up to streamline
and bring together all training and
education activities within DW.
Previously there were three separate
departments – a centre for television
training, a centre for radio training,
and a centre looking after journalist
trainees. They all had their own
programmes and focused on different
things. However, in their actual work
and purpose there were strong
similarities. If there is just one training
centre it is obviously much easier to
exchange ideas and work together. So
you could say that finally things came
together which organically belong
together. For example one thing that
is already different now is that radio
and television training are actively
working together, and in the same time
frame, in target areas such as Sudan,
Eritrea and Afghanistan. Another point
is that if a trainer or lecturer can handle
bi-media he or she can work across
radio and television and is not
restricted to one particular training
centre. As far as our trainees are
concerned, we now also use them as
course assistants at the Academy – the
most recent example is an in-house
coaching in Mauretania.
What exactly does DW Academy offer
and to whom?
We offer training courses for
journalists, technicians, cameramen
and directors/producers from
developing countries. We also offer
training for journalists who are just
starting out in their career – both to
young talent from Germany and abroad.
And finally, and this is a completely
new departure for DW, we offer
intercultural media training for senior
executives in industry, institutions and
organisations from outside the world
of broadcasting, to help them prepare
for a stay abroad.
To give you an idea, the radio training
course we are running at the moment is
a good example. The subject is
“Programme planning for youth radio”
and we have twelve journalists,
programme makers and radio managers
from Latin America on the course. They
come from Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru,
Columbia, Cuba and El Salvador and all
have scholarships. First of all, they will
spend three weeks in Bonn where they
will be taught by four trainers/lecturers.
The two course assistants attached to
the course will also look after the social
side of things, once the training sessions
are finished for the day. There will be
an excursion to Berlin, and a visit to
the
Reichstag
, among other things. For
the duration of the course, the
participants stay in a hotel close to DW.
As far as the course contents and
structure are concerned we aim for
interactive teaching/learning and
engaging in dialogue – so there is as
little as possible talking at the students.
The course I have just described is fairly
typical but we also have longer and
shorter courses – trainees usually stay
for a year or 18 months.
How are the courses promoted, who
is eligible and what about course
fees?
We don’t really advertise our courses,
our training centres usually respond to
enquries. Our traineeships are
publicised on the Internet and via the
Goethe institutes, political foundations
and the Foreign Office. Our courses are
open to journalists and technicians
from public service and private radio
and television stations. In the case of
some countries, for example China, we
expect a contribution to course fees
but this is out of the question for the
poorer countries. As our training is
funded by the German Federal Ministry
for Economic Co-operation and
Development, we are part of German
development aid to the developing
world. So far we have not charged for
the courses we run.
What about ongoing professional
training – do people come back for
further training?
There are always some who come a
second time. Perhaps their job
description has changed, or they have
climed up the career ladder and want
to find out about courses for their
colleagues. And to a certain extent our
courses follow a natural progression.
We always try to keep in touch with
those who’ve attended our courses to
make sure that they actually absorb and
implement what they have learnt.
One aspect which is new and
extremely interesting is that plans are
being drawn up to offer courses to
staff from German firms,
organisations and institutions from
outside the world of broadcasting who
are about to take up jobs abroad.
What prompted that decision?
Deutsche Welle employs staff from 60
countries and broadcasts in 30
languages all over the world. That
makes us a centre of immense
competence and experience, and we at
DW think that we should pass that
expertise on. For example to other
institutions such as the Goethe
institutes, and also to the Foreign
Office or the
Bundeswehr
, the German
armed forces. But not only that, the
intercultural and regional knowledge
of our staff is also of interest to German
AIB INTERVIEW
Investing in the future of global media
When Deutsche Welle established its training academy in January 2004,
Gerda Meuer
was
chosen to lead the new venture. She is someone with journalism in her blood – she spent
many years reporting from Tokyo and Brussels and has felt equally at home in the posts of
Programme Editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief.
The Channel
met Gerda in her bright and airy
office in the new DW headquarters building in Bonn.
