Who decides what we read? What price will we pay for it? How will big data continue to change the book in the future – and the way we think? These are the questions that were posed by DW’s documentary Gutenberg in the Cyberstorm, which just won Best of Festival for Documentary at the US International Film and Video Festival.

The documentary was produced as a special for Arts.21 – DW’s cultural magazine. Kate Müser takes viewers on a journey from Berlin to San Francisco and back again to examine the value that books will have in the future.

 

 

DW is valued all over the world for revealing unqiue ways to understand important global issues. A series of recent high-profile awards is a strong sign that this quality is being appreciated.

A prime example is the PromaxBDA Promotion, Marketing and Design Global Excellence Awards, where two DW productions won three awards last week in Los Angeles.

The youth-oriented documentary program Life Links received a gold award in the category, “Art Direction & Design: News Opener.” Life Links premiered last year and features personal and impactful stories from young people across the world.

Two bumpers from the Global Ideas series also won awards in the category “Art direction and design: News Bumper”. A gold went to “Biodiversity- Birds” and a silver to “Biodiversity- Forests”.  The documentaries from Global Ideas cover a fascinating variety of environmental and social issues tied to globalization.

In the winning categories, DW was among top brands in international news and documentary entertainment like CNN, BBC News and the Discovery Channel.

ProximaBDA is an international association for marketing, promotion and design with 10,000 members in 70 countries. The Global Excellence Awards recognize outstanding work in all branches of media marketing.

Another example is in Jordan, where DW received the Al Haitham Arab Media Award for the best international broadcaster with Arabic-language programming. The prize will be presented in August at the Arab Youth Media Forum in Amman, Jordan. The jury said that DW (Arabia) was a “reliable and trustworthy” source of information marked by a strong cultural profile and quality documentaries.

DW (Arabia) brings audiences from Morocco to Saudi Arabia a valuable independent perspective on global news and events. Starting June 22, the channel will broadcast 24 hours a day in Arabic.

DW’s Director General Peter Limbourg took the stage at the fifth annual Asia Pacific Video Operators Summit (APOS) last month in Bali to discuss DW’s new slogan, the competition and goals for the future. He used the time to share his thoughts on how the next generation of journalism should evolve and outlined DW’s vision for the future – with special emphasis on defining the global information agenda in the context of the upcoming launch of DW’s global English-language news channel.

The APOS summit marked the first public appearance of DW’s new slogan, “Made for minds”, which Limbourg contextualized as being a “compliment” to DW’s global audience, which remains in the focus of everything DW does. He added the slogan underscored the importance of the high-quality journalism that DW produces in a global media landscape beset by growing disinformation and propaganda.

At the center of Limbourg’s conversation with Janine Stein, the Editor-in-Chief of Content Asia, were the challenges faced by linear news television and what this all means to DW with the launch of the global English-language television channel coming up on June 22.

Limbourg explained that although there was talk earlier at the summit referring to modern linear TV as being analogous to the antiquated fax machine, he would compare it more to a refrigerator – “it has always been there, it will always be there but it doesn’t stop you from buying new digital equipment for your kitchen.”  He reemphasized that while DW would remain focused on a strong linear TV brand, there would also be investment in programs aimed at younger audiences that would be compatible with social media and mobile devices.

Cooperation also plays a key role and Limbourg emphasized that DW’s new English-language channel benefits from the robust relationships with local partners and the breadth of editorial languages at DW, all of which will contribute to the journalistic depth and quality of the flagship news programming. “We can be faster in getting these exclusive and interesting stories,” he said.

When looking at the Asian market, DW’s coproduction partnerships with Asian partners are beneficial for DW in getting more Asian content into the international channel but also provide opportunities for Asian content to travel globally, which has always been a major goal for Asian content producers. Partnerships like with Euromaxx in China represent a model of success for the future.

Limbourg said that the future of DW will be built on a strong global reputation of quality both in the production and origin  “I think Germany has proven it can deliver good products and it also means that we can deliver good information.” To which Stein could only reply, “the Mercedes of the news world.”

Other international media with a large Asian presence on the Asian market at the APOS summit included BBC Worldwide, Fox International Channels and RTL CBS. The summit is organized by Media Partners Asia (MPA).

 

 

Two DW productions were awarded with gold prizes at the 16^th annual World Media Festival in Hamburg. DW’s youth-oriented documentary format Life Links won a gold award in the “web-based new media” category. Winning a gold medal in the “E-learning and education” category was the DW Global Ideas production, A school for orangutans: learning to survive in the wild.

Life Links impressed jury members with well-produced and intimate personal portrayals of challenges that are similarly faced by young people around the world. The format combines a televised episode with an attractive website that expands on the issues in focus and invites the audience to discuss ideas.

A school for orangutans: learning to survive in the wild is another successful example of the interactive web documentary format. This emerging medium brings together stunning graphics with entertaining interactive features that create an entertaining learning process. This year’s gold-winning web documentary feature was produced in cooperation with the Federal Environment Ministry of Germany.

DW’s German courses are known for their innovative approaches to learning and with the online format, Bandtagebuch (Band Diary), you can learn German with rap music. The format recently received an award at the 2014 Comenius EduMedia Awards organized by the Society for Pedagogy and Information in Berlin. The award recognizes excellence in developing didactic multimedia products. The international jury chose the winners out of over 150 entries coming from 25 countries. The format was also praised by a jury memeber as “wildly successful”  in a short speech at the ceremony.

The Band Diary takes learners of German on a year-long tour with the Munich-based rap group Einshoch6. Their music combines hip-hop and classical motifs with lyrics that are specially written to help listeners learn German. The format also showcases the exciting life of a band on tour and illustrates the German culture and challegnes in learning the langauge.