Opening ceremony Edith Kimani (Journalist, DW, Germany)

DW Global Media Forum 2021

The DW Global Media Forum 2021 will explore ways to address disruptions with innovation. In the aftermath of an extraordinary year, we continue to meet challenges head-on with digital solutions and mutual exchange. Go to article

Register now for the DW Global Media Forum 2021 29.04.2021

Check out this year's international and interdisciplinary media conference on "Disruption and Innovation".

Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel 2014

Confirmed speakers for 2021

Check out some of the top speakers that will participate in the DW Global Media Forum on June 14 and 15. We look forward to welcome these renowned voices from around the world to discuss "Disruption and Innovation".

Freedom of Speech Award 2021 winner Tobore Ovuorie of Nigeria

DW honors Nigerian reporter Tobore Ovuorie for defending the voiceless

Tobore Ovuorie is DW's 2021 Freedom of Speech Award winner. The investigative journalist's undercover work has given a voice to those hushed in Nigerian society. Her courage almost cost her her life.

The start-up contest supports outstanding ideas in the news and media industry

Call for start-ups worldwide: Present your start-up at the DW Global Media Forum

The start-up contest @GMF presented by DW welcomes media start-ups from around the globe to pitch their ideas and business models. The event will take place on 14 - 15 June 2021 as part of this year's Global Media Forum.

Watch video 02:58

GMF compact: the changing face of work

One year into the global COVID-19 pandemic everyone agrees that the nature of work and employment has changed for good. But is this new industrial revolution really beneficial for all involved? Let's take a look beyond the world zoom meetings and working from home.

GMF compact: the changing face of work

GMF compact: the science behind Elon Musk

GMF compact: what's in a jab?

Watch video 12:37

GMF talk: science and sensibility with Dr. Andreas Kappes

Why do people fall for conspiracies? Why do some follow their leaders while others don't? Are scientists today's superstars? Dr. Andreas Kappes from CITY University London shares his thoughts.

GMF talk: science and sensibility with Dr. Andreas Kappes

GMF talk: Lord Michael Dobbs navigates with us through fact and fiction

Philip F. Howard: Social media companies need more regulation

Philip F. Howard Oxford Internet Institute GMF

To prevent growing political polarization on social media, "minimal and clear regulations" are desperately needed. This is what Oxford Professor of Internet Studies Philip F. Howard told DW in an interview.

Irene Khan: Journalists face life danger even outside war zones

Switzerland Irene Kahn UN Menschenrechtsexperte

Irene Khan fears for the lives of journalists - especially women. As UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of expression, she observes a worrying trend - and fights to reverse it.

Elif Shafak: using literature as a means to defend human rights

Elif Shafak defends human rights, shares insights into her experience with depression and advocates a different media environment. The award-winning novelist will also participate in this year's Global Media Forum.

Simon Kolawole: Mob censorship in Nigerian media is real

Nigeria I Simon Kolawole I Unternehmer und Journalist

The Nigerian journalist and publisher of TheCable says that while Twitter and Facebook may help professional media organizations in their distribution, they also create the biggest spaces for mobs to congregate.

Jean-Pierre de Kerraoul: EU proposal endangers editorial confidentiality

Jean-Pierre de Kerraoul - Präsident der ENPA

Protecting sources is an important aspect of press freedom and journalism. The president of the European Newspaper Publisher's Association (ENPA) sees dangers in a new EU proposal for electronic data transfer.

DW Global Media Forum: bringing minds together

DW GMF 2019 | Fellows Day | Workshops | Closing Ceremony

Digitally yours: The DW Global Media Forum fellowship program

The Global Media Forum fellowship program has welcomed a total of over 1,000 people from all around the world since 2012. In 2020, the initiative had to go online because of COVID-19. This year, it continues digitally.

Plenary Session: The future of local journalism

Global Media Forum: The place made for minds

Learn more about the DW Global Media Forum, the international media summit organized annually by Germany’s international public broadcaster. As COVID continues, we have sought digital ways to keep the conversation going.

DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"The freedom of the press is facing pressure on a global scale, not just abroad. I want to encourage journalists: Democracy needs you all urgently."

Frank-Walter Steinmeier - President of Germany (2014)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"Do governments truly have the capacity to understand emerging technologies? Communication regulations from the 1970s are not going to work for 2019."

Juliana Rotich - Tech entrepreneur, Kenya (2019)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"We have to make clear that Europe has certain principles. Those who violate them will be subject to sanctions. This also applies to press freedom."

Armin Laschet - Minister-President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (2019)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"Journalists must see themselves as members of a big family and stick together."

Shirin Ebadi - Lawyer, former judge and human rights activists, founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, Iran (2008)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"Algorithms pick up on negative feelings such as fear and accentuate them. This has led to the creation of fear-based politics all over the world."

Jaron Lanier - Computer scientist and author, USA (2019)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"Power must be in the hands of the wealth of the nation."

Noam Chomsky - Linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic and political activist, USA (2013)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"We will continue to do our best, because I believe we do make a difference. That's our way of fighting back: more journalism."

Maria Ressa - Co-founder and CEO of the news website Rappler, Philippines (2020)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"We need to address the daunting challenges to development by engaging with multiple centers seeking balance rather than overreliance on one country."

Hamid Karzai - Former President of Afghanistan (2018)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

“As politicians, we need to keep and defend the values we deem constitutive for our democracy in the analog world in our digital lives, too.”

Monika Grütters, Federal Government Commissionar for Culture and the Media, Germany (2015)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"It's difficult to form a relationship with a politician who's acting like a tyrant. What questions can you ask when this person can put you in jail?"

Can Dündar - former editor-in-chief of "Cumhuriyet", Turkey (2019)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"We should all be protected by the same press freedom."

Sarah Harrison - British journalist and WikiLeaks section editor, UK (2014)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"Social media has divided us. Instead of listening to the news, people now listen to the echoes of their own prejudices."

Lord Michael Dobbs - Politician and author of "House of Cards", UK (2019)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"If we truly believe that journalism is important to our society, we should enlist our fellow citizens and involve them as a community service."

Dr. Ann Hollifield - News and media researcher, USA (2017)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"I believe that in the digital age, public broadcasters have a more important role to play than ever before."

Tom Buhrow - Director General of Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Germany (2018)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"No one's above the law."

Rokhaya Diallo - Journalist and activist in France (2018)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"The future of journalism is the people."

Jeff Jarvis - American journalist, professor, public speaker and former television critic, USA (2014)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"We need ombudsmen for algorithms. We need some insight into them if we are to maintain our democratic political system."

Anne Applebaum - Pulitzer Prize winner, USA (2020)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"I hope people in the West can distinguish between the Kremlin and Russia; Putin and Russia."

Mikhail Khodorkovsky - Founder of Open Russia, Russia (2017)
DW Global Media Forum: A decade of top speakers

"They kicked me out of Iran, but I am there every day through social media."

Masih Alinejad - Women's rights campaigner, Iran (2020)