Let’s be honest. Do you know what the carbon footprint of a condom entails? Sarah Abraham from Hyderabad can tell you more about that one. The 26-year-old lifestyle journalist took advantage of her two-month stay in Germany in order to research – among other things – sustainable production methods for this truly “global” product. As a matter of fact, resourceful manufacturers from Germany actually do produce carbon-neutral condoms. The required latex – fairly gained and traded – is supplied by a plantation in India’s Tamil Nadu.

The six visiting journalists from across India brought a variety of perspectives into the multimedia project Grow.Green.India. Whether it was the question of what future organic farming could have in India or the astonishment that Germany’s solar industry is threatening to collapse – the DW Akademie fellows took on a range of sustainability issues.

Ruchika Chitravanshi, 28, works as a senior correspondent for the Business Standard in New Delhi. In addition to her insightful look at the perspectives for “green” tourism in India, she contributed photos to a city portrait of the crisis-ridden solar industry capital Bitterfeld-Wolfen. Together with her colleague Idrees Lone, Ruchika also did a story on the success and perspectives of organic farming in Germany.

Ashish K Mishra, 28, works for Forbes India in Mumbai as their principal correspondent. His specialties are the automobile and alternative energy sectors. He put his affinities into practice here, trying out the electric-car-sharing project “Multicity” in Berlin and analyzing the situation of the German and international solar industry. He captured his impressions of the downfall of the latter sector in Bitterfeld-Wolfen’s so-called “Solar Valley”.

Anjilee Istwal, 33, is a senior special correspondent for New Delhi Television NDTV. While in Germany, she paid a visit to Cologne’s “Repair Café“, which helps people learn to repair broken things themselves – instead of throwing them away. She also got to know a group of grade school children learning to be climate ambassadors.

Idrees Lone, 31, is a freelance print and television journalist based in Srinagar, in India’s crisis region Kashmir – at the same time, home to some of the most beautiful nature in the country. He and his colleague Ruchika pursued the question of whether the German model of organic farming would have a chance with Indian consumers and what possibilities existed for India’s tourism sector to sustainably develop.

Sarah Abraham, 26, is a senior associate editor for the Hyderabad-based lifestyle magazine You & I. She hooked up with design trendsetters who demonstrate that fashion and accessories can be just as chic as they can be fair and ecological. Sarah also did a background report comparing the possibilities of building in an energy-saving matter in Germany and India.

Charu Kartikeya, 27, works both behind and in front of the camera as a political journalist at India’s parliamentary channel Lok Sabha TV in New Delhi. His research while in Germany focused on the history of the country’s anti-nuclear movement and the role of the Green Party in connection with Germany’s energy transition. In Berlin, Charu met with the Green Party’s spokesperson on nuclear policy Sylvia Kotting-Uhl for an extensive interview.

The Indian fellows proudly presented their certificates at the end of their stay

The multimedia site “grow.green.india” is the productive result of the Meeting and Exchange Project for Indian Journalists, which has just wrapped up in Bonn. For seven weeks, six journalists from across India enjoyed intense training in multimedia journalism and had ample opportunity to produce their own reports for the site.

The young journalists from New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Srinagar covered an enormous amount of ground during their fellowship in Germany, which was financed by the Robert Bosch Stiftung.

“We had put together a ‘wish list’ of what we hoped to accomplish with this project,” said project managers Patrick Benning and Sabina Casagrande, “and the fellows were able to accomplish even more.” The program schedule covered the nuts and bolts of multimedia – including writing for online, and how to use audio, video and photos or visualize data in this medium.

The journalists also had the chance to find out more about new developments in multimedia, for example web documentaries. An excursion trip to Berlin gave them insight into the structures of German political life.

The group with project managers Patrick Benning and Sabina Casagrande

The fellows themselves brainstormed and set their focus for their site “grow.green.india” – before heading out into the field for reporting. In fact, two participants were in an actual vegetable field for their story on organic farming.

The site covered a wide range of topics around the issue of sustainability: whether it was a closer look at Germany’s anti-nuclear movement, having young children explain their concept of climate friendly behavior to you or getting behind the wheel of an electric car in Berlin.

