DW's Global Media Forum aims to overcome divisions

"Overcoming divisions" is the motto of this year's Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum (GMF). The annual conference, based in the German city of Bonn, has lofty aspirations: After all, our world and worldviews seem to be increasingly divided.

Debates are conducted in a more controversial, harsh manner — especially on social media. The fault lines run through communities and internationally. The terms used are becoming more militant and range from the "clash of civilizations" to the "clash of systems." Warring parties attempt to use propaganda and misinformation to win battles over the narratives.

In this situation, the media and the people who make it bear a special responsibility, according to Deutsche Welle Director General Peter Limbourg. "Misinformation, conspiracy theories and populism are huge challenges for the industry. For journalists, critically reflecting on our own conduct is more important than ever."

To enable this sort of reflection on an international level is, said Limbourg, the purpose of the Global Media Forum: "Because experiences and perspectives can be shared here, we can learn from each other. It is also where you realize that you are not alone with your questions and concerns, but that many people feel the same."

Opening ceremony to bring 'goosebumps'

More than 2,000 participants from more than 120 countries will use the GMF as a platform for these exchanges. The event, organized by DW, has been running for the past 16 years and has become firmly established as the biggest international media conference in Germany.

Organizer Verica Spasovska expects people to have "goosebumps" when the Volny Choir (Free Choir) takes to the stage at the opening ceremony on June 19. "This is a choir which performed as a kind of flashmob in Belarus, with their faces covered," Spasovska, who is responsible for the GMF at DW, explained.

"They did that as a protest against the autocratic government in Belarus. The members of this choir now live in Poland because they are persecuted at home, and because they are worried that their family members will also be affected."

Well-known war correspondents will be attending the GMF, including photojournalist Ron Haviv. Politicians taking part include Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock by videoconference. Investigative journalist Oscar Martínez is coming from El Salvador to receive the Freedom of Speech award. Also in attendance will be Liberian peace and women's activist Leymah Gbowee, a Nobel Peace laureate.

Overcoming voicelessness

In total, more than 140 well known speakers have announced their attendance. Another is also a Nobel Peace Prize recipient: Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, who was honored with the award in 2021. "I imagine this will be very exciting, because he is a big critic of the autocratic regime," GMF organizer Spasovska said. "I am curious to hear what he has to say about the state of society and the media in Russia."

The presence of Muratov has elicited isolated criticism from the Ukrainian side on social media. For Spasovska, that indicates how much tensions have risen. "Last year, we still had Russian and Ukrainian journalists sitting together on the same panel," the GMF boss recalled.

Peter Limbourg laments that in the second year of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine "we are experiencing that Ukrainians no longer want to speak with Russians — and vice versa."

Similar breakdowns in communication are also occurring in other parts of the world where conflicts are being fought, the DW Director General observed. He sees a special role for the GMF in these cases: "The Global Media Forum is the place where, in the past, we have always managed to bridge divides and enter conversation with one another. This is something I also wish to see happen at this year's conference. Dialogue is the foundation of the chance at peace."

Feedback from previous years of the media conference in Bonn has confirmed this role, Spasovska said. For the visitors, the GMF is a sort of neutral ground: "There you meet people who you wouldn't meet at home — because they come from an opposing or enemy country."

Practical workshops and new ideas

The GMF is also known for its practical workshops. Participants can learn how to verify pictures and videos from the internet, for example. One workshop focuses on sound quality for podcasts, another addresses how reporters can protect their mental health when they encounter disturbing material during their research. And the GMF cannot avoid ChatGPT: Dealing with artificial intelligence is of course a topic at the conference.

The start-up contest also promises to be exciting: More than 90 start-ups from across the globe submitted their innovative ideas for media-related projects. The three finalists are traveling to Bonn: Sasha Ivanova, founder of the organization SharpShark, which works to protect copyrights; Gabriel Karsan from Tanzania, whose Sema platform enables both the networking of grassroots organizations and opinion polls in real-time; and Numeral Daka from Zambia, whose project Community Smart Media uses artificial intelligence to combat misinformation. The winner will be announced when the GMF begins on June 19.

This article was orignally written in German.