Disruptive Innovation Begins at Deutsche Welle

There's excellent news from Bonn and Berlin this week. Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster appears to awoken and will take a leadership roll in the industry formerly known as international broadcasting. It looks like some elements are similar to what we tried at Radio Netherlands a few decades back (cherry-picking from domestic material to make a low cost high quality channel for Dutch abroad) and thinking more along the lines of the European station with a German accent (possible) rather than a German station with European accent (what's that?) . I note that they will do more with FM stations in Africa. I hope they will embrace an open collaborative approach to making engaging programmes - sharing ideas with the world. I detect a willingness to go in that direction by reading between the lines.

Bonn has woken up to the outside world and changing audiences

The extent of the changes can be found in the press statement put out yesterday.

"In order to reach our goals for the coming four years, we have to create the right conditions in our departments now," DW's director general, Peter Limbourg, told staff in Berlin and Bonn on January 20. On January 17, the broadcaster's leadership agreed on a series of reforms. "They will create the framework in which we can realize our concept of creative and modern journalism and position ourselves as a global information provider based in Germany," Limbourg commented.

The proposals concentrate on content in English as well as in languages that have proven successful for DW. English is intended to become the journalistic "flagship" language, meaning the English department's offerings will be expanded to make it internationally competitive. A core goal for DW is more successfully reaching its target audience of decision makers and political opinion leaders worldwide. Meanwhile, the German-language TV channel will be changed to feature more news content and clearer programming structures. "German remains an important language for DW," said the director general. A German-language community will be built up on dw.de, and Deutsche Welle's German courses will be expanded.

Limbourg announced that DW will redirect its finances internally so as to reach the areas that are being prioritized, a process that is set to begin step by step this year. "We aren't making a clear cut. Instead, we've developed a responsible and smart concept that will allow us to achieve our goals and maintain DW's excellent regional and language competencies," he said.

Regional priorities, priority languages

The plans are designed to strengthen DW’s English content within the international media landscape. The broadcaster's regional focus will be on Afghanistan, China and Iran in Asia, as well as Africa, the Arab World, Russia, Latin America, Turkey and the crisis zones within Europe.

Based on these decisions, the linear TV and online content will be heavily expanded in English. DW's TV news coverage is set to increase significantly, and the news will be broadcast more frequently. DW will reduce the number of shows it produces, while elevating the quality of the remaining formats. In all of its target areas, DW plans to continue offering regionalized content and to increase the number of relevant programming segments. Within the offerings for Asia and Africa, programming will emphasize certain topic areas - for example, there will be a business show for Asia. The necessary regional competence will be secured by retaining journalists from language departments that are being cut or reduced. DW's social media activity in English will be intensified, and its English-language radio production limited to shows intended for African FM partner broadcasters.

DW will continue to offer original content on television and online in German. However, the expenditures in this area will be reduced, while cooperation with German national public broadcasters ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio will be increased. With its German-language offerings, DW offers a key service for all those who live abroad and speak German, including for German nationals and those with German roots.

Focus on dialogue in regional target languages

Within its online offerings for regional target languages, DW will switch to a personalized blog format featuring dialogue and comment functions that will also be optimized for mobile devices. "We're after successful journalism that takes a stance, and we're seeking a direct interaction with our target audiences," said Director General Peter Limbourg. The current thematic breadth of DW's online content in these editorial departments, which currently produce comprehensive news and background material, will be left behind in favor of strong commentary pieces from a German perspective.

"In many countries, wide-ranging information is available about Germany, but what's lacking is context and commentary. That's what people there expect from Germany's international broadcaster. We will provide our target users with pointed commentaries on relevant global, regional or bilateral events and developments, communicating German positions on issues and entering into dialogue with them," the director general said. He added that DW will remain anchored in the respective target areas as a journalistic brand and that its offerings can be flexibly expanded - for instance, when a regional crisis demands it. The regional expertise in the existing foreign language editorial departments is set to remain intact and will be channeled into offerings in English.

Concentrating European expertise

The journalists covering European affairs in individual departments will be grouped into a single European editorial department. It will create regionalized content for European crisis regions, and, at DW's headquarters in Bonn, it will also produce an emotional and visually expressive TV magazine dealing with European politics. This magazine will serve as a template for adaptation into all of DW's European languages.

In its global target regions, DW will adapt its activities region by region and change its offerings accordingly.

Departments not set for restructuring

Numerous language departments at DW will remain essentially untouched by the structural changes. However, further work will be undertaken to increase the quality of their offerings and the number of users within the target audience. For example, social media activities will be further developed, and more videos and mobile content will be offered. This goes for editorial departments in the following languages: Dari, Pashto, Farsi, Chinese, Kiswahili, Hausa, Amharic, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese for Brazil, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Greek and Polish - the budgets of which will remain largely unchanged.

