DW Director General Erik Bettermann is currently in Latin America, presenting DW’s new television schedule for the region, with stops in Mexico, Chile Paraguay, Brazil, Panama and Colombia. Starting in February 2012, DW will expand its Spanish-language programming from two hours to 18 hours daily.

“Latin America is a continent with a lot of potential. Due to its political, economical and cultural relevance, it is one of our main target regions,” said Bettermann. “DW is already very important for information seekers and partners between Mexico and Argentina – and we want to expand this with more programming in Spanish.”

In Mexico, Bettermann and Germany’s Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, spent more than an hour with participants of the “Young Voices” Media Dialogue. They answered questions posed by up-and-coming journalists from Germany and Latin America. Participants included prominent young media workers who are bringing their ideas, stories and projects to the public forefront – often in unconventional ways. They posted their impressions, ideas and questions regarding the Media Dialogue on the event’s blog. “A positive culture shock”, “A successful exercise in collective intelligence”, “The beginning of a sustainable network,” was how they described the meeting.

In Guadalajara, Bettermann met with officials from La Red – the largest public broadcasting network in Spanish-speaking Latin America – to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement solidified the two broadcasters cooperation in the future, with La Red integrating audio, video and online content into its line-up.

In Chile, Bettermann met with the country’s President, Sebastian Pinera, who said that DW could fill an important gap with programming and information from Europe.

Alicia Barcena, General Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), also sees the potential of the expansion of programming in Latin America. She said that Germany and Latin America have a lot to offer each other – especially in the transfer of knowledge in the areas of technology and innovation. Barcena and Bettermann signed a Memorandum of Understanding for DW’s participation as media partner in next year’s Latin America-Europe Summit in Santiago de Chile.

Bettermann appeared on “Media and Human Rights” a DW coproduction with ARTV. Host Gonzalo Caceres led the discussion with human rights activists and prominent journalists, as the talked about the relationship between the media and the government in dictatorial countries.

DW today announced the winners of the 2011 Deutsche Welle Blog Awards – The BOBs.

An international jury of blog and media experts awarded honors in six multilingual categories. The awards will be presented as part of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum on June 20, 2011 in Bonn, Germany.

Best Blog went to "A Tunisian Girl", a blog written by Lina Ben Mhenni, a 27-year-old assistant professor at the University of Tunis. She has blogged about repression and censorship in her country since 2007 – long before a popular uprising unseated former president Ben Ali. During the protests in December 2010 and January 2011 she traveled to places including Sidi Bouzid and Kasrine to document the repression and killings occurring there. She now keeps a careful watch on political developments in the new Tunisia. ().

A list of all the User Prize winners can be seen here.

DW will also be hosting a panel discussion with jury members from The BOBs later today (April 12) in Bonn.

Winners will receive their prizes at the Global Media Forum in Bonn on June 20, 2011.

Asia
Asia Television Hong Kong (ATV) agreed in February to include even more magazines from DW-TV ASIA+ in its programming palette. The new additions include "Drive It", "In Good Shape" and "Global 3000". ATV is one of the most popular channels in Hong Kong and has a technical reach of more than 7 million viewers. ATV now carries seven shows from Deutsche Welle, including “European Journal” which is broadcast with subtitles in traditional Chinese.

Europe
DW-TV has now been included in the IPTV line-up from Optimus – one of the three largest mobile operators in Portugal. Optimus uses the so-called “RF Overlay” technology, along with Vodafone Portugal. This offers Vodafone subscribers access to Optimus programming and vice-versa.

Latin America
The state-run telecommunications firm Grupo ICE in Costa Rica will now include DW-TV in its IPTV line-up. ICE is responsible for the entire telecommunications infrastructure and power in Costa Rica and has already laid fiber optic cable in the country to connect residents to the international digital cable network. The IPTV service began this month and DW-TV will be included in the basic package.