Germany: 2006 World Cup -- A Time to Make Friends

designed a cross-media training course for the World Cup. 14 journalists from Afghanistan, Angola, Brazil, China, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Mozambique, the Seychelles, Serbia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Ukraine and Vietnam took part. In cooperation with the interns and staff of Deutsche Welle, the participants produced reports covering all aspects of the 2006 World Cup.

"More than Football" was the motto of this training course. And that was exactly the case, as all available media were used to report on the tournament -- including video journalism, radio journalism and blogging.

The course covered a broad spectrum of topics: From the Berlin fan mile to tourist support in Munich. And the topics were covered in many different forms -- as live reports, stand-ups, news or magazine pieces. The finished products were then sent to the respective home countries for broadcasting.

The reports reveal a hitherto little known side of Germany and a country in an exuberant mood. Taking part in this course was a special experience, not just because of the unusual work itself, but also because of the congenial work atmosphere among colleagues from different countries and German journalists and interns.

"I'm really happy and proud to have been a part of this wonderful workshop", said Fenias Manjate from Mozambique, "I learned a lot about all the aspects of video journalism and that was a good experience for me."

Patrick Paul Hoareau from the Seychelles: "What an experience it has been to be part of the Football World Cup 2006. Following the workshop, that is, keeping up with the pace and style of work and going through all the steps to realize the stories was not always easy but enriching."