16 January 2015
DW’s Chinese-language online content is now easier to access in China, despite state censorship. The cooperation between DW and Greatfire enables users to freely access DW’s website, blocked by Chinese authorities since 2008.
In this cooperative endeavor, Deusche Welle is counting on the innovative technology “Collateral Freedom” developed by the China-based organization Greatfire. The underlying principle for circumventing censorship is simple: Blocked content is distributed via the servers of large internet providers that cooperate with Greatfire.
“If these servers were blocked, a large number of popular web services in China would also fail. We can therefore assume that the state censors will refrain from actions with such wide-reaching consequences,” says DW’s Managing Director of Distribution, Marketing and Technology Guido Baumhauer.
What is currently a three-month collaboration with Greatfire offers DW effective access to the Chinese market through circumvention of state censorship, says Philipp Bilsky, head of DW’s Chinese service. “We want to reach a broad audience with our Chinese-language online content, and Greatfire, particularly because accessibility is made so easy, marks an important step in this direction.”
Baumhauer sees it as “a bit more freedom of information for those who either don’t want to or are unable to use specialized software to bypass internet censorship.” He also says that the software can be recommended for anyone who wants to access all of DW’s multilingual online content.
In China, users who are interested must now be made aware of the new possibilities available to them. To this end, DW is using Facebook, Twitter and email newsletters to disseminate the web addresses that provide access to the Chinese-language content. DW is also relying on Chinese living in exile to communicate the information.
“Although these services are also partly or intermittently blocked in China, this approach is promising because users have learned to find very creative ways to access the information anyway,” says Baumhauer.
In Iran, which practises strict internet censorship similar to that in China, DW has been actively circumventing censorship for the last two years with the help of a specifically developed software from Psiphon.
This enables for example the use of DW content via a smartphone app. As a consequence, the number of page views has steadily increased to over three million per month.
“However, success in circumventing censorship can’t just be measured by statistics,” says Baumhauer. “The availability of freely accessible information and the feeling that one can freely inform oneself alone constitutes an important step.”
DW Chinese: dw.de/chinese
20 October 2014
As of Sunday, October 26, Deutsche Welle English radio programming for Africa will be broadcast in the mornings. From Monday to Friday for an hour each at 4:00, 5:00 and 7:00 UTC, DW will provide news and information on the latest developments in Africa, as well as on important international and German issues.
“With the new programming schedule, DW is reacting to changes in media consumption behavior by many Africans, who tend to listen to radio in the mornings, but are increasingly turning on their TVs in the evenings,” says DW Director of Programming Gerda Meuer. “With regard to multimedia coverage, this offers DW the opportunity to interlink its Africa radio programming closely with the future English flagship TV channel.”
The broadcasts at 4:00, 5:00 and 7:00 UTC will allow the 25-minute radio magazine “AfricaLink” to react to events in East and West Africa, which are spread across four time zones. The popular education program “Learning by Ear” will be broadcast twice a week as part of “AfricaLink.”
In addition to world news and Africa-related topics, there will be six special-interest and background radio magazines featuring issues from Germany and Europe to the environment, science and development.
The 30-minute radio magazine “Inside Europe” will more strongly reflect the interests of African listeners. On weekends, a one-hour version of “Inside Europe,” along with the radio magazine “WorldLink,” offer insights into what is happening in Germany, Europe and around the world. Both programs are extremely popular in Africa due to their lively reports, interviews and broad range of topics.
“DW has been broadcasting in Africa for more than 50 years, which has created a very special relationship with our listeners and users, characterized by trust and respect,” says Gerda Meuer. “They know that we objectively explain, analyze and contextualize the latest developments from a German and European perspective.”
Over 100 FM partner stations in English-speaking Africa rebroadcast DW’s English programs. In crisis-ridden South Sudan, they number among the most popular international radio programs.
In South Sudan, around eight percent of the target audience listens to DW every week. In Zambia and Tanzania, that figure is five percent.
Deutsche Welle offers online news and analysis from and about Africa at www.dw.de/africa. Online content for Africa in English is set to be further expanded with a special focus on mobile services, which are becoming ever more popular in Africa.
DW Africa
Learning by Ear
13 October 2014
“What holds you back” – that question is the starting point for Life Links. Young people around the world represent both the target audience and protagonists for DW’s new documentary-style format.
Life Links’ viewers help develop the program from episode to episode with an emphasis on multimedia presentation throughout the project. The search for topics, research, production and broadcast at Life Links are all interactive processes that come together at www.dw.de/lifelinks. Users can tell their own stories and vote for issues they’d like to see covered in the show.
DW reporters call upon followers on Twitter and Facebook to help them with research, and they take up users’ questions. Via mobile reporting, users are involved on site during filming. Using social media and the Life Links website, reporters present articles, images, audio and video of their encounters with those featured in the show.
