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Overcoming divisions: The DW Global Media Forum 2023

The 16th Global Media Forum hosted by DW will take place on June 19 and 20, 2023. The media conference will focus on the importance of journalism in view of the social discrepancies of our time – and how to counter them.

Bird's eye perspective image of the plenary chamber at the DW Global Media Forum 2022.
The 2023 conference will take place once again at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany, and online.Image: Ronka Oberhammer/DW

The conference will take place at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB) and online.

Registration for the conference opens on Monday, April 3, 2023, with early bird discounts available until the end of April. Flexible, low-cost tickets are available for virtual conference participation. Journalists can accredit free of charge. 

In times of increasing controversy and fragmented societies, the question of journalism's role in overcoming them is more important than ever. The DW Global Media Forum brings together media professionals and decision-makers from politics, science, culture, and business from Germany and around the world to exchange views on current challenges and learn from each other in an interdisciplinary exchange.

"Overcoming divisions" will center around the following questions:

  • What is the role of the media in documenting social upheavals and actively advocating for fundamental values and civil societies; is the latter the task of journalism at all?
  • How do we prevent (too much) reporting from fueling conflicts instead of informing our audiences – and how can we reconcile this goal with the pursuit of growing reach?  
  • Have too many voices been ignored for too long? Which voices should journalistic coverage focus on – and why?  
  • What revenue models can secure the future of quality journalism? 
  • How do wars and their coverage affect journalists' work in the long term?  
  • Does journalism employ the right tools to effectively counter populism?
You can now register for the Global Media Forum 2023.
You can now register for the Global Media Forum 2023. Image: DW

High-profile international speakers will shape the DW Global Media Forum, including UN Global Communications Chief Melissa Fleming, Nic Newman, author of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism's annual Digital News Report, and Sevgil Musaieva, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian news portal Ukrayinska Pravda. Amongst many others, German publicist Katharina Nocun and Ralf Fücks, managing director of the Center for Liberal Modernity, will also participate in panel discussions. Other highlights of the conference program include the presentation of the DW Freedom of Speech Award 2023, a contest for international start-ups from the media industry, the DW Global Media Forum Fellowship Program, as well as many partner and networking events.

The DW Global Media Forum is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Stiftung Internationale Begegnung der Sparkasse in Bonn, the German Federal Ministry for Development Cooperation and the City of Bonn. Media partner of the international encounter conference is MEEDIA.

For more information on the conference, please visit the GMF website.