Even high in the Himalayas, reporters these days are being asked to do more.

As part of a modernization drive, Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) has combined their radio and television newsrooms. In the future, reporters will be required to provide news reports in both media. It’s hoped that the convergence will allow the state-funded station to cut costs and do more with limited resources.

It was against this background that two DW-AKADEMIE trainers went to Bhutan’s high-altitude capital Thimphu to conduct a workshop with an enthusiastic group of 12 young BBS journalists. While several already had some radio production experience, many had previously only worked on the TV side of things.

Together, the group started with a review of the basics, such as news judgment and news writing for radio, before moving on to the interview and how to ask that all-important first question that will grab your listeners and keep them from turning the dial.

“Change management” was the catchphrase for 13 media managers from eight North African and Asian countries who attended a management training workshop in Bonn this summer. The participants discussed ways to organize transition at their respective stations. By using techniques like role play, they practiced communicating their decisions in a professional way. The training also highlighted cooperation and conflict in teams, group dynamics and key aspects of human resource development.

The Asian participants came from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines and Mongolia. Besides visiting DW’s facilities and attending the Deutsche Welle Global Media conference ahead of the workshop, their action-packed schedule included a visit to German public broadcaster WDR in Cologne. A lively exchange with that station’s director of human resources topped off the week.

In this video, project manager Patrick Benning takes us inside the week-long workshop that was taught by DW-AKADEMIE trainer Achim Toennes. Participants Sarmad Palijo of Pakistan and Mat Verano Pareja of the Philippines describe their impressions of the visit to Germany.