With the change in government in Myanmar, a new broadcasting act is to be put in place that will allow private television broadcasting for the first time in the history of the country.

It is a critical time for Myanmar, which had been ruled by military dictatorship from 1962 to 2011, and with former military leaders continuing to maintain power in parliament since that time. After a parliamentary election on November 8, the NLD party that supports liberal democratic values won a landslide majority vote and now has the mandate to govern.

The importance of a free media in developing liberal public institutions will make itself very apparent in the near future and the level of press freedom that will actually be allowed is something to monitor. Myanmar currently ranks 144th out of 180 nations on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index. Harassment and imprisonment of journalists was widespread in Myanmar as recently as 2014.

This is why institutions like DW Akademie can make a huge difference. As Germany’s largest media development organization, it has been deeply engaged in media development in Myanmar since 2012. With the changes in the past year, DW Akademie’s activites in Myanmar have been greatly expanded. In October 2015, DW Akademie worked in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and organized a series of workshops to introduce how community broadcasting works. Myanmar also elected a press council and DW Akademie representatives attended the ceremony. Earlier in 2015, DW Akdemie organized a training program for local journalism teachers that will help support the development of local media and promote a culture of quality media at its roots.

DW has also been a consistent trusted advisor to the state broadcaster MRTV and in 2014 helped found the Myanmar Journalism Institute, the first private journalism school in Myanmar. At a recent event, organized by DW Akademie in Yangon, DW’s Director General Peter Limbourg met with media representatives to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the transition.

There has also been criticism of a 2014 News Media Law in Myanmar from the free speech watchdog Article 19, with the safeguards for media freedom being,”heavily qualified and insufficient to meet international standards.” The media situation began to look better on paper, but according to Article 19, the laws often relied on imprecise legal language that doesn’t fully guarantee freedom of expression.

Besides the trappings of governance, there is also the issue of developing a confident and effective media culture in Myanmar, so that journalists know how to do their jobs and take advantage of their potential new freedoms.

Though the transition into a free media market will be a bumpy ride for broadcasters and other media operators in Myanmar, an essential aspect of quality journalism begins from the ground up. If journalists posses skills and resources, combined with freedom to report and produce stories that have a positive effect on the social development of Myanmar, the business side of the problem could have less of an adverse impact. If the new government continues a legacy of bureaucratic and back-door control of the media, it will say a lot about where the country is heading.

Asia

DW’s new global English news channel is now available in Afghanistan via satellite after a three-year contract was closed with the satellite provider Afghanistan Broadcasting System. The satellite Afghansat 1 is operated by Eutelsat and will carry 60 international and national channels to a potential 1,5 million subscribers.

DW has a new broadcasting partner in Indonesia. The nationwide television provider Sky LBS will now carry the full program from DW’s new English news channel via cable, satellite and IPTV. Sky LBS can reach a potential 35.8 million households and has 123 national and international channels in its portfolio.

DW Akademie has opened a new office in Yangon, Myanmar in partnership with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).  The primary activities of DW Akademie in Myanmar are supporting the transformation of the state broadcaster MRTV and the construction and development of the first private journalism school in Myanmar, Myanmar Journalism Institute. DW Akademie has been active in Myanmar since 2009.

 

Europe

DW  has partnered with the German UNESCO commission and the German Federal Foreign Office for a conference being held this month in Bonn. The highlight of the conference will choosing a new UNESCO World Heritage Site. For the occasion,  DW produced a multimedia website Wege zum Welterbe that traces a virtual path across all World Heritage Sites in Germany.

Africa

DW and Nigerian broadcaster Channels Television have signed an extensive cooperation agreement.
The new partnership will feature live broadcasts with a DW market reporter from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and four weekly interviews with DW correspondents covering current German and European issues in society and politics. Channels Television has the widest broadcasting range in Nigeria.

 

 

Asia

The Forever Group have picked up 170 hours of DW Transtel programming. Myanmar’s largest media company and the country’s first Pay TV provider, chose a wide variety of programming to be broadcast on the Readers Channel, a free-to-air educational channel that encourages audiences to read more. This contract represents the largest volume of programming that has ever been sold by DW Transtel in Myanmar. The Forever Group has also been acquiring DW’s complete programming line-up since 2011.