“Life Links is an attractive element within the further development of our programming. We have put together a young, bilingual team that is coming up with concepts for new offerings tailored to a young audience. Life Links is the first format to evolve out of that innovation process,” says Director of Programming Gerda Meuer.
Three people – three stories. One unifying element
In each edition, Life Links draws together three fates that seem, at first glance, to be completely independent of one another. Online and on TV, users and viewers can experience how young people scattered around the globe deal with similar problems. Although their social surroundings and other aspects of their lives may differ widely, the protagonists in the show have a personal challenge in common.
What connects a North Korean living in South Korea with a Roma in Paris and a German rapper with Egyptian parents? What is stopping them from being who they are, and how do they still take control of their lives? The users and producers behind the first edition of Life Links are looking for answers to these questions.
Ultimately, the three stories come together in the TV report to form a global narrative. When the show is broadcast, a social stream on the Life Links website will bundle user’s comments under the show’s hash tag; and using the mobile version of the website, users can comment on it on a second screen. The documentary is expanded online with multimedia elements – such as material not broadcast in the show or additional information and facts.
The website www.dw.de/lifelinks goes live starting Tuesday, October 14. DW will broadcast the 30-minute, English-language TV show for the first time on Saturday, October 18. After that, it will be broadcast around the world every two weeks. Life Links is supported by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office.
Homepage: www.dw.de/lifelinks (Starting October 14)
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg5CoHrAAI4
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dw.lifelinks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dw_lifelinks
(Source: DW press release)
5 September 2014
Deutsche Welle (DW) Director General Peter Limbourg has held talks on bilateral cooperation with senior representatives of Chinese broadcasters during his visit to Beijing.
From August 27 to 29, 2014, Limbourg met in the Chinese capital with, among others, the vice president of the state-run China Central Television (CCTV) as well as the presidents of the state educational broadcaster, China Education Television (CETV) and CCTV’s nationwide digital platform (CDP). Talks with the director general of China Radio International were also on the agenda.
Limbourg said the goal was “to present the journalistic offerings of Germany’s international broadcaster and to examine possibilities for an extended cooperation.” He said the discussions took place in “a good atmosphere and were very constructive.”
Various collaborative projects have been agreed upon with CCTV with the aim of building further cultural ties between the two countries. Both sides are looking into possible co-productions in the fields of music and business. A contract was signed with the cultural broadcaster SHTV, for the sale of more than 100 hours of DW Transtel programs. The cooperation will be expanded through a Chinese edition of DW’s weekly cultural magazine Arts.21. CDP will continue to broadcast the Chinese adaptation of DW’s lifestyle magazine Euromaxx for another three years. The program is available in 140 million Chinese households, via the Chinese World Geographic Channel, and is also accessible as video-on-demand at www.tv.cn.
Limbourg discussed, with Beijing TV, DW’s possible participation in the Beijing International Documentary Festival. The station recently acquired the license for the purchase of DW Transtel programs. Since June 2014, the educational broadcaster CETV has also taken 150 hours of DW Transtel programs. The programs are among the most popular documentaries in Beijing.
On September 4, Limbourg addressed representatives of both German and Chinese media at the 5th Sino-German Media Forum of the Robert Bosch Stiftung. In his speech under the title “Fight or Cooperate? The Global TV Networks and Their Roles in the World,” Limbourg called for the lifting of the Chinese blockade of DW and firmly rejected all censorship measures. Earlier he had held extensive talks with Chinese officials on the theme of press freedom. (Source: DW press release)
4 September 2014
PRESS RELEASE
The Association for International Broadcasting has announced its panel of judges for its tenth annual international broadcasting awards, the AIBs 2014. The senior media executives who make up the independent panel come from all across the world and will judge the best in global factual radio, TV and online broadcasting.
CRANBROOK, UK 04 SEPTEMBER 2014 – The panel of 50 senior international media experts brought together by the AIB (Association for International Broadcasting) to judge the AIBs 2014 represents TV, radio and online broadcasting from all across the globe with in-depth knowledge of commissioning, writing, producing, editing and distribution. They have extensive experience in current affairs, investigative documentaries, short documentaries, children’s programmes, sport, science, transmission and broadcasting technology and will be bringing their insight and extensive knowledge to the judging the record number of entries received for this year’s awards which have come from all over the world.
“We are grateful to our panel of experts for agreeing to give up their time to judge the awards” said Simon Spanswick, CEO of the Association for International Broadcasting. “Their diversity of backgrounds and wide experience, coupled with the fact that they are free to choose the best entries without being influenced by any vested interest, ensures that the AIBs will continue to reward the very best of international broadcasting.”
The AIBs 2014 judges are:
- Faisal Abbas, Editor-in-Chief English online, Al Arabiya MBC
- Neeraj Arora, EVP Head of International Business, MSM Asia Limited/Sony Entertainment Network
- Tim Ayris, Director Channel and OEM sales EMEA, thePlatform
- Amadou Ba, Co-founder and Executive Chairman, All-Africa Global Media Inc.
