Deutsche Welle: Broadcasting Council protests against actions taken by Iranian authorities

28 November 2022

Deutsche Welle: Broadcasting Council protests against actions taken by Iranian authorities

At its meeting on 25 November, the DW Broadcasting Council discussed coverage of the war of aggression against Ukraine, improvement of DW programming accessibility and threats against journalists from DW’s Persian service.

In late October, the DW Persian service, along with other media and public figures in Europe, were placed on a list by the Iranian regime of supposed supporters of terrorism. In so doing, the regime is providing itself a flimsy legitimation of the action it is taking against critical voices outside of Iran.

The threats and attempts to intimidate employees of the DW Persian service have been going on for years. DW employees and their relatives have repeatedly been interrogated when entering or leaving the country for family visits. This is why employees actively working in the editorial service haven’t been back to Iran for some time. The threats are unmistakable. If the critical coverage were to continue, there could be no guarantees for the well-being of the relatives of DW employees located in Iran.

Since the protests began, Iran has been increasing the pressure on journalists living abroad. Agents working for the regime have contacted people in Iran who follow a DW employee on Instagram. The people were told both on the phone and during interrogations to unfollow the account if they want to avoid reprisals against themselves and against their relatives. Our employee was referred to as an enemy of the state during some of the interrogations. Enemies of the state receive the death penalty in Iran.

The Broadcasting Council condemned the actions taken by Iranian authorities. “We protest against this treatment of journalists,” says Prelate Karl Jüsten, chairman of the Broadcasting Council. “We very strongly condemn these blatant threats and attempts at intimidation as a reaction to our coverage of the peaceful protests. We would like to thank the DW Persian service. Despite these threats, the journalists are doing amazing work and showing the world what is happening in Iran.”

DW launches English language vodcast Global Eyes

26 November 2022

DW launches English language vodcast Global Eyes

‘Will the war in Ukraine make your Chapatis cheaper?’ – DW vodcast looks at security policy issues from the Western and Asian perspective

Global Eyes, the latest English-language DW vodcast, is launching on November 26. Two hosts get to the bottom of global security policy issues. With their guests, they explore how these issues affect people’s daily lives.

The creators of Global Eyes are dedicated to the idea that security policy and geopolitics are important for everyone, everywhere. The two hosts examine the very real effects security policy issues have on every individual person – from food prices to health, all the way to armed conflicts.

The vodcast not only deals with security policy issues from a western point of view, but also opens Asian perspectives. Global Eyes offers a broad range of information, expertise and personal stories from their guests, who come predominantly from the global South.

Getting out of the ivory tower

“The Global Eyes vodcast aims to draw the discussions about security policy issues out of government buildings, think tanks and academic institutions,” said Nadja Scholz, Acting Managing Director of Programming. “The hosts break down complex, global subject matters into comprehensible facts while exploring connections with their guests that are often forgotten.”

Host Isha Bhatia, from DW Programs for Asia, wants to prove with the vodcast that young people are interested in more than just TikTok and Instagram. Her goal is to discuss serious, complex topics so that they are interesting and do not sound like intellectual lectures. “From the G7 to the G20, from BRICS to OPEC, from Quad to SCO. What do these groups really mean? What implications do their decisions have? Global Eyes endeavors to answer these questions,” says Bhatia.

Host Kate Brady, from DW’s Analysis and Reports department: “It is easy to get bogged down in details when you are dealing with complicated security policy issues. We want to change that and, with support by experts, decipher how the big global topics affect our daily lives.”

Controversial core questions to guide the debate

Each episode is centered on a provocative question that connects a security policy issue and the lives of users. The first episode examines the how the war in Ukraine and the Western sanctions on Russia are affecting the lives of people in India. The opening question is “Will the war in Ukraine make your Chapatis cheaper?”

Energy expert Nandikesh Sivalingam, from Bangalore and foreign policy expert Seema Sirohi, from Washington, help answer that question. By the end of the episode, it’s not only Kate Brady and Isha Bhatia who will better understand the question, but also the listeners.

They are already planning further questions such as “Will the conflict in Taiwan create IT jobs in India?” or “What does India’s G20 presidency have to do with antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains?”

Video and Audio, YouTube and Spotify

The format was developed by editors working together with Digital Format Development at DW. The English-language vodcast is produced by DW and will appear monthly as both an audio and video production. The first season consists of ten episodes with a run time of between 40 and 45 minutes. The video versions will appear on a monthly basis on YouTube and Facebook with the audio versions on all major podcast platforms including Spotify and iTunes as well as on the India-based platform Jiosaavn.

