Germany-based broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) has launched a new television channel in Dhaka aiming to cater to the audience of Southeast Asia.
The 24-hour channel will feature English programmes focusing on news and regional content for Asia, officials of the DW said during the launching ceremony at a city hotel yesterday.
The channel, called DW News, will also cover all the international top stories.
“The new DW opens a window to the world for our viewers in South Asia,” said Dorothee Ulrichs, head of distribution in Asia at the DW.
“DW offers a unique perspective that is especially valued by local business and opinion leaders, and DW News will now provide them with insights into international headlines and the details behind regional issues.”
Ulrichs highlighted the presence of DW globally and said they are looking for more in-depth stories.
Responding to a question, she said they would be happy to go for partnership and co-production and encouraged independent journalists to contribute to the TV channel.
Addressing the event, German Ambassador in Dhaka Thomas Prinz said Bangladesh needed to uphold freedom of press and protect bloggers as blogging has become a new form of journalism.
“You know there is [a] new form of journalism which is coming up, like blogs. It’s important for the government of Bangladesh to uphold the freedom of press and protect the new media scene, especially the bloggers.”
He said Bangladesh has a very “lively” media scene and hoped that the government would play the due role to have a better scenario in terms of media freedom in the coming days.
The German envoy also laid emphasis on “check and balance” in a democratic society and highlighted media’s role.
Regarding the country’s RMG sector, Prinz said Bangladesh has shown a tremendous progress in terms of working conditions and it has increased minimum wage for the workers.
“I think there’s room for further improvement and we should do something to increase prices,” he said.
The ambassador also said their call for improving working conditions in factories is not only for Bangladesh. “It doesn’t make sense only to ask Bangladesh to improve; rather it has to be made by all the producing countries.”
Two local activists Mahfuza Akter and Korvi Rakshand shared their experiences to the attendees and hoped that their voices would be heard around the globe through DW News.
Deutsche Welle is Germany’s international broadcaster and a trusted source of reliable, news and information with content in 30 languages.
