Asia

VTV4, the international channel of Vietnam’s state broadcaster VTV, has expanded its partnership with DW. A specially produced DW News segment is now being aired every Friday on VTV4’s morning “English News Bulletin”. VTV4 is expanding its English-language news and entertainment content and DW News makes a valuable contribution.

Also in Vietnam, National Assembly TV (NaTV), is broadcasting the DW programs In Good Shape, Tomorrow Today, Check in and Arts.21 – in English with Vietnamese subtitles. NaTV, part of public broadcaster VOV TV, provides coverage of parliament, local politics and general news.

Detik.com is Indonesia’s most popular news website with almost a billion monthly page views. Detik is also one of DW’s premier online partners in Asia and since last month, it has been including DW articles in Bahasa Indonesia as an important part of its international news content.

Mongolsat Networks, a newly founded Mongolian DTH provider, is now including DW’s English-language in its basic package. Mongolsat broadcasts 40 TV channels.

DW’s Urdu-language science magazine Sawal is being broadcast on Pakistan’s Express TV, one of the most popular news channels in the country.

Latin America

Nicavisión Canal 12, Nicaragua’s only nationwide terrestrial broadcaster, is showing Spanish-language news broadcasts and magazines from DW. Canal 12 calls itself Nicaragua’s only independent news broadcaster and values DW’s reputation as a source of quality international journalism.

The Peruvian TV channel Quatro TV is acquiring a variety of Spanish-language DW programs for its line up. DW’s  El reportero, La semana, Al volante, En forma, Enlaces and Todo gol will be available to around 500,000 households in Southern Peru via Quatro TV.

DW’s talk show for Arab youth, Shababtalk, tackles important issues and gives young people a platform to speak out about cultural and social taboos. The show recently went a step further in Iraq with the Shababtalk Award, which put talented young Iraqis onstage to display their talents and ideas.

In October Shababtalk went on social media in Iraq with a call for short videos entries covering talents and projects. In late November five winners were announced and the prizes were given out by local celebrities in music, art, social engagement. Included was Melon City, a popular Iraqi satire show.

Shababtalk has made a big impact in locations across the Arab World. Since 2015, the show has been going on the road to get close to the audience and explore the issues that matter to them most. Shababtalk has also received numerous awards itself, most recently being awarded the Mediterranean Journalist Award.

Over 220 guests attended the awards ceremony in Baghdad, including local bloggers, activists and opinion makers. Local partners Alrasheed TV and Iraki Media Network broadcast the awards ceremony. The Shababtalk Award will be given out every year in a different Arab country.

DW recently introduced a new media verification platform, Truly.Media, that enables media producers and civil society groups to quickly verify news reports circulating on social media. The platform was developed in partnership with the Greek software development company Athens Technology Center (ATC).

Truly.Media’s first major client is the world’s leading human rights advocacy group,  Amnesty International (AI).

“When inconvenient truths prompt public officials to cry ‘fake news’, or when content posted on social media purports to show something it doesn’t, Amnesty International needs to be ready to respond, based on rigorous, methodical research and verification methods,” said Tirana Hassan, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Director, in a statement on AI’s website.

When important news stories go viral on social media, there is a flood of information that is not always accurate, or even worse, manipulated. Truly.Media works by enlisting teams of journalists and editors, along with automation tools, to verify information in real time.

It was recently introduced to the European Parliament in Brussels, where Members of Parliament welcomed it as an impressive tool that will have real benefits for poltical discourse. As the platform shows positive results with AI, more clients are sure to follow.

Truly.Media has been in development since 2016, and was produced with the support of the innovation fund from the Google Digital News Initiative and EU research financing.

Dear Germany, a new series from DW, portrays five journalists from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Uganda who came to Germany as refugees and goes inside the challenges they face integrating into German society.

The series gives a realistic portrayal of what life is like for those who have left everything behind to come to Germany. By focusing on individual storytellers, DW can help dispel stereotypes and fight negative generalizations of refugees.

Moses Bokorait came to Germany from Uganda eight years ago after his work as an investigative journalist made him a target. The 34-year old Afghan journalist Shakila Ebrahimkhil lost her husband and five colleagues to terrorism.

All of the show’s protagonists are trying hard to adapt to life in Germany and be accepted by society. They find that Germany is both a safe harbor and a tough place to make a living. Refugee journalists often have a difficult time finding work – even after they have learned the language. But by using a video-blog format, the series plays on the storytelling strength of the protagonists.

The series is being produced in English, French and Arabic. DW’s partners on Dear Germany include the France Medias Monde, Italy’s ANSA and a website funded by the EU InfoMigrants. DW also offers a wide range of information and resources for refugees coming to Germany that have been used millions of times in the past two years.

“Nicos Weg” is the latest in a series of free language learning tools developed by DW Learn German.

Many people want to come to Germany to work or study, but don’t know where to start learning the language. DW’s language courses make learning German fun and entertaining with creative resources that help learners reach their goals.

It tells the story of a young man who comes to Germany for the first time and is finding his way while learning the language and culture. And by combining the storytelling power of a TV series with a comprehensive language course, learners can get a perspective on life in Germany that puts the language in context. While learning grammar and vocabulary, users also experience how the language is used

Included with the videos are 250 lessons and 14,000 interactive exercises. Nicos weg is also designed to be used on mobile devices, so users can learn with Nico anytime and anywhere. And there are also versions using English and Arabic to help total beginners catch on.

Similar formats produced by DW’s Learn German that have already been very successful include the interactive soap opera “JoJo sucht das Glück” and the culture and language learning website for refugees “Mach dein Herz auf.” With Nicos Weg, DW is continuing to build a solid foundation of resources for helping people all over the world succeed at learning German.