These days, Leo works for People’s Television, which is owned by the Philippine government. In this blog post, he gives us some insight into his work as a journalist in the Philippines.

What was the most exciting topic that you worked on in the recent past?

The installation of Pope Francis as the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Is there an interview or story that has changed your life? 


For me, every story is life changing, because I learn a little bit more about myself and the world from every story that I write.

What do you love about your work?

Since I love to learn, I love the fact that I learn so many things about the world without really trying.

Your journalistic dream would be… 


To cover conflicts in the most dangerous places on earth.

Your most important tool is …

My laptop.

Do you have a blog or website? 


Yes. http://ljubomirgatdula.wordpress.com/ is a by-product of one of DW Akademie’s trainings.

How much time do you spend online every day?

About 12 hours

Do you use social networks? Twitter, Facebook or others?

Yes. I have Twitter and Facebook accounts

What makes social media special for you?

Social media allow me to communicate with people from around the world, especially from friends I met at DW Akademie’s trainings. Without social media, I would find it hard to send messages to people from Germany, Bangladesh, the Maldives and many other places.

If you could write a text message to the world, what would it be? 


I wd lyk 2 c u 

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.

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.