There is an acute problem for journalists in Egypt. The country ranks 158 out of 179 on the Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters without Borders. Egyptian journalists are under constant threat of arrest and imprisonment. In August 2013, Al-Jazeera’s Egyptian TV station was raided and shut down by security forces under the pretense of “posing a threat to national security” and “fabricating allegations and rumors”. After the 2013 coup d’état which effectively placed the military in control of the country, the Egyptian constitution was suspended and the situation for journalists has become progressively worse.

DW has always been a global advocate for democracy and freedom of the press. By increasing awareness it can give hope to journalists in oppressive countries who are suffering just for doing their jobs. Shedding light on these issues during the discussion will be Raniah Salloum, Mideast reporter for Spiegel Online, Jürgen Stryjak a Cairo correspondent for ARD and Mazen Hassan, Germany correspondent for the Egyptian newspaper, Al-Ahram. Moderating the panel will be Jaafar Abdul-Karim, host of Shababtalk, DW’s talk show for the Arab world.

“DW is committed to working in the most dynamic regions in the world,” said Naser Shrouf, DW’s Head of Distribution for Africa/Middle East. “Our presence in Palestine, Lebanon and the Middle East is one of our priorities. Coproductions like these are the best sign of beneficial dialogue across cul-tural borders and national lines. We look forward to long partnerships and new challenges in the future.”

New challenges in Palestine
Hiwar El Khamies officially began on February 1 and will be aired on Thurs-days at 3:30 pm local time in Palestine. “Similar to our TV talk shows in the Arab world, we want to use radio as a medium to create a dialogue between Europe and the Middle East,” said Rainer Sollich, Head of the Arabic Radio Programming at DW.

The talk show will be hosted by radio personalities from Raya FM and DW, and will welcome expert guests to discuss a range of different topics. Listen-ers will have the opportunity to join the conversation and continue the debate online on DW’s Arabic Facebook page.

Besides Raya FM with its nationwide reach in Palestine, the coproduced program will be aired by three other DW partners: Radio Albald in Jenin, Radio Alwan in Gaza and Radio Marah in Hebron to maximize the number of lis-teners in the region.

“This coproduction is the result of a perfectly-functioning partnership be-tween DW and Raya FM,” said Ihab Al Jarere, Program and News Manager at Raya FM. “This has been proven by the current expansion – from re-broadcasting DW programming to creating a new format together. The idea of the new show is to create a platform for open dialogue on a number of issues that play a major role in the Middle East and Palestine.”

The radio coproduction will be aired every Tuesday on VOL’s  FM frequencies in Lebanon and in neighboring Syria. “We expect controversy and are looking for continued debate on our Arabic Facebook fan page,” said Sollich. Khaldoun Zeineddine from VOL and Yasser Abumuailek from DW hosted the first show, which highlighted the teamwork between the teams in Bonn and Beirut.

Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle joins the discussion on DW-TV ARABIA.

DW relaunched its channel for the Arab world yesterday, with a new focus on dialogue and programming in Arabic. Audiences from Morocco to Oman can tune in to DW-TV ARABIA for a six-hour block in Arabic – always in primetime. English-language programming will complete the channel’s 24-hour line-up. Up until now, the schedule alternated hourly between Arabic, or German with Arabic subtitles, and English.

This is just a continuation of DW’s strategy of introducing new, regionalized productions to help improve the connection to its viewers around the world.

Along with new Arabic versions of DW’s shows GLOBAL 3000 and Arts.21, the new DW-TV ARABIA also features four new talk shows, each focusing on different facets of society.

• Shababtalk is a co-production with Al Hayah TV, the leading station in Egypt. Young representatives from the democratic movement in Egypt join in on discussions with their German counterparts from youth organizations, political parties and other associations.
• On the Pulse brings Arab and German experts together to discuss issues related to democratization, politics, economics, the role of the government, justice and religion.
• Talking to the Press is a roundtable discussion with German and European editors-in-chief and their Arab colleagues.
• Guest of the Week offers the chance for public figures to come into the studio to discuss current developments in the Arab World.

DW also launched its new YouTube channel for Arabic yesterday, making its Arabic content available online to viewers around the world.

Bettermann said that this agreement symbolizes a “historical moment”. Bettermann added that it is important to both broadcasters – especially with regards to the historical experiences in both countries – to work in the heart of Europe to solidify their shared values such as freedom of the press, human rights and democracy around the world.

Hoek pointed out that free access to information is an especially important good.  DW and RNW will be focusing their cooperation on Chinese, Indonesian and Arabic programming. The two will exchange links to each other’s websites and use cross promotion in their programming. New forms of cooperation should also be developed in the future. The cooperation should also be expanded to distribution. The goal is to reach each of the target audiences better.