Audiences all over Afghanistan can now watch DW’s Euromaxx, Arts.21 and Drive it on one the country’s leading television stations, OneTV (1-TV). This rapidly growing private broadcaster, newly founded by Afghani investors hoping to promote principals of human rights and freedom of speech, specializes in covering news and current affairs. It has a very good reputation in Afghanistan with a target audience of young, educated information seekers. On the Afghani TV popularity index, OneTV ranks third.

 

Latin America

It’s primetime for DW in Uruguay as DW (Latinoamérica) grows more and more popular. The terrestrial broadcaster Río Uruguay TV is now a part-time programming partner broadcasting the DW formats Claves, Al volante and Visión futuro Sunday evenings from 8:00 to 10:00 pm. The broadcasting area covers the city of Fray Bentos and the province of Río Negro. Around 200,000 viewers can receive Río Uruguay TV and this new partnership features DW in the evening primetime slot.

 

Middle East

DW has forged a new partnership in Lebanon. A memorandum of understanding was recently signed with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC Group) that is paving the way for cooperation with DW’s World Stories. The Lebanese broadcaster will soon be contributing segments to the successful DW show. DW is also confident that cooperation will be expanding in the near future to include program acquisitions from DW (Arabia). The Lebanese newspaper As-Safir has also begun to include full articles and video boxes from DW on its online platform. As-Safir is a pan-Arab publication with readers from all over the Arab world.

DW has also taken steps to increase its social media footprint in Iraq. The very popular news and social media site Shakwmakw, which boasts 430,000 Facebook fans, will soon be posting new links to selected DW articles on a daily basis. The website was started during the Iraqi civil war as an online forum with the goal of encouraging positive exchange and communication between Iraqis regardless of their religious or ethnic backgrounds. Another popular social media platform biraqi, with over 350,000 Facebook fans, has signed a cooperation agreement with DW and are integrating links and teasers into their online content.

 

Online

The Kick off! Competition is now off and running in German, English, Spanish and Arabic – a great chance for soccer fans to show their knowledge of the German Bundesliga. DW is also now offering a free Tour of the German Parliament with a new multimedia project that takes you on an virtual tour of the plenary chamber in Berlin.

Africa
Alrai-TV, a channel in Kuwait, will start broadcasting DW programming starting in September. Alrai is the most successful channel in Kuwait, reaching around 60percent of households. It will include the Arabic versions of In Good Shape and drive it! in its line-up starting September 15.

Asia
DW-TV ASIA+ is making waves in Asia with three new deals. The English-focused channel is now part of the MAX3 cable network in Indonesia. The provider currently has 20,000 subscribers – a number that is quickly on the rise. DW-TV ASIA+ is also being broadcast to more than 50,000 subscribers in Tawain via SHIH HSIN Cable. The provider from Chiayi City has a line-up that includes approximately 50 channels. And in Myanmar, DW-TV ASIA+ has been picked up by the DVB-T provider Forever Group. This will make DW’s television programming available in Rangoon and surrounding areas.

Europe
The next phase of the extensive partnership with RBC TV is in full swing. The Russian channel is now using banners to link to content and articles on DW’s website (in Russian). The website from RBC is among the most popular in Russia, with approximately 1.5 million visitors daily and is the number one website in the area of “Info and News”. This latest development in online comes on the heels of two further programming partnerships – with a live feed and the introduction of GLOBAL 3000 earlier this year.

DW has a new number one in Kosovo. With telegrafi , DW has found a partner that can really deliver. The website has quickly become the best referral website for DW’s Albanian page. Telegrafi has included DW’s online news box on its homepage in the “News” section.

Experts from DW’s Albanian service will also be taking part in broadcasts from RTK (Radio Television Kosova) starting in September. DW’s journalists will be dialed in via video-phone twice per week.

Latin America
Deutsche Welle has entered into a comprehensive agreement with ARTV. The Chilean channel has been broadcasting the Spanish shows Cuadriga and Prisma since last month. In addition, DW and ARTV worked together on a coproduction on July 20, when DW’s Director General was in Santiago. ARTV has been operating for 20 years and is available via cable. The channel focuses on arts and culture, as well the cultural contributions of Latin America in the areas of history, society, the environment and human rights.