Structural reductions

Several language departments face structural changes: Online offerings in Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Macedonian, Romanian and Serbian will be switched to a personalized, dialogue-based blog format with comments. The European TV magazines in these languages will be maintained, but radio broadcasts in Albanian and Croatian will end.

In the future, DW will address its target groups in India and Pakistan primarily in English. Manthan, a science magazine format for TV in Hindi, will continue, but the Hindi website will be shut down. Radio offerings in Urdu will focus on the educational Learning by Ear program, and Urdu-language evening radio broadcasts will be preserved for the time being. Both the radio broadcasts via shortwave and the website in Urdu will shut down.

The Indonesian science magazine for TV, Inovator, will initially continue, and checks will be undertaken to see whether parts of the new English TV channel can be subtitled in Indonesian. The Indonesian website will also be reduced to a personalized, dialogue-based blog format with comments. The same goes for the French for Africa website. Production of radio broadcasts in French will be switched back to FM formats for selected partner broadcasters in Africa.

Discontinued offerings

Deutsche Welle will end its offerings in Bengali and Portuguese for Africa. However, the regional expertise available in these departments will not go to waste. Some staff members from the Bengali department will be employed to strengthen English-language TV and online offerings for Asia. Similarly, members of the Portuguese for Africa department will join the team producing English-language content for Africa. Their language skills will also be of use in the new Europe department and potentially in the Portuguese for Brazil team.

Changes to TV magazines

The management at DW also put all of the TV shows that DW produces and broadcasts up for scrutiny. The major criteria were the extent to which the TV magazines enhance DW's profile and what their potential scope is. As a result, the decision was made to end the shows PopXport, Agenda, World Stories, Germany Today, Insight Germany, People and Politics, Kino and Talking Germany in the future. This applies to the editions of these shows in all four languages in which DW broadcasts linear TV, namely German, English, Spanish and Arabic. The topics covered in those programs will be explored in other content. The business magazine Made in Germany and the talk show Quadriga will be fundamentally reworked and restructured.

The programs Euromaxx, Tomorrow Today, Global 3000, In Focus, In Good Shape, Drive it!, Shababtalk, On the Pulse, Discover Germany, Shift, Kick Off! and Kick Off! Countdown, Europe in Concert, European Journal, Arts.21, Business Brief, The New Arab Debates, Claves, Treasures of the World, Close up and Faith Matters will continue to be produced in all their current language versions.

Deutsche Welle will strive to bolster its TV offerings by introducing interactive formats and a talk show that will further enhance the broadcaster's reputation. Consideration will be given to which ideas developed by DW staff members could be put into practice for the TV station.

Further steps

The cornerstones of the new strategy and the measures necessary to put it into place will be included in Deutsche Welle's planning from 2014 to 2017. At the latest, their implementation will begin once the Broadcasting Board has formally approved the plans.

In the coming weeks, DW will clarify in more detail what the proposed measures will mean financially and in terms of personnel. In some areas, such as the English department, staff numbers will increase. It cannot yet be determined to what extent jobs will be lost, because it remains unclear how much of a grant the German federal government will provide to DW. The broadcaster's management will do all it can to retain as many of its employees as possible.

Choices for 2014 - Deutsche Welle or Techcrunch?

Budgets are tight. Where to find meaningful conversations in 2014? What's this in the inbox. An invitation to attend the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn next year.

Reminds me of a blogpost I wrote back in May to explain why I decided not to attend this year.

Are forums still working? 

So what's the problem?

The format is EXACTLY the same every year - think of a general theme, word them as challenges, send out invitations, give a few sponsors (including relevant politicians) a platform, fill the conference centre in the former parliament building in Bonn, have a party on the boat to Linz am Rhein. Repeat until someone complains or the money runs out.

Sadly, if I look at next years program, I'm not optimistic that the message from the audience is getting through to the organisers. I don't need to go to Bonn for more information. Yet that's exactly what is on offer in the plenary sessions. Lectures - totally one way. I call them bungee speakers - "Hello, here is my keynote, we'll take a few questions, have to dash, enjoy your conference". There's no sustainable conversation, so there's really no point. People promise to follow-up. And rarely do.

ahh! panel sessions

The Bonn conference centre is great for plenaries. It's less than great for intimate group discussions. Rooms are dark, overcrowded and the format is the inevitable panel discussions. There are presentations again. May be a bit of debate. Seldom any concrete action points and lessons to take away. And then it's time for coffee. I used to tape the sessions incase. Then I realised I was wasting my time.

Re;publika. Europe's largest social media conversation?

The danger is that others are beating the broadcasters at their own game of building conversations. In Berlin, at Techcrunch Disrupt, I saw a conference, a debate, a marketplace, and many new ideas to inspire. It was all about hands on participation. Total involvement. Same at Re: publika in May.

