Blogging and social activism were on the agenda last night when Deutsche Welle (DW) presented prizes to the winners of its international blog awards, The Bobs. “Best Blog” went to Iranian journalist and blogger Arash Sigarchi, and his blog Window of Anguish.  “When it comes to freedom, I believe the situation has worsened since I left Iran in 2008,” said Sigarchi, who reports in Persian and English about social and political topics in his homeland, especially about the state of human rights.

You can find a wrap-up of the entire event in the press release.

DW will be presenting its wide-reaching changes and programming highlights for the Arab world  at the 9th Convergence Summit in Amman, Jordan on May 22 and 23. DW’s Social Media Manager Julia Hildebrand will be taking part in the conference that is organized by the Arab Advisors Group.

DW has increased its focus on regional programming and intercultural dialogue in the Middle East with a schedule that offers 10 hours of Arabic programming and a six-hour block during primetime. This new programming line-up is tailored to meet the needs of the region’s broadcasters with a renewed focus on local partner-ships.

The success of “Shababtalk” can already speak for itself. More than 3.6 million viewers were tuning in to each episode in the show’s first three weeks. And the coproduction with Egypt’s market leader Al Hayah has been registering a market share of nearly 15 percent. The talk show brings together young representatives from the democratic movement in Egypt with their German counterparts from youth organizations, political parties and other associations.

DW focused on dialogue again with “On the Pulse”. It’s a talk show that brings Arab and German experts together to discuss issues related to democratization, politics, economics, the role of the government, justice and reli-gion.

Today, Deutsche Welle officially launched Destination Europe – its multimedia project examining the challenges and opportunities associated with migration and present a realistic picture of life in Europe.

What drives young Africans to search for a new life in Europe? How do they get there? And do their dreams come true? The 15-part “Destination Europe” series goes inside the real lives of African migrants and follows them from the moment they decide to leave their home to their experiences in Europe.

The project includes radio dramas, video portraits, informational charts, picture galleries and social media activities, like an online discussion using Facebook, with experts and those affected. “Destination Europe” is available in English, French and Arabic, with a special in German.

DW is in Nigeria this week looking for extraordinary journalistic talent. Under the motto “Social media: a challenge for journalism”, Germany’s international broadcaster developed a contest to award the best up-and-coming journalists in Kano. Entries were received as both audio reports and articles.

This project represents more than three and a half years of cooperation with Freedom Radio in Nigeria. It is also the first time that Deutsche Welle has worked with Bayero University.

Winners will be chosen by a jury made up of experts from DW’s partners Freedom Radio and Freedom Express, the faculty from the Department of Mass Communications at the Bayero University, and an independent journalist. The award ceremony will also feature a podium discussion about the impact of social media on Nigerian journalism in the future.

 

In the latest issue of Content Asia, editors spoke to seven of the world’s leading clips and archive companies about challenges in Asia, Asia-related content, demand, trends and the adjustments they’ve had to make for a new connected environment. Among these experts, was DW’s Stefan Bliemsrieder.

What does he see as the biggest challenge in selling archive/news clips into Asia?

“Two challenges: presentation and content. Asian consumers like to watch online clips that are relevant to them and in their language. DW has started providing local language versions (e.g. Mandarin, Bahasa Indonesia) to address this audience need in selected territories. The key challenge remains in the cost of localizing our content.”

Check out the full “Short & Sweet” interview.