Two- (and One-) Week Germany Programs

2 days ago

Anja Heyde (anchor/reporter at ZDF, MDR TV networks) and Vladimir Balzer (radio journalist and talk show host at Deutschlandradio) offer interesting insights about the first 30 years of reunited Germany during a #RIASBerlin Commission Zoom Talk on September 28, 2020. Heyde and Balzer grew up in East Germany and watched the Berlin Wall fall in 1989 and the two Germanys reunite on October 3, 1990. Both recalled happy childhood memories but also spoke about how fortunate they were that Germany reunited just before they began their careers as journalists. They also spoke emphatically about how German unification has been a great success even though some people in both parts of the united country sometimes might think otherwise. ... Read MoreRead Less

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LaCrai Mitchell - 2020 campaign reporter

3 days ago

This week RIAS Zoom talks will be taking a look at 30 years of German unification with a talk with two RIAS alumni who were born and grew up in formerly communist East Germany – Anja Heyde of ZDF television and Vladimir Balzer of Deutschlandradio, German public radio. Their talk will be at 1900 Berlin time (1 pm EST) on Monday, September 28.

And on Wednesday, September 30 at 1900 Berlin time (1 pm EST) we will take a look at the US elections in the important battleground state of Florida with a talk with LaCrai Mitchell, a campaign reporter for CBS News who has worked for CBS “60 Minutes”. Florida is one of the most important battleground states with 29 electoral votes.

Here is more information about this week's talks. Please write to info@riasberlin.org for information on how to log into the talks:

30 Years German Unification – What’s Worked Well and What Hasn’t? East and West German united on October 3, 1990, less than a year after the Berlin Wall fell. The population of formerly communist eastern Germany has fallen by about 2 million since then and there are still significant gaps in wealth, income, pension benefits and mentalities in the east and west parts of the country. Was German unification a success or are there legitimate reasons that some Germans both east and west are bitter about it all?
Anja Heyde has been a reporter and morning anchor for ZDF since 2008 and previously worked for Deutsche Welle as well as RTL. She was born in 1976 in the eastern German state of Saxony. She is also one of the leaders of the RIAS Berlin alumni chapter and has given talks to US RIAS participants in Berlin.

Vladimir Balzer is a journalist and show how for Deutschlandradio in Berlin and has taken part in several RIAS programs. He was also born in the eastern state of Saxony. He is also one of the leaders of the RIAS Berlin alumni chapter.

The US election in the battleground state of Florida
Florida is one of the most important battleground states with its 29 electoral votes. Recent polls show the race there has tightened and is now within the margin of error. Will Florida be the state that decides the 2020 election – just like it did in 2000. LaCrai Mitchell is a campaign reporter for CBS News in Florida. She previously spent eight months embedded in South Carolina to cover the state’s important primary races. Before that she worked as a broadcast assistant to “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker. LaCrai Mitchell is also a RIAS Berlin alumni.
Here are some of her stories: www.cbsnews.com/feature/lacrai-mitchell-2020-campaign-reporter/ ... Read MoreRead Less

www.cbsnews.com

CBS News 2020 campaign reporter

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3 days ago

Legendary RIAS Berlin station week host TC Colones dies

Thomas S. Colones, a RIAS Berlin Commission alumni from 1997 who hosted more than a dozen of German journalists at his WSPA Channel 7 station in South Carolina, has died after working
at the station in Spartanburg for 44 years, the station announced on Sunday. Known as “TC”, Colones eagerly volunteered to host German journalists for their “station week” during their RIAS exchange programs twice each year over the last two decades.
www.facebook.com/aylaferronenews/videos/638220663723023

“And do have some sad news to pass along tonight from our WSPA family,” station WSPA reported on Sunday. “Photojournalist Tom Colones passed away this weekend at his home in Spartanburg. Tommy, lovingly known to many as ‘TC’, was a staple in the newsroom here at Channel 7 and throughout the community. His work is responsible for bringing you, our viewers, hundreds if not thousands of stories from his 44 years of work here. He was part of our weekend team and was integral ….. ‘TC’ was also a veteran and had an affinity for WW2. He visited Normandy yearly on D-Day and of course he made many friends along the way. His smile was infectious, his stories memorable and his loyalty unwavering. We will miss Tommy dearly and our hearts go out to his family, friends and all who are feeling his loss.”

