DW Akademie and Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with the University of Istanbul are now offering young German or Turkish media professionals the chance for a world-class education in Istanbul. The International Media Studies (IMS) Turkish-German Master’s program was opened at the end of October during a DAAD conference in Istanbul. Creating the program took three years – from inspiration to accreditation.

Christian Gramsch, Director of DW Akademie, said the program aims to ensure that “independent and crucial journalism can fill its indispensible role in the development of our two countries.”  The director also emphasized the important role of the program as a positive force in Turkish-German relations.  The four-semester program is aimed at students with at least one year of work experience in a media-related field.  The language of instruction is English.

Digital media is changing the world and giving more people everywhere the chance to have their voices heard and participate in social processes. This year’s Global Media Forum will explore the complex diversity of these issues along with experts, policy makers and interested guests from all over the world. With so much to choose from, we wanted to highlight some events and partners that you should look for at this year’s conference.

A session hosted by the German Development Institute titled, Transcultural understandings of legitimacy: A pre-condition for global governance?, will explore the effectiveness of international institutions in achieving legitimacy on the ground in the different countries and cultures where they operate. The focus will be on increasing trans-cultural dialogue in order to create common values and common solutions.

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom is hosting a panel discussion that will explore how social media is helping foster democracy around the world. The session titled, The role of (social) media in promoting and sustaining democratic governance, features guest experts from Lebanon, Egypt, India and Myanmar who will discuss how social media initiates and even stabilizes processes of social change.

A plenary discussion hosted by ASHOKA titled, Room for all? How social entrepreneurs in media are forging a new infrastructure for participation,  explores the changing structure of global media. The discussion focuses on the role of the media and audience in light of digital media and where the traditional information power structure is changing to allow for the creation of a new public sphere. Challenges will be introduced like finding new audiences and financing, how to bring in new participants and ways to create new “information communities.”

A talk hosted by Voices of Africa Media Foundation will feature a case study from Nairobi, Kenya that provided young people living in the cities slums the chance to become reporters. The talk titled, A case study in enabling residents from informal settlements to participate in decision-making, will showcase some results from the project which provides an example from Africa for how disadvantaged people can make their voices heard.

A workshop hosted by Wartburg College titled, A blueprint for building communities: Applying community-building practices to a news media company,” will explore how the traditional business a model has changed for big news organizations and how they can adopt practices from social media to increase their relevance and attract new audiences.

And that is not all! There is much more to see and learn at the 2014 Global Media Forum. The conference starts Monday June 30 and you can follow the events with live updates on Twitter and Facebook or on the press website.

If you are pursuing a career in international media and are aspiring to reach the next level, DW can help you increase your potential.  The International Media Studies Master’s program (IMS) from DW Akademie offers you the chance to combine cutting-edge interdisciplinary academic programs in modern media and journalism with practical experience at a world-class international broadcaster. The program is aimed at young people from developing and emerging countries with a year of professional experience and a bachelor’s degree in a media related field. The program is in German and English. With IMS you will be working with colleagues from all over the world while learning the skills to succeed in international media.

You can find exactly what your application requires here. After you have gathered all of the materials and put together a well-written letter of motivation you can submit your application online. Take advantage of this excellent opportunity and send your application to DW Akademie by April 30.

What did participants think of this year’s Global Media Forum? We have put some links together for you. Orange Magazine dedicated its latest issue to this year’s conference and the editor-in-chief emphasized that the conference tackled important issues such as the media’s duty to remain independent from corporate influence.

The United Nations University (UNU) wrote that the conference “allowed UNU to join the debate on the future of growth before a massive media audience. It enabled us to share our recent work and aspirations”.

A reporter from the Brunei Times wrote a review  of the conference and commented that, “one key lesson that is reiterated in the forum is the importance of dialogue, of open and transparent discussion and sharing of ideas, of the willingness to listen and compromise.”

And the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union said that “the sentiment throughout the conference was the importance of citizens as being the key drivers of change”.

The 2013 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum hosted more than 2,500 participants from all over the world to discuss the future of economic growth, values and the media.

Even if you aren’t in Bonn, you can get involved in the sixth Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. You can tune in to the live stream from the main session or go to the website to get more detailed information. You can also follow the conference on Twitter and watch footage from past conference events on YouTube. A highlight from yesterday was Avram Noam Chomsky’s keynote.

You can also check out all of the conference photos on DW’s Flickr page.