Global Eyes will premiere on November 26 on the DW News YouTube channel, on the DW Asia Facebook account and on various podcast platforms.

Global Eyes website:

https://www.dw.com/en/global-eyes-security-policy-and-what-it-means-for-you/program-63538048

YouTube:

https://youtu.be/xBSSGjUeEmM

iTunes:

https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/global-eyes-security-policy-and-what-it-means-for-you/id1653609075

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/22RwqvNOHRaV48cfxcZj9L?si=7a8b7687d3124c73

[Source: DW press release]

DW opens Asia Pacific Bureau in Jakarta

19 November 2022

DW opens Asia Pacific Bureau in Jakarta

DW Director General Peter Limbourg: “The opening of our office in Jakarta is an important step for DW to get closer to our target groups in one of the most important regions of the world. We have a motivated and highly qualified team here. It is important that we also increasingly produce our digital offerings worldwide.”

For many people in South East Asia DW already is a trusted source for news and information. With Indonesia being the region’s largest economy and a key political player the new bureau is in a strategic location to cover events across several countries.

DW is building a team of correspondents in the region who will contribute to the Indonesian language service as well as the network’s global journalistic output. In depth coverage of events in South East Asia and Australia will be just as important as speed in covering breaking news. With a network of reporters and video journalists across the region, all coordinated from the Asia Pacific Bureau in Jakarta, DW will be able to boost its output of exclusive stories. Reports will not only come in faster but crucially contain the local perspective of journalists who know their surroundings.

DW Jakarta Bureau Chief Georg Matthes: “Reporting from the Asia-Pacific region is not nearly as comprehensive as it should be given the geopolitical importance of this part of the world. Our team does not just report on Indonesia, but on a large region facing economic and environmental changes that will have a global impact. The editorial team provides news and background to all of DW’s linear and especially digital channels in multiple languages.”

[Source: DW press release]

Deutsche Welle: Stable usage figures despite censorship in many countries

17 November 2022

Deutsche Welle: Stable usage figures despite censorship in many countries

With 291 million weekly user contacts worldwide, DW says that its programme offerings remain stable despite censorship affecting access to its services in several countries. DW’s video content accounts for 225 million user contacts, its audio content for 52 million and text offerings for 14 million.

Violations of press freedom

Technical blocking of DW services is by no means anything new for the German broadcaster, but it keeps affecting more and ever larger media markets. DW’s strategy of increasing its use of digital platforms in countries where press freedom is restricted makes it easier for users to continue accessing independent information. In some cases, this requires the use of tools to circumvent censorship, such as the DW App, the Tor browser or of trustworthy VPNs.

In Russia, following the forced closure of DW’s Moscow bureau in early February, all DW channels were blocked. This was briefly reflected in a dip in TV ratings. However, in the months that followed, increased use of online and social media platforms reversed the impact.

In late June, the Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council RTÜK blocked access to DW’s websites. Again, a strategic shift to social media, particularly YouTube and Instagram, compensated for the temporary decrease in usage numbers.

In Iran, where all DW broadcast channels have been blocked for years, video views of DW Persian jumped sharply following the death of the young Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in September and the subsequent protests. DW is currently unable to make a longer-term forecast for Iran, as Instagram at present is of limited use to all news providers.

DW Director General Peter Limbourg has criticised the interference by authorities in many countries, describing it as “permanent attacks on press freedom.” Limbourg: “For years now and in more and more countries, governments have been obstructing or blocking access to independent information. The situation is truly alarming. Fortunately, however, we are often one step ahead with our innovative solutions. Our audience can rely on us to bring them news and information.”

Multilingual success especially on social media

The best-performing languages of DW’s 32 broadcast languages are English, Spanish and Arabic. Demand for video across all languages and regions – apart from sub-Saharan Africa – is the highest.

Video content is used primarily by TV partners (accounting for 93 million user contacts) and digital platforms (YouTube accounts for 32 million; Facebook 31 million; Instagram 11 million; TikTok 8 million). YouTube (+6 million) and TikTok (+7 million) have seen the strongest growth this year.

On Facebook, the best-performing pages are the Arabic-language channels JaafarTalk and DW Arabia. On YouTube, DW News (English) and DW Español (Spanish) as well as DW Documentary (English) and DW Documental (Spanish) stand out. On Instagram, the Albasheer Show (Arabic), +90 (Turkish) accounts and the currently blocked DW Persian are the most successful.

Acting Managing Director of Programming Nadja Scholz: “DW started tailoring its offerings to digital platforms a few years ago for the very heterogeneous media markets around the world in order to meet the usage behaviour of our predominantly young, educated target groups. This strategy is now paying off.”

