For half a century, DW has been broadcasting reliable news and information in Kiswahili to listeners in Eastern Africa and the Great Lakes region. DW celebrated this anniversary today with an event in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, by bringing opinion leaders together for a discussion on “Knowledge and Awareness through Media”. Keynotes were held by the German Ambassador, Klaus-Peter Brandes and Andrea Schmidt, head of DW’s Kiswahili Service.

“The majority of our listeners live here in Tanzania so it was an obvious choice for our celebration,” said Andrea Schmidt. “For the last 50 years, DW has been committed to providing balanced news and reliable information, offering people in East Africa insights and detailed analysis on the issues that matter most.”

The panel discussion at the event was organized with the help of GIZ in Dar es Salaam and moderated by DW’s Mohammed Khelef. Participants included distinguished Tanzanian media professionals likeAssah Andrew Mwambene (Director of Tanzania Information Services / Maelezo), Mohamed Abdulrahman (DW), Jenerali Ulimwengu (journalist), Valerie Msoka (Director of TAMWA) and Maggid Mjengwa (social media expert).

DW’s Kiswahili Service broadcasts daily three hours to East Africa and the Great Lakes region. By working with partner stations throughout the region, DW is able to provide listeners via FM balanced coverage of what is going on in the world in general and in Africa in particular. To provide this international perspective, a team of journalists from five African countries works together with a network of correspondents. Kiswahili programming is one of the most popular that DW offers. DW has integrated award-winning educational content with Learning by Ear and a huge variety of features covering health, human rights, environment, women and development, youth and lifestyle and culture.

A new partnership with Standard Group Ltd. will make DW radio and television programming available to even more viewers and listeners in Kenya. The new agreement will make DW’s Swahili radio programming available on Radio Maisha and English television programming on KTN. Radio Maisha has been rebroadcasting DW’s Swahili programming since January 15, with one programming hour being aired five days a week from Monday to Friday. In addition, 10 minutes of news is being broadcast on Saturday and Sunday. In addition, DW’s English television programming will also be broadcast on KTN – a privately run television station which broadcasts throughout Kenya in English. A promotional campaign will accompany the partnership featuring bill-boards, radio and newspaper ads to introduce DW programming to the Kenyan audience.

Europe

DW has created a platform for German-Turkish dialogue with Buluşma Noktası. The bilingual (German and Turkish) online specials will showcase how the two cultures are in constant exchange and dialogue. In the spotlight will be four culturally active individuals from Berlin and Istanbul – including the author and artist Werner Felten, journalist Sirin Manolya Sak, author Ahmet Tulgar and photographer Jochen Proehl. For six weeks, these individuals will be posting their views and opinions in a German and Turkish language blog.

 

Asia

DW has signed two new partners for Learning by Ear in Afghanistan. Radio Sabawoon and Radio Zindagi broadcast to the highly-populated and politically relevant provinces of Helmland and Herat. They join the existing partners Radio Ariana, Radio Nawa, the Afghan Independent Radio Association and Radio Amozgar as Learning by Ear partners.

DW gas been added to 15 new cable stations in Pakistan – including several in Islamabad, Lahore and Bahawalpur. The new cable stations reach a total of more than 270,000 households. There are now 262 cable partners that are including DW’s English program in their television lineup.

DW has also added a new television partner in Indonesia with the recently launched DTH provider PentaVision. The new pay TV provider will offer more than 50 channels in English and Bahasa and provide programming to viewers throughout Indonesia via the IPSTAR satellite. PentaVision is looking to expand to include 450,000 subscribers in the next three years.

Global

Deutsche Welle has signed an agreement with the United Nations expanding the partnership that was established five years ago. The agreement enables DW to supplement its television programming with materials from UN-produced documentaries. DW welcomes this as a way of enriching its internationally-focused television series like World Stories and Global 3000 with new perspectives and high-quality reporting from around the world.

DW is teaming up with 63 radio stations throughout Pakistan to broadcast DW’s Leaning by Ear program in Pashtu and Urdu. Learning by Ear is a distance education program with a lively mix of in-depth reports, radio dramas and feature stories targeted to 12- to 25-year-olds. Fifty-three Pakistani stations are initially set to begin broadcasting the program, with ten more getting on board in the coming months. Learning by Ear will reach more than 90 percent of radio listeners in Pakistan, which has a total of about 120 independent radio stations.

“We are thrilled so many Pakistani stations wanted to broadcast Learning By Ear,” said DW’s Head of Distribution for Asia Anne Hufnagel. “We hope it will enhance their programming line-up, and win some new fans for DW.”
DW will send Learning by Ear content to partner stations via CD. Learning by Ear covers topics from children’s rights and family planning to conflict resolution and the media, and comes in series of ten-minute-long installments.

Pakistani fans of Learning by Ear will be able to participate in quizzes put on by partner stations, as well as receive supplementary books provided through DW’s distribution office in Pakistan.

Along with Hufnagel, the Head of Asia Programming Alexander Freund was in Islamabad, Pakistan, to officially announce the Learning by Ear for Pakistan at a press conference. FM 100 Pakistan, a leader in Pakistani FM radio, is the first partner to start broadcasting.

As all 63 stations start using Learning by Ear, DW will make the program available to NGOs, educational institutions and other organizations in Pakistan interested in the show.

In this video interview with World Screen, Guido Baumhauer, DW’s Director of Strategy, Marketing and Distribution, highlights DW’s strategy for distribution across all platforms. DW provides content in 30 languages through its TV, radio and online services. As part of its mission to meet the challenges of today’s constantly evolving media environment, DW is focused on providing content for all platforms.