15 November 2013
From January 1, 2014, Dr. Alexander Kudascheff will be editor-in-chief of Deutsche Welle (DW). Kudascheff, who currently heads the Berlin studio, will take charge of DW’s television, radio and online content.
Director General Peter Limbourg said: “This is a further step towards streamlining journalistic content across all media, which will strengthen Deutsche Welle’s profile as an information provider in the international media market.” On November 1, DW already merged its two programming departments in Bonn and Berlin into one, which is now managed by a single director of programming.
Since 2007, Kudascheff has been in charge of DW’s Berlin studio and at the same time acted as a deputy editor-in-chief. Born in Buenos Aires to a Russian father and a German mother in 1951, Kudascheff studied philosophy, history, politics and Islamic studies in Munich, Hamburg and Cologne. After completing a journalistic traineeship, he initially worked in the Middle East department at Deutsche Welle. He later was in charge of reporting on domestic policy, then became chief reporter and finally editor-in-chief of the German-language radio programming before being appointed as head of DW’s studio in Brussels in 1998.
Director of Programming Gerda Meuer commented: “I am very much looking forward to working with Alexander Kudascheff, whose extensive experience as a radio, television and online journalist will foster the process of streamlining DW’s content.” Meuer thanked the outgoing Editors-in-Chief Dagmar Engel (53) and Ute Schaeffer (46) for their excellent work.
Dagmar Engel will retain her status as an editor-in-chief in her new position as head of DW’s Berlin studio. Previously, she led Deutsche Welle’s TV news service for 15 years and was editor-in-chief of overall TV programming for 12 years.” Dagmar Engel was instrumental in preparing and carrying out the successful reform of DW’s TV programming. Ever since, DW has been available to viewers around the world in four languages and on six channels. Engel’s biggest achievements also include the expansion of what is now a 24-hour Spanish TV channel,” said Meuer. Before she became editor-in-chief and head of the news service, Engel had worked in DW’s studio in Washington D.C. for two years. In the Berlin studio, Engel is set to expand international reporting on German politics and on the bilateral relationships between Germany and other countries.
According to Meuer, the new position the outgoing Editor-in-Chief Ute Schaeffer will take at DW is still being discussed. Schaeffer has “strengthened DW’s regionalized programming and shaped its multilingual online content journalistically,” Meuer said.
31 October 2013
Deutsche Welle (DW) Director General Peter Limbourg has announced a structural reform aimed at making the broadcaster more internationally competitive. The reform will involve staff changes.
On November 1, 2013, Deutsche Welle will combine its two programming departments in Bonn and Berlin under a single director, a post Gerda Meuer was appointed to fill. Meuer (54) is currently in charge of the DW Akademie, Germany’s leading international media development organization. Current Director of Regionalized Content Christian Gramsch (53) will take over as director of DW Akademie. Director of Global Content Christoph Lanz (53) will be leaving DW on Oktober 31, 2013. In a meeting on Wednesday (30.10.2013), Deutsche Welle’s Administrative Board unanimously approved the structural reforms and personnel appointments in agreement with the chairman of the Broadcasting Board.
Director General Limbourg said that with a view to media convergence and increasing challenges in international media markets, DW must streamline its programming. Structural obstacles have to be set aside “in order to provide the best content for our users worldwide,” he added. “Our goal is to further optimize our journalistic content, to give journalists more creative freedom and flexibility and to bring our two broadcasting centers closer together.”Limbourg also noted that restructuring is part of DW’s implementation of a relevant board decision.
Apart from having extensive experience in international journalism, Limbourg said that Gerda Meuer has showcased her management skills by successfully developing the DW Akademie. Her new challenge will involve coordinating the integration of DW’s two programming departments, while reorganizing journalistic work to span the two broadcasting centers as well as a variety of media formats.
The director general said that Christian Gramsch will draw on his experience as a director of multimedia content in his new position at DW Akademie. Gramsch will increase the institution’s focus on the demands of working with varied types of media, Limbourg said. In the last few years, Gramsch has successfully integrated editorial departments for radio and online content and has promoted the production of television magazines at DW in Bonn. He also has years of experience training young journalists, the director general noted.
Peter Limbourg also thanked outgoing Director of Global Content Christoph Lanz “for his many years of excellent work,” adding that as the head of Deutsche Welle’s television division, Lanz has been instrumental in developing and expanding Germany’s international TV broadcasting since 1992. “Particularly pivotal moments in his work were the introduction of Arabic television programming in 2002, along with the structural reforms of 2012 and the expansion of Spanish-language television programming. These reforms significantly contributed to DW’s successful positioning in international media markets and to perceptions of Germany worldwide,” said Limbourg.
In order to facilitate the merger of DW’s two programming departments, Limbourg has established a Change Team, which, along with Deutsche Welle staff members, will help oversee the changes taking place in the coming months.
9 October 2013
Director General of Deutsche Welle (DW) Peter Limbourg has issued an appeal to the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani “to take serious action on internet freedom.”
Limbourg urges Iran’s leaders to “immediately take steps towards more transparency and put an end to censorship.” The country stands only to benefit, he said, if its people were given a greater chance to express themselves freely and without fearing repression by the state. “Particularly for Iran’s young people, who form the country’s majority, social media are an important instrument for social dialogue and the formation of personal beliefs and opinions.”