In Latin America, DW reached 12 million more users compared to last year, primarily due to an increase in partial program acquisitions and TV switches by DW journalists with stations in Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the only DW target region where audio use continues to dominate, with 46 million listeners. But here, too, demand for video content has been growing steadily over the years.

DW documentary ‘Music Under the Swastika’ premieres in Berlin

8 November 2022

DW documentary ‘Music Under the Swastika’ premieres in Berlin

‘Music Under the Swastika: The Maestro and the Cellist of Auschwitz’ debuts November 9 at the Delphi Filmpalast in Berlin in the presence of Claudia Roth, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. It will also stream live on DW Documentary-YouTube-channels in German, English, Arabic, Spanish and Hindi.

The film captures a moment in time when music and fascism were clashing and reveals contrasting stories of the two protagonists, cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch (1925*), member of the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, and star conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954), who formed an alliance with Adolf Hitler and his helpers.

The documentary hears first-hand testimony from Anita Lasker-Wallfisch about her time in Auschwitz: “We could see everything, the arrival ceremonies, the selections, the columns of people walking towards the gas chamber and being turned into smoke. We played marches at the camp gate, for the prisoners who worked in the surrounding factories. And concerts on Sundays, around the camp, for the staff or whoever would listen. For many, music was an absolute insult in that hellish camp.”

The film also sheds a light on how music was used as a political tool by the Nazi regime, bringing insights from historians, authors, and musicians. Using scores of period material, the film features never-before-colorized archive footage from concerts of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Third Reich’s chosen orchestra conducted by Furtwängler.

Considered one of the greatest conductors at the time, Furtwängler was not a member of the Nazi Party. He supported Jewish musicians and banned composers. Under pressure from the Nazis, he resigned from his post as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1934. Later in 1935, he issued a statement acknowledging Hitler as head of cultural policy and was allowed to return to the Berlin Philharmonic.

Peter Limbourg, DW Director General: “For decades, the date November 9 has been linked to terrible historical events in German history – with the November pogroms as a prelude to the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis – until it also took on a very hopeful and positive meaning with the fall of the Berlin Wall 33 years ago today. Showing and explaining German history and culture in all its facets, especially to the younger generations, is one of the most important parts of Deutsche Welle’s mission. Our documentary about the fate of mainly Jewish cultural figures in the Third Reich illustrates the perfidy of Hitler’s regime. It is part of our efforts to prevent such atrocities forever through information and education.”

Nadja Scholz, DW Acting Managing Director of Programming: “This documentary makes a dramatic time experienceable for all of us in a fascinating way. Christian Berger illuminates contrasting biographies in the Nazi era, with the focus on music. It is stirring and instructive at the same time. Exceedingly worth seeing!”

Rolf Rische, DW Director Culture and Documentaries: “The film manages to convey the subject matter emotionally while maintaining a very high quality and depth of content. That is truly outstanding. Editorially, the film is part of a larger context. Antisemitism has long been a central topic for DW’s cultural editorial team, both in terms of German history and current developments. ‘Music Under the Swastika’ is thus part of a series of productions that we have made in cooperation with, for example, Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial and the Society of 1700 Years of Jewish Life in Germany. We will continue to work in this direction.”

Tim Klimeš, DW Head of Documentaries: “For some it was an instrument of propaganda, for others a glimmer of hope in dark times. In his documentary film, Christian Berger poignantly describes the ambivalence of classical music under the Nazi regime. ‘Music Under the Swastika’ is an important film in fragile times.”

Christian Berger, film director: “I wanted to bring these moments in music history into our time through color and make them more tangible, thereby also getting ‘non-music specialists’ interested in the historical subject. The contrast in this film could hardly be greater. On the one hand is a star conductor courted by those in power, and on the other hand, a musician who made music in a concentration camp under fear of death. For me, the interview with Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was the most fascinating; how precisely she analyzed the situation as a young woman. She was already afraid back then that people would not believe her accounts of these monstrous events.”

The film (86 minutes) was commissioned by Frauke Sandig, executive produced by Rolf Rische and Tim Klimeš and directed by Christian Berger with Maria Willer and Bernhard von Hülsen as producers.

Starting Nov 9, the film will be available to stream worldwide across the YouTube channels of DW Documentary in Spanish, German, English, Arabic and Hindi. It will debut on DW television from November 17 in German, English, Spanish and Arabic.

TV broadcast times:

DW English 19/11/2022 – 10:30 UTC
DW German 18/11/2022 – 23:00 UTC
DW Español 17/11/2022 – 16:30 UTC
DW Arabic 21/11/2022 – 03:00 UTC

[Source: DW press release]