Berlin is interaction with the exponential future. Bonn is clearly wallowing in the past. What a missed opportunity. Wonder if they will consider changing it?

So if budgets are tight, I know where I recommend people to spend their time. Agree?

Techcrunch Europe

p.s. Just saw some events that DW organised in Niger to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their Hausa service to West Africa. These were discussion driven, audience inclusive and had clear focus. Why can't they do the same in Bonn?

A Disruptive Path for Deutsche Welle - Udacity is the future not news

Deutsche Welle, the German international public broadcaster, is holding a conference in Bonn next month. It is supposed to be about the future of growth. That's ironic when this part of Europe is collapsing under an economic meltdown. 

They've invited scholars to talk about globalisation. And political figures to speak to us about the German view on the world. Not quite sure what the take away on that one will be this time. Because we've heard the general story several times.

Mission Control. DW HQ in Bonn

This is the sixth time the DW and the city of Bonn has brought a couple of thousand people to former parliament building next door to one of DW's gigantic broadcast complexes (the other one is in Berlin). Yet, I believe,  the program demonstrates that there is a huge missed opportunity here.

What next for DW in its 60th year?

I believe that instead of pressing the reset button each year in July, the DW should be taking the discussion started last year a lot further. Because the elephant in the room is that Deutsche Welle, along with several other government-financed broadcasters like VOA, has no future as an international news organisation. Radio Sweden, Radio Netherlands, Swiss Radio International have all gone away.

As the streets of Europe come alight with people rioting for change (you don't want to be in Stockholm at the moment), I don't believe audiences anywhere are turning to the Deutche Welle to try and find answers. 

In other words, DW is no longer influencing the global conversation. Other stations with much deeper pockets and a more focused strategy have taken over that role. I would love to be proved wrong. But I cannot find any evidence to prove the contrary to that conclusion. How has DW's activities in Bonn changed the course of a history in any one particular country?

Sadly, DW seems to be missing the main point that I took away from last year's gathering by the Rhine, when the topic was Education and the Media. 

We all got what we said back in a beautifully bound book, as teams of student reporters captured every word of the panels. So what's the point?

Higher Education is going through major changes. Disrupted by start-ups. Lots of what they teach in Universities are no longer in books. The structure of lectures is totally different from what it used to be.

And the irony is that one of the most disruptive organisations bringing about this change is driven by someone who was born and educated in Bonn. Within walking distance of the Deutsche Welle.

Sebastian Thrun

Sebastian Thrun

I grew up in Germany, a country that offers excellent education. Yet when I started my Master's degree in computer science, I found myself among 1,200 other Master's students with just five professors. Needless to say, I ended up mostly educating myself through books that were available at a nearby research institute.

He left for Silicon Valley, eventually finding his way to Stanford, leading the university team's entry in the 2005 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) Grand Challenge to create an autonomous vehicle that could navigate 132 miles through a desert. He founded Google's X Lab. As the Wall Street Journal reported in their profile of Sebastian...

He insisted on a blank slate, letting student imaginations run wild as opposed to proving that some professor's arcane research actually works. "It's sad that we never get trained to leave assumptions behind," he says. Stanford won by 11 minutes.

At the Darpa challenge he met Google founder Larry Page, who would attend the races hiding behind dark sunglasses and a hat. Mr. Page hired Mr. Thrun and his team at first to work on StreetView for Google Maps. But his role soon evolved: "Larry frequently had me to dinner and every time, Larry would dream something up that was completely crazy. My gut reaction was that this makes no sense, it can't work, it's completely flawed. And I'd go home, do some calculations and a day or a week later I'd apologize and say: You were completely right."

He's now picking a huge problem that matters to society. That of the cost and access to higher education. The economic woes of the world are having a major impact on who gets access to the minds that will change this planet.

If, as a young student, I had the chance to learn from the best professors in the world, my life might have been different. I have been fortunate. Yet so many potential learners are still denied access. Education has become much more exclusive, and getting into a top-10 computer science department is still out of reach for all but a chosen few. 

Sebastian is the founder of Udacity, one of the growing number on-line education platforms. They give away excellent courses on important subjects for free. Like the course by Steve Blank on how to start a startup. 

A similar type of course by Prof Kevin Werbach on Gamefication attracted 60,000 students when it launched on Coursera earlier this year. It turns out that putting a course on line doesn't destroy the business model of the Universities behind it.

This triumvirate of industry and academia is now teaming up to use 21st Century technology to level the playing field in computer science education. And while the degree rightfully comes with a tuition fee -- after all, to achieve the very best in online education we will provide support services -- the bare content will be available free of charge, available for anyone eager to learn. We are also launching non-credit certificates at a much reduced price point, to give a path to those who don't care about Georgia Tech credit or degrees, but still want their learning results certified.