- Hannelie Bekker, Founding MD, Wananchi Programming
- Klaus Bergmann, Director of International Relations, Deutsche Welle
- Graeme Blundell, The Australian
- Jenny Buckland, CEO, Australian Children’s TV Foundation
- Fernando Calvino, CEO/Owner, Señal Internacional
- Catherine Cano, Executive Director News Programs CBC/ Radio-Canada
- Rahul Chopra, SVP Global Head of Video, Newscorp
- Eugen Cojocariu, Head of Radio Romania International
- James Cridland, Radio Futurologist
- Verona Duwarkah, GE: Television, SABC
- Anastasia Ellis, Head of Europe TV, Bloomberg
- Géraldine Filiol, Deputy Managing Director, Eurosport
- David Finch, VP Europe, News Republic
- Marco Frazier, Senior Vice President Global Distribution, AMC Networks International (AMCNI)
- Angela Fung, Phoenix Satellite TV
- Mihai Gadea, CEO, Antena 3
- Lee Gal, Chief producer, i24 News
- Sumit Grover, Director, Pixel Party
- Mohamed Ali Harrath, CEO, Islam Channel
- Sven Herold, VP Creative Development, Shell
- Carlson Huang, Vice Manager and English Program Host, RTI
- Richard Jacobs, Business Development Director, Babcock International Group
- Emmanuel Josserand, Marketing Director, Civolution
- Bettina Klauser, Head of Press and PR, N-tv (Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland)
- Cheryl Knapp, Series Producer, Wild Kratts
- Nathalie Lenfant, Marketing Director, France Medias Monde
- Marcus Metzner, Head of Marketing Services and Communication, arvato Sysyems
- John Momoh, CEO, Channels TV
- Alexey Nikolov, Managing Director, RT Channel
- H Nwana, Executive Director, Dynamic Spectrum Alliance
- Lemi Olalemi, Deputy CEO, TVC News
- Lindsey Oliver, International Media Consultant
- John O’Loan, CEO, iO Media Group Europe
- Nenad Pejic, Editor-in-Chief, co CEO, RFE/RL
- Jonathan Perelman, Vice President Motion Pictures, Buzzfeed
- Helen Stehli Pfister, Producer/Editor, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen
- Tom Porter, Commissioning Editor, Channel 4
- Libby Powell, CEO, Radar
- Paul Robinson, CEO, Creative Media Partners
- Gillian Rose, Managing Director, PBS Distribution
- Alla Salehian, CEO, TIMA
- Vatche Sarkisian, Director of Program Review, MBN (Alhurra/Radio Sawa)
- Ruth Sloss, Director of Programming, Spafax
- Simon Spanswick, CEO, AIB
- Lek Hwa TAN, VP English Current Affairs, Channel NewsAsia
- Htar Swe TIN, Editor South East Asia and Burmese Service, BBC
The list of judges, with links to their biographies of the judges can be found at theaibs.tv/aibs-2014-judges/.
The AIBs are now in their tenth year and are independent of commercial interest. They attract entries from throughout the world, representing the best of international factual broadcasting. The 15 different categories to be judged cover radio, television and online media across a broad spectrum from single news events to long-term investigation with special categories for children’s programmes, for sport and for coverage of science. The categories also include awards for radio and television personalities of the year.
The winners of the AIBs will be announced at the AIB awards gala on Wednesday 5 November 2014 which will be held at LSO St Luke’s in London.
The AIBs 2014 are sponsored by Eutelsat
Contact
For further information please contact
Roger Stone, AIB
roger.stone@aib.org.uk
T +44 (0)20 7993 2557
AIB, PO Box 141, Cranbrook TN17 9AJ, UK
About the AIB
Established in 1993, the AIB is the international industry association and global knowledge network for the international broadcasting industry– cross-media, cross-border, cross-cultural. With a reach of over 25,000 communicators and media professionals, AIB is a unique centre of information about international broadcasting, covering TV, radio, online and mobile. AIB researches regular market intelligence briefings for its members and provides client-specific consultancy and project support. Members receive an extensive package of services throughout the year. AIB publishes the comprehensive Global Broadcasting Sourcebook and the international media magazine, The Channel. AIB hosts the annual AIB International Media Excellence Awards – the “AIBs”. For more information, visit www.aib.org.uk and theaibs.tv or call +44 (0) 20 7993 2557
About Eutelsat
Eutelsat is one of the world’s leading and most experienced operators of communications satellites. The company provides capacity on 36 satellites to clients that include broadcasters and broadcasting associations, pay-TV operators, video, data and internet service providers, enterprises and government agencies. Eutelsat’s satellites provide ubiquitous coverage of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, enabling video, data, broadband and government communications to be established irrespective of a user’s location.
For more information, visit www.eutelsat.com
AIB | PO Box 141 | Cranbrook | TN17 9AJ | United Kingdom
T +44 20 7993 2557
F +44 20 7993 8043
www.aib.org.uk