“We were thrilled to see the depth with which the fellows researched their stories,” the project managers said. “They really got to the bottom of issues and discovered aspects from their Indian perspective which escape us since we live here.”

For the fellows, the time spent in Germany gave them new perspectives on their professional work. “I can say that at the end of this, I have a greater level of confidence that I can dabble with different media in order to tell my stories better,” said one participant. “It was a great opportunity.”

The Indian fellows got a taste of German political life at the federal press conference in Berlin

Another fellow added that it was beneficial to try out different media. “It took me out of my comfort zone and put me in challenging situations, which was great.”

The six journalists have now returned to their desks back home in India – and have let the Asia team know that they are already working to implement some of the new skills they learned in Bonn.

Media outlets should have an idea who's watching them (Photo by 'espensorvik' / flickr)

Today’s fast moving media environment requires a lot of flexibility from media workers. Multimedia skills are a must. Journalists need to be able to produce stories for radio or television, print or online. At the same time, digitization, the Internet and affordable equipment enables anyone who wishes to open a TV station on YouTube or at least run a blog site.

All this technical innovation offers tempting perspectives for hard working and talented journalists. But frustration and failure might set in when it turns out that hardly anybody is watching or reading.

Journalists can be very creative when researching stories which can serve as an eye opener for the audience. It’s said that good stories can literally be found on the street. But nevertheless, proper research, production and distribution to the audience also require solid funding. Thus, a successful media company will also need to think of how to attract financial backing either directly from the audience or from sponsors.

Here journalists could also use their creativity and research skills for understanding their audience. The new media realities also offer more choices for the audience. Times are gone when people would gather at a certain time around a radio or TV set to get the main news from the dominant broadcaster. Today, even the most remote communities are at least able to access different news providers via their mobile phones whenever it’s convenient for them.

Photo by EIFL / flickr

This new audience behavior requires re-thinking on the side of news producers. Along with journalistic skills, they also need a strong understanding of specific audience needs. A first important step is to define the target audience, i.e. for whom are we producing the reports? In case our client is another company, we should ask as well: what is their audience?

If we’re mandated to produce stories for students, our topics should focus on career development and urban life. On the other hand, sustainable land development and traditional music would be of greater interest to middle-aged viewers in the countryside.

Media producers should try to view daily life from the perspective of the target audience. This requires little efforts and costs. A small field trip to a student campus or the village market will most likely provide new insights about the target group. Just as with other research areas, we should try to answer questions such as: what are the routine tasks of our target audience and what information do they need to get it done better? What are their aspirations and dreams? What are their fears and frustrations? How do they access news? Finding the proper answers will enable us to produce stories that keep our audience interested in our work.

A media outlet that can anticipate the information needs of its audience or the target group of the client will maintain a stronger position on the market.

Rajneesh Bhandari at work

What have you been working on recently?

I am very much interested in multimedia storytelling, so I love experimenting with new tools to tell stories in a compelling way. I have just come up with a multimedia iPad book “Living with Autism“. I chose this topic because mainstream media in Nepal has ignored this issue and the government has not taken any action. Nepal doesn’t have a single autism care center for autistic adults.

Can you apply the knowledge that you learned from DW Akademie to your daily work now?

I still remember these words Thomas Rehman taught me during the Reporting on Television training: “Sound ready? Ready! Camera ready? Ready! Roll! Rolling!”

Though I was doing my masters in journalism and working for a reputable television station in Nepal, I lacked in-depth television reporting training on an international level. That was the reason why I joined the training. I belonged to the first batch of television journalists trained by DW Akademie in Kathmandu. As Nepali televisions were flooded with talking heads, I was trying hard to bring social issues to the screen, to create compelling stories. You can see the video produced by my group.

In my group, news producers, camerapersons and visual editors participated to learn about news production, shooting, editing, writing and sound. I was following the traditional format of television. I used to write my script and then edit the visuals. But Thomas asked me to do the opposite, first edit the visual and then write the story. This way looks more engaging. I am still following this procedure now.

Tell us about your typical work day.

It starts in the morning when I check various news sources. Then I plan my day. My office starts work at 10:45 in the morning with a regular meeting every day. That is when I pitch my stories. I report on security, defense, court and anti-corruption agencies, as well as social stories. As I am covering key beats, there are many important and interesting events. I have to keep my eyes open to the developments, calling the spokespersons and sources regularly. Normally a day ends up with two to three stories, most of the time with news packages.

