Was ist das? No DW TV In Germany?

Was ist das? (What’s that?) No DW TV in Germany?...That was my initial expression in Deutsch when I heard that it is almost impossible to receive the transmission of Deutsche Welle Television (DW TV) the German external broadcaster in Germany. I was shocked to the bone.
No wonder after searching and pressing the remote control from one channel to the other at the TV Room in the Elsa Brandstrom Haus in Blankenese, Hamburg, where we were housed I couldn’t find DW TV which is very popular in Ghana.
Forgive me for exposing my total naivety after all that was among the purpose of this year’s International Institute of Journalists (IIJ) and Inwent Summer Academy Course in Germany from June to July 2008.

That is to teach young journalists the system, freedom and responsibilities in the media and improve their skills in reporting.

Curiosity they say killed the cat but I was not killed in my research when I realised that you cannot receive DW TV in Germany without searchlight disc, I was rather very surprised.

After being told the shocking news that I need a searchlight disc before I can receive the German external broadcaster in Germany, I tried to find out from the Germans preferably those within the ages of 18 – 40 and of course those who could speak a bit of English, whether they have watched or heard of DW TV before?

Approximately I talked to about 53 individuals including students, journalists, and other social workers and surprisingly only fifteen (15) knew about it. (13 got to know about it when they were outside Germany and two (2) read about it in Germany)

I also got to know that out of the 53 personalities I spoke to only 21 have traveled outside Germany. (your guess is as good as mine)

During the one month course 24 journalists from 18 countries in the world (Europe, Asia and Africa) were thought how the system, freedom and responsibilities in the media works and it was during one of these lectures that I got to know that DW TV is an international broadcaster being used to promote most valuable foreign policies.

International broadcasting happens to be the elegant term for a complex combination of state-sponsored news, information and entertainment directed at a population outside the sponsoring state’s boundaries.

As if the Seminar Moderator Friederike Boge, knew what was going through my mind during the lecture in the sense that we were divided into four groups and fortunately unfortunately my group was given a topic on “Public Diplomacy and the Transformation of International Broadcasting” and I was chosen by the group to do the presentation.

I could tell by the applause from my fellow colleagues after my presentation that our group did an excellent job and perhaps the best presentation. (Rebecca Kwei my Ghanaian colleague from Graphic Communication Group can bear me out)

In addition I also got to know that international broadcasters have a range of styles and its capabilities are among the power purposefully to alter the mix of voices in target societies to affect the composition of their markets for loyalties, to destabilize, to help mold opinions among their publics and otherwise to assert soft power for the purpose of achieving the national ends of transmitting state.

This was not the only new thing I got to know during the course since it was an interesting and more educative programme.

Apart from the significant content of the programme I had the opportunity to know the basic fundamentals of how the media operate in the 18 countries that were represented by exciting and brilliant journalists.

It is my wish that my fellow young journalists in Ghana will get the opportunity to attend some of these courses by IIJ and Inwent.

To IIJ and Inwent I say kudos and continue to empower journalists through your wonderful and educative programmes.