Colones was a larger-than-life friend of the RIAS Berlin Commission who regularly went far and above the call of duty to make sure the German journalists got the most out of their station week experiences in South Carolina. Some of those he hosted included: Andreas Wiese (ZDF), Louisa Maria Giersberg (NDR), Laura Goudkamp (BR), Maria Regis (MDR), Mirja Fiedler (NDR), and Vanessa Luenenschloss (BR). Colones also recruited five fellow Channel 7 staffers to take part in the RIAS exchange programs in Europe, including Heather Sullivan.

"He was my host (in 2019) and the kindest person, you could imagine," said Maria Regis. "When he picked me up from the airport, he greeted me with a huge gift basket full of groceries. He was eager to make my visit at his station WSPA TV as interesting and comfortable as possible. He arranged form me to meet all of his co-workers and accompany some of them when they did their news stories. We also did some fun interviews together and he showed me around the Spartanburg area....He stressed multiple timest that he wanted to host as many German journalists as possible since his exchange with the RIAS programme in 1997 had given him so much. He always wanted to give back. Some of the last things he texted me was about his plans to come to Germany and visit all oft he journalists he had hosted. I am sad he never got to do that. I am so grateful to have met him and deeply sad that he passed away." Louisa Maria Giersberg added: "He was a great colleague and a wonderful mentor - as my RIAS-host in Spartanburg he did everything to make my stay there as interesting and fulfilling as possible.... I learned a lot about American news broadcasting. TC was a kind and gentle giant, always smiling, always interested in others... his death is an enormous loss."

Colones took part in one of the very first RIAS programs to Germany in the Fall of 1997 and stayed in contact with many of the other alumni on his program. He was a regular donor to the RIAS alumni program as well, helping the organisation to raise funding for future fellows.

“Thanks for the opportunity to again allow me to host another fantastic RIAS journalist,” Colones wrote in an email after one recent hosting of a German journalist. “It’s something I and our members of the newsroom look forward to these last many years. I go and pick them up in the morning or whenever my day starts and always make sure I am with them, or if they want to go out with a certain reporter. We always have dinner together at night to talk about the day or if they want to experience something in our county. They are my guests and I do all I can to make them feel more than welcome here. I always made sure to give them access to all our station has to offer: meetings , talking with fellow journalists at the station – and they get to see editorial meetings. For me, this is a joy and something I look forward to! I have learned much from my guests. I have been so lucky to have hosted so many great German journalists over the years and I have kept in touch with many of them. It’s great to see where they are in their daily lives since their time here.”@ ... Read MoreRead Less

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1 week ago

Riveting RIAS Zoom talk with Maike van den Boom -- a German-Dutch journalist who has made a career out of explaining why Swedish workers are such happy campers and why Sweden has such an astonishingly pro-family way of life. She also talked about the independent streak that all Swedes learn from an early age. maikevandenboom.de Maike also talks about Sweden's unique experience dealing with the Covid-19 epidemic and why Swedes did not have a general lock-down like in most other countries. ... Read MoreRead Less

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1 week ago

Zoom in today for a talk with one of the best-known happiness researchers in Europe for the inside scoop on achieving happiness at work and life! Maike Van Den Boom. Charming, cheeky and stirring, she gives you her first-hand knowledge, stories that touch you and wisdom that takes you further. Today’s RIAS Zoom talk is sure to brighten your day!
Sep 23, 2020 06:00 PM Berlin, 12 noon New York/ Contact: info@riasberlin.org for log-in details

THE SWEDISH SPECIAL WAY. A LEADERSHIP MODEL OF THE FUTURE?

By Maike van den Boom
STOCKHOLM - I have a friend I really appreciate. He works on digital risk management at a large auditing firm and regularly warns me: "Just be careful that this doesn't fall on your feet in Sweden, Maike. Plus the addition: "As a public person, just stay out of the technical discussion. That could backfire too.

So I'm not going to get carried away with fomenting a discussion about which way is right or wrong. We can only say that when the crisis is really over. I want to explain why the Swedish special path can only come from Sweden and what it has to do with the Nordic leadership style of freedom, trust and responsibility.

One thing first:
Swedes love their grandmothers as much as we do. And they love their freedom. They love them more than anything else. All Swedes love them. And they love to defend them. The grandmothers do the same.