After coming back from the field, I edit the visual, write the script and give the voiceover. We use VSN news server in our office and Sony Vegas to edit audio and visual. We have news broadcasts every hour so accuracy and speed matter a lot.

After completing my office work, I gear up for other assignments at thinkbrigade.com, where I’m the Multimedia Team Leader. I proof articles from the multimedia perspective with my team, checking if the links are working fine, if the caption is right, if the picture has a good resolution and other multimedia elements.

I get home by around 8 or 9 pm. Then have something to eat and work on the other projects and assignments that I am involved in.

What sort of challenges do you face working as a journalist in Nepal in general?

There are a number of challenges. Society perceives journalists here negatively. We as journalists are truth tellers, we write things because we care about society. Journalists should also be professional in Nepal and not write in favor of certain political parties or groups. Verification, accuracy and fairness should be the fundamentals.

Nepal’s media lacks a good strategy. There is still no social media guideline. Talking heads are still ruling the television screen. We need a good digital strategy, innovative applications to produce good multimedia stories for our readers, viewers and listeners. We need to use the latest technology to tell our stories in a compelling way.

Interview by Juan Ju

Applications are under review by project manager Patrick Benning (left) and head of DW-AKADEMIE's Asia division Dr. Andrea Rübenacker

The call for applications to the fellowship was launched online. The reaction to it by far exceeded all expectations. “We were extremely impressed by the high number of talented and qualified journalists applying,” says project manager Sabina Casagrande who spent two weeks evaluating the applications together with her colleague Patrick Benning. Both project managers admit they would have loved to invite more journalists to participate. “It was heartbreaking to have to reject so many promising candidates,” they say. However, six fellows between the ages of 25 – 35 will be heading to Germany in September for one-and-a-half months of journalistic and intercultural training. They will also be putting together a multimedia project on the topic of sustainability. Here’s a quick peek at the participants:

Ashish K Mishra

Ashish K Mishra works for Forbes India in Mumbai as their principal correspondent. His regular beats are the automobile industry and renewable energy sector – areas in which Germany demonstrates great expertise. For Ashish, being a journalist in a globalized world also requires insight into the German way of thinking. “I want to build empathy and understanding of a culture different from mine so I can do a better job,” he says.

Ruchika Chitravanshi

Ruchika Chitravanshi mainly focuses on tourism, as well as shipping & ports in her work as senior correspondent for the Business Standard in New Delhi. She aims to depict the cost of India’s phenomenal economic growth in her reporting, both on the environment and on the people. Ruchika is excited to learn more about multimedia reporting during the fellowship. “As the landscape of journalism shifts and changes, it is imperative for me to be able to adapt to the interplay of news and technology,” she says.

Idrees Lone

Idrees Lone is currently freelancing and has covered conflict-related issues for both broadcast and print media (The Asian Age, NewsX, BBC) for several years from Srinagar. Living in a tense region such as Jammu and Kashmir, Idrees can call a long list of national stories his own, but would like to use the fellowship to gain a broader perspective. “This project will give impetus to my interest in global issues,” he says.

Charu Kartikeya

Charu Kartikeya is busy both behind and in front of the camera at India’s parliamentary channel Lok Sabha TV in New Delhi. “Indian journalists at this point in time are craving to see and report on what the ground situation in Germany is like,” he says. As a journalist and anchor reporting on policy making issues about poverty, climate change and energy-related issues, Charu is looking forward to getting a first-hand view of Germany.

Sarah Abraham

Sarah Abraham is a senior associate editor for You & I in Hyderabad. In addition to her weekly column on football, Sarah reports on social issues for the magazine. She says that Germany is an unknown entity for most Indians. “At Deutsche Welle, I’ll get insight into the issues that need to be addressed effectively by Indian media – and see how it can be done,” she says.

Anjilee Istwal

Anjilee Istwal is a senior special correspondent for NDTV in New Delhi. She covers issues ranging from politics to health and environment. Anjilee says she is looking forward to examining the strong cultural and economic ties between India and Germany. “It will be interesting to study how the two countries can mutually benefit each other in every possible field,” she says.