Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum: 50 Partners and Internet Leaders to Participate
March 16, 2009
Erik Bettermann, Director General of Deutsche Welle, stated that scores of prominent figures from the world of politics, media, international organizations and institutions have agreed to participate in this year’s Global Media Forum, while speaking at the Central German Press Club in Leipzig on March 9, 2009. This year’s Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum will focus on “Conflict Prevention in the Multimedia Age” and is will be held at the World Conference Center in Bonn.
Howard Rheingold, Professor at Stanford University, will be giving a keynote speech on the opening day of the conference. He is one of the world’s foremost experts when it comes to Web 2.0 and future developments and has been exploring topics related to the Internet and computer usage for more than 20 years now. He is known in the industry as a “trend-guru” with regards to the usage behavior of the Internet generation and is a renowned author. Rheingold is especially interested in the connection between human psychology, social behavior and technology. The Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum will offer guests a chance to “experience a trailblazer and one of the most important forecasters for humane Internet use,” said Bettermann.
Another key figure from the world of Web 2.0 – and online journalism in particular – is multimedia producer, author and journalist Brian Storm of the United States. His production company, MediaStorm, has revamped the conventional form of photojournalism, transforming it into an online, multimedia experience. MediaStorm’s resonating coverage of conflict zones has reaped many awards, including an Emmy.
Betterman named other high-profile speakers and panelists scheduled to participate in the Global Media Forum, including Nick Brambring, a managing director of free Internet TV portal Zattoo, Christiana Falcone, Director of Media Industries at the World Economic Forum USA, and Professor Norman Sharkey, University of Sheffield, one of the world’s leading researchers in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomous weaponry. Bettermann also highlighted the participation of Salim Alim’s – founder of the first pan-African news channel, A24 Media in Kenya, which experts have been calling the “YouTube of Africa”.
Like at last year’s event, international media will once again play a central role at this year’s Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, said Bettermann. The conference will bring together organizations committed to freedom of the press, the democratization process and media as a tool toward conflict prevention alongside major international media houses such as the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) and its secretary-general, David Astley, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) with Director General Jean Réveillon and high-ranking representatives of the BBC, Voice of America and Radio France Internationale.
Betterman was pleased to point out that dozens of African media producers, from print to radio and television broadcasters, had already registered to cover the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. For them it will be of particular interest to know that the African Union Peace and Security Commissioner, Ramtane Lamamra, of Algeria, has confirmed his attendance. Lamamra will hold a keynote address on the first day of the conference. Over the course of the three-day event there will be many forums and presentations focusing on issues pertaining to Africa.
The scientific community’s interest in the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is growing at a steady pace, noted Bettermann. Renowned institutions of higher education, such as Oxford University, Stanford University and the University of Melbourne will be hosting their own events as part of the conference. Distinguished think tanks, such as the School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS) based in Washington, D.C., and the Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri), based in Paris, are involved as partners.
Altogether more than 50 cooperation partners are actively engaged in the three-day forum in Bonn, including the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Reporters Without Borders, the Robert Bosch Foundation, the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) and Signis (World Catholic Association for Communication). The German armed forces are also involved, represented mainly by the Academy for Information and Communication located in Strausberg near Berlin.
The Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is a media convention with an international focus, drawing media representatives from around the world, including many partner associations of Germany’s international broadcaster, and key figures from the world of politics, culture, business, development cooperation and science. With this interdisciplinary approach they jointly develop practical strategies to meet the challenges posed by globalization in which media play a central role. The first Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, held in 2008, was attended by 900 delegates from more than 100 countries. The event incorporates podium discussions, workshops, interactive presentations, exhibitions, networking opportunities and an appealing social program arranged with the support of renowned partners. The venue, the World Conference Center Bonn, is located directly nearby Deutsche Welle headquarters.
Co-host of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse in Bonn. The convention is also supported by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, the government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Bonn, DHL, The Economist, Intermedia, KD Deutsche Rheinschifffahrt AG and dpa group companies news aktuell and picture alliance.