Despite the cautious tendency toward greater political and social openness, internet censorship remains on the agenda for Iran, Limbourg pointed out. Deutsche Welle’s website in Persian has been blocked in Iran since 2009. Thanks to the anti-censorship tool Psiphon provided by DW, Iranian users have a chance to bypass the internet blockades.
DW Director General Limbourg noted that website hits in September rose significantly once again. “Over two million users from Iran used the Psiphon software last month to access DW content in Persian, thus getting informed about what’s going on in their own country,” Limbourg said.
If President Rouhani were to end the blockade against dw.de/persian, Limbourg believes it would “send a clear political signal.” Putting an end to the disruption of DW’s TV and radio satellite signals should also be part of the measures to be taken, said Limbourg.
DW Persian homepage: dw.de/persian
(Source: DW press release)
30 September 2013
On October 1, Peter Limbourg (53) will take office as director general of Deutsche Welle (DW). He was elected as Erik Bettermann’s successor in this function by the Broadcasting Board in March 2013.
Limbourg was the Senior Vice President of News and Political Information at ProSiebenSat.1 TV Germany until September 30. In the past few weeks, he has already held a series of talks with different editorial teams and departments at Deutsche Welle.
On Wednesday, October 2, Limbourg will officially take on his new position at two staff meetings – at DW’s headquarters in Bonn he will be introduced by the Chairman of the Administrative Board Peter Clever, and in Berlin by the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board Valentin Schmidt.
Peter Limbourg said: “It is a great challenge and a fascinating task to be at the helm of Germany’s international broadcaster. Deutsche Welle is a media organization that enjoys an excellent reputation with its audiences worldwide. In a world, where a large number of international broadcasters are now promoting a variety of views, it is all the more important for us to persistently stand for our shared values. We will continue to ensure the credibility that DW’s staff, with great commitment, has established over the last 60 years by providing quality journalism. We will also consistently enhance DW’s multimedia profile.”
Limbourg announced that by spring 2014 – after conducting extensive talks with DW’s staff, the Broadcasting Board, the Administrative Board as well as political and social groups – he will set out a new strategic plan for Deutsche Welle for the period from 2014 to 2017.
Erik Bettermann’s term as director general ends on September 30. He has headed Deutsche Welle since 2001 and has overseen the broadcaster’s strategic realignment in the last 12 years.
After his military service, Peter Limbourg studied law in Bonn and passed the First State Examination of Law in 1987. From 1988 to 1989 he completed a journalistic traineeship at the German television news agency Deutsche Fernsehnachrichten Agentur (DFA) in Bonn and London. He worked as a reporter in Leipzig in the former GDR before becoming the Europe and NATO correspondent for DFA and SAT.1 in Brussels in 1990. In 1996 he became the Head of the ProSieben studio in Bonn, and in 1999 was appointed Co-Editor-in-Chief of N24 and Head of the Political Department at ProSieben, a position which he also took on at SAT.1 in 2001. In 2004/5 and 2008/9 Limbourg was the CEO of Pool TV, a joint venture of private television stations in Berlin. From 2008 to 2010 he was the Editor-in-Chief responsible for N24’s programming. He was anchor of SAT.1 news from 2008 and Senior Vice President of ProSiebenSat.1 TV from 2010 to September 30, 2013. Born in Bonn, Limburg spent his childhood and youth in Rome, Paris, Athens and Brussels. He is married with three children.
27 September 2013
Deutsche Welle (DW) has improved its lineups in Latin America and Asia: Starting September 30, DW (Latinoamérica) will broadcast 24 hours of Spanish and DW (Asien) 24 hours of German programming.
The changes to these lineups will ensure that audiences in Asia and Latin America will be able to enjoy more DW programming in Spanish and German. Up until now, DW (Latinoamérica) broadcast 20 hours in Spanish, and DW (Asien) 20 hours of German.
“We are further streamlining our lineups to reflect the growing importance of our target audiences in Asia and Latin America,” said DW’s Director of Global Content Christoph Lanz.
The new 24-hour German service in Asia is part of a dual channel strategy for the region. The flagship channel DW is currently available around the clock in English as well. In addition, DW’s English channel is available in North America, Africa and Australia.
Viewers in Europe can still tune in to DW (Europe), which broadcasts 18 hours in English and six hours in German. DW (Arabia) offers viewers in the Middle East ten hours in Arabic and 14 hours in English. DW (Amerika) is broadcast throughout the entire content with 20 hours in German and four hours in English.
Starting September 30, DW’s half-hour music program PopXport will be broadcast once weekly – instead of three times per month. Kino, the German film magazine, has received a new spot in the lineup but will still be broadcast once per month.
PopXport features the best acts and musicians from the German music scene as well as the latest trends and events. PopXport is also a media partner of “Initiative Musik,” a funding agency set up by the German federal government for the music industry in Germany. It is available in English, German, Spanish and Arabic. (Source: DW Press Release)
Access DW’s television programming via Media Center:
http://mediacenter.dw.de/english/live/