So what's this got to do with the Deutsche Welle?

In Bonn last year, several speakers, including myself, suggested that DW wake up to the fact that it has everything in place to become one of the world's leading educators. The country has leading technology companies, universities, even disruptive start-ups. It could really influence the world. Instead of just reporting about it. 

As they say in Silicon Valley - time to pivot! And quickly. I wonder what on earth will happen.

DW Forum last year on the future of Education. But what does it mean for the DW itself?

Outgoing Director General Erik Bettermann leaves DW on 30th September 2013

Discussions by the side of the Rhine. But discussions need to be acted upon.

Guido Westerwelle speaking last year in Bonn about educational partnerships. What happened to that discussion?

Where is the audience? Deutsche Welle celebrates 60 years on the air

I've been involved in international media for longer than I care to remember. I've organised and led several broadcast anniversaries, which is a natural time to reflect about why the mission is still relevant. I've learned very quickly that do this effectively, you can't do this on your own. Great radio and TV stations put the audience at the heart of everything they do. Which is why the 60th anniversary of the Deutsche Welle in Bonn is so intriguing.

On this day when press freedom is in the media spotlight, I find it fascinating to observe how the Deutsche Welle is presenting itself to the world. Because it is also DW's 60th Birthday today. And they are one of the largest international broadcasters in the world. In 2011 their annual report showed an income of just over 302 million Euro. That still means DW costs that nation 840,000 Euro a day.

Most of the branding and the stories about the anniversary are in German, since the stakeholders who finance the operation (the German government), need to be briefed on what they getting for this funding. I understand. But I presume the pages in English are targeted at the audience. But are they?

There's a rather strange interview in German (dubbed into English) with outgoing DG Erik Bettermann sitting on a chair in the entrance hall of the vast DW complex just outside Bonn. Don't they have any studios any more? It doesn't do justice to the man who has actually led the DW through its most difficult period since the first broadcast on May 3rd 1953. He hopes to integrate the external broadcaster into the public fabric of the German broadcast system by the end of the year.

I note on the English webpage that the audience has now become a list of 'users', some of whom have sent in testimonials. But I observe that no-one is talking about the great programmes they have heard or seen that have impacted on their lives or that they remember hearing. There is no mention of personalities that people recall - programme hosts or great events that you remember when someone says DW. Either they don't exist - or DW staff don't know how to find them by doing more than asking for testimonials and photos.

DW isn't the only station that has had this difficulty. I remember doing a profile on NHK Radio Japan back in 1985. They were celebrating the new NHK by getting members of their foreign language staff to sing songs in Japanese. It was light hearted and fun. But it had little to do with tracking the story of Japanese soft diplomacy since Radio Tokyo. I got some recordings to make my own documentary for Radio Netherlands, but only by promising not to reveal my sources.

Contrast this to what Radio Australia and the ABC (Australia) did to celebrate their 80th.

Or the great listener archive project that Trevor Dann is running for the BBC.


I think Bonn and Berlin (for DW is in both cities) are missing an opportunity.

Why do we still need the Bobs? We don't

Deutsche Welle starts ninth Bobs Awards in 14 languages | Press Releases | DW.DE | 06.02.2013:

Oh Dear. The Germans have got seriously stuck in their own routine.

If Blogs had just been invented, then an award scheme might be a good idea. But nine years later, I believe the Bobs have become totally irrelevant. Le Web wouldn't have become what it is today if it had stayed as Les Blogs.

If the prize was substantial financial or technical support so these fledgling media enterprises could get a head start, then it would make a lot of sense. But you don't need an expensive awards ceremony for that.

DW should be looking for original, innovative ways of discussing controversial issues. TacticalTech did great work in this respect, showing how humour and animation can cut through difficult cultural and political barriers.

Instead, the newly designed website (wow) has invented new categories like best person to follow, based on relevance, influence and interconnectedness. Sounds like the person with the most connections on LinkedIn or likes on Facebook. In which case it should go to Psy for his Gangnam Style video. Or perhaps the Kony campaign?

But seriously, the Bobs are a missed opportunity. These writers need a career path rather than a trip to Germany.

Radio Tanzania Tape Project

One of the more unusual Kickstarter projects to digitize the unique music collection sitting in the archives of Radio Tanzania.



There was an NPR piece about the project, though I notice in the video that not all the material is recorded on material donated by the BBC as the item claims. I'm guessing this library was built on tapes that were used transcription tapes. I think Deutsche Welle tape (which was always better grade BASF tape I recall) has been re-used as well. That was actually part of the plan. Western stations sent their topical programmes to stations on tape, knowing that the tape was recycled. That free tape supply dried up in the 90's when CD's arrived.