Because they have worked hard for their freedom with responsibility
"Sorry, but unfortunately you cannot sit here. Would you like to sit here because of the distance," says Enrico, the owner of the small wine cellar bar, diagonally opposite my apartment. With 28 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 2 weeks, that seems a bit excessive. For Sweden this is now the „new normal“. During the Corona high season April to July the streets of Stockholm were deserted, Scandinavia's biggest shopping mall was empty, some stores and restaurants went bankrupt. Today the streets are a bit fuller again, people keep their distance, greet each other with an elbow check. The plexiglass panes are still hanging at the cash desks, markings are placed on the floor, but rarely you meet a person with a mask. At the tram stops, a voice admonishes people to keep their distance and not to ride along if they feel even remotely ill.
Sweden has decided to take a special path and is therefore alternately a media whipping boy or model student. Sweden remains unimpressed.

Swedish modesty
They just do their thing here. Because, as Swedish state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell explains: "What works here in Sweden doesn't have to work in other countries. To see it that way is pretty Swedish, because Sweden is the most individualistic country in the world. People here are used to endure uniqueness and the differences in views and approaches that come with it.

Is that so?
That's why they question everything first of all. Why do as others do? The German way can be the only right one for Germany. The Italian way is absolutely necessary in Italy. But is it the same for Sweden? Do we have close family ties and the physicality of Italians? Do we have the same level of health care? The same population density? Are we as digitized as Germany? And now the question: did all countries have an equally strong flu season last year? Do Germans and Swedes have the same mentality? Last but not least: do we share the same assumptions?

Different assumptions require different measures
"Lagom" measures, as the Swedes would call them: not too much, not too little, just right. And that's why the children went to daycare centers and went to school up to 10th grade, because Sweden is the world leader when it comes to gender equality. This means that both parents usually work 100 percent. If they could no longer go to work, the population would no longer be provided for. But the equal opportunities of the children would no longer be guaranteed either. But actions have been taken here as well. At their own estimation, not at the estimation of others. Even if the others are the rest of the world.

Different mentality...
David, an English journalist and me, plan to write an article about Sweden. He has, just like me about Scandinavia, published a very readable book about Sweden. Today he writes to me: "Now seems to be the moment to adjust the image of Sweden in the perception of the international press to reality. Sweden should no longer be seen as a "socialist" country with an omnipotent state, but as a liberal society where citizens are expected to behave responsibly".

Freedom, trust and responsibility is the basis of the Swedish special path
The Swedish government trusts that its citizens will now apply what they have already learned at school: thinking for yourself, for your own good and for the good of all. School and education are not just about passing on knowledge or teaching rules of conduct. In the North, school is a place for personality development through knowledge. It expressly serves the formation of democracy. It teaches its students to be of age and to take responsibility for themselves and the community. And this is linked to a deep sense of being self-effective and meaningful. This is probably one of the reasons why Sweden is one of the happiest people in the world.

You can never attain freedom if you do not take responsability

Freeom under responsibility is the motto: „Vrihet under ansvar“. And so the streets of the Walpurgis Night Stronghold, where otherwise 50,000 high school graduates and students celebrate, remain empty.

And that's why the little Pippis, Tommys and Anikas practice early on to take responsibility for their actions. "Frihet under ansvar", (freedom under responsibility) is the wisdom of the North. And those who have learned this freedom will not let it be taken away just like that, even in Corona times.

The Swedish government will therefore, as long as it can, avoid restricting the freedom of citizens and the economy. So it will make official recommendations and issue only a few regulations. To what extent these recommendations are binding is something about which even the Swedes do not entirely agree. Recommendations here lie in a gray area between advice and law. Nevertheless, everyone has understood it. And this advice is not given by the government, but by a group of experts. In the case of the COVID 19 strategy, this means that the representatives of the Swedish National Board of Health, Folkhälsomyndigheten, are in charge.

Trust is created through transparency
And this group reports daily at 14:00 sharp live on Swedish television about current developments and its strategy. And of course it also reports on its failures with the tragic consequences. They should have tested more extensively, should have protected the privatized nursing homes better and should have made the information texts easier for immigrants. "We are learning." And this openness of reporting ensures a high level of trust among the Swedish population. After all, trust does not decline when mistakes are made. It sinks when people try to talk them down and justify them. The traditionally high level of public trust in the government has thus increased by another 20 percent in a single month.

You are old enough to be disciplined
And this trust is based on mutuality. For example, Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven released the high school students (i.e. all those in 10th grade and above) into home schooling at the beginning of April with the following words: "Students, this is not an extra vacation. We still expect you to do your best and try to deal with the situation. You are old enough to learn at a distance and discipline yourself. You can do that."

Positive leadership would be the appropriate management term for this. And that makes sure that people do as much as possible what is expected of them. Not because they have to, but because they want to. This management style is typical for Swedish schools and companies and ensures a high level of loyalty and commitment. "Uppåtpuff" is what the Swedes call it, "puffing up", making people proud, conveying positive visions of the future.

And then trust and let go!
And then "they" try to let go of their citizens, employees or students as much as possible. In fact, research shows that people who are trusted tend to behave in a trustworthy manner. Of course, because when we are trusted with something, it fills us with pride and makes us grow. People are generally grateful and happy when freedom is given to them. And then people want to prove themselves worthy of this honor and are willing to go the so-called "extra mile".

Too much regulation often backfires
And we need the stamina for this extra mile now, because Corona will be with us for weeks, maybe even months. That's why Sweden has tried from the very beginning to keep the restrictions of the Swedish population as small as possible, so that everyone is ready to go the long, very long way.
This is simply a different approach that tries to take into account the phenomenon of psychological reactance: sanctions that are experienced as too harsh, too intrusive, too incomprehensible, can meet with resistance after a certain period of time. They are then more or less obviously boycotted. Undesirable behavior can even be intensified.

Swedes keep distance even without regulation
And that's why the Swedes are standing in a row right in front of my laptop. Maybe not exactly 1.50 meters, maybe 1.29 or 1.67 meters. Voluntary and uncontrolled. In Sweden it is assumed that 90 percent of people behave sensibly. So most of them. Not all. But that's not the reason why they don't control these "all", but rather concentrate on the few who don't prove worthy of trust.

Insecurity is part of everyday life
Sweden is a small country. No one has ever waited for Vikings. At least not voluntarily. That's why they have always had to use all their strength and adapt creatively to every change. After all, you never know where the next wave will come from. Change is part of the Swedish way of life. In contrast to us Germans, the feeling of insecurity leaves them relatively cold. New and modern, automation, digitalization and the future are extremely positive words. Vikings prefer to try to surf flexibly on a wave rather than to stop it or be overrun by it. This is exactly what they are now trying to do with the corona wave.

Digital progress in Sweden
However, they have also been surfing the net passionately for decades and are therefore, just like their Scandinavian neighbors, unintentionally well prepared for the crisis. Much is happening under the radar of the foreign media.
On March 18, 2020, for example, I already received an e-mail from my municipality asking me to indicate whether my child has access to the Internet at home and has his or her own tablet, PC or laptop. Anyone who didn't have this was immediately provided by the municipality, because everyone should have the same opportunities at home schooling. At every milk churn.
The community first asks which child has a laptop and internet access.

And that is not such a big investment, because 75 percent of all children from grade 7 on have a school tablet, 100 percent of all children from grade 10 on also have their own school laptop. This project to equip schools with laptops was launched by the Swedish government in 2006.

The preparations began decades ago
The Swedish intrepidness and openness to everything new has meant that digitization has never been demonized. It has thus penetrated deep into society since the 1990s. Home offices and the associated trust in its employees, as well as the necessary hardware and software and the associated skills, have been tried and tested for years. And now simply deployed. Most public, but also economic processes are highly digitalized and networked. Registering with the employment office, emptying electronic mailboxes, filing tax returns, reporting address changes, applying for social security, consulting the Doc via the app, signing contracts or telephone advice. Everywhere you can identify yourself digitally. This way, everyone gets on without leaving the house. Even before Corona.
And then you stay confident and positive
I hope you now better understand the roots of the Swedish way, which I would like to see for everyone in the future. That trust and confidence would be deeply rooted in the souls of children, instead of control and pressure to perform. That through positive leadership, children would learn to develop as complete and independent, and therefore responsible citizens.

Three strong drivers of happiness are served in Sweden: good relationships, through voluntary consideration. The freedom to make free decisions based on transparency and recommendations. And last but not least, the enormously high level of trust that prevails in society. With these three drivers of happiness, you can also get through a crisis happily, making you 20 percent more productive, creative and cooperative. And this is exactly what we need now to create visions for a possible future. Whatever it may look like. Whichever path may be the "right" one. Let us not judge each other, but humbly learn together.
I wish us all courage and visions! ... Read MoreRead Less

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