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RIAS Berlin Kommission

The RIAS Berlin Commission – founded 1992 in recognition of the merits of RIAS Berlin (Radio in the American Sector) as a “free voice of the free world” from 1946 to 1993

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RIAS Berlin Kommission

2023

17. Januar 2023 azzmin Events DE

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RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION

4 days ago

RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION
Pam Ortega, an immigration researcher in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was honored by the RIAS Berlin Commission as Alumna of the Year 2023 for her indefatigable efforts to bring American and German journalists and students together. Ortega participated in the original RIAS student program for Americans in 2018 and took part in a RIAS standard program in 2022.She has helped RIAS organize its programs for German journalists and students in the United States and worked hard to help American journalists and students get ready for the fellowships to Germany.Ortega, who plans to study law, has also spearheaded RIAS’s efforts to become better known in the United States by staffing the RIAS stand at the annual RTDNA conferences and helping to improve its social media channels, especially LinkedIn. The RIAS Alumna of the Year is an annual honor awarded to the volunteers who support the RIAS Berlin Commission program and alumni networks. Previous winners were Michael Gargiulo (WNBC TV, New York) and Martin Richter (Phoenix TV, Bonn). Both Gargiulo and Richter joined RIAS executive director Erik Kirschbaum inunanimously selecting Ortega from a field of six finalists from Germany and the United States for Alumni of the Year honorsPam, how does it feel to be selected 2022 Alumnus of the Year?It is such a honor and quite unexpected! Erik Kirschbaum called me while I was at RTDNA representing RIAS to share the good news. Never did I think I would share such an award with RIAS alumni greats like Michael Gargiulo and Martin Richter.Why are you so interested in voluntarily being involved so extensively in the RIAS Alumni Network?RIAS is such a unique organization, one that I will always be grateful for. In 2018, RIAS took a chance on a a girl from Oklahoma, daughter of Mexican immigrants, first-generation college student from a low social economic background and it’s made a difference in my life. I came acrossthe RIAS application through a FB group for journalists. My initial thought was “Germany, they speak German there. The Mennonites from Northern Mexico where my family is from also speak German. And journalism. I love journalism. I should apply.” I quickly learned meeting Mennonites in Germany was not on the itinerary, but nevertheless were so many great opportunities like meeting a Syrian refugee, learning about the Berlin Wall, the Stasi and the East Side Gallery. In 2018 RIAS expanded my worldview and introduced me to great opportunities,therefore in 2023 I feel compelled to give back and open doors for others like me.Doesn’t all this take an awful lot of time?Not at all! It does not even feel like a lot of time. I sometimes sit at my computer, working away, organizing things and then realize it’s 1 AM. Once I get into it I just do not want to stop. It’s great to see the final product after weeks and months of preparing. I witnessed this most recently with the Alumni Trip to Cologne and Munich. Every morning, due to the 7 hour difference, I would wake up to so many texts from the alumni group. These included photos and videos of the great time and educational experience they were having. I spoke to a few after the program who expressed their gratitude and were so grateful for the experience. So no, it does not even feel like a lot of time because the end product is so rewarding to see.What was the difference between your first student trip in 2018 and the 2022 standard program?In 2018, I traveled to Germany and Europe for the first time. Our three week program focused on the Cold War in addition to politics and journalism. In 2022, the two week standards program focused exclusively on politics and journalism. While both programs were educational, I played different roles in each. In 2018, I was like a new kid with a toy, I was a sponge taking it all in, too timid to ask questions. In 2022, I felt more confident within my group and around guest speakers. I credit RIAS for this maturity. The 2018 program opened my eyes, taught me to ask questions, learn, read, four years later I executed those lessons.How can the RIAS Alumni network be strengthened?I believe developing an alumni advisory council will help strengthen the Alumni network. The alumni advisory council would directly inform staff and the RIAS board about plans to help strengthen the alumni network. We have so many alumni chapters across the U.S. and Germany, having a governing council will help ensure the best interests of the network are considered. Additionally, I think hiring someone to work as an alumni coordinator will ensure everyone is aware and involved. Primarily, we need to organize our alumni directory, ensure we have activecommunication with our over 1900 alumni across both the U.S. and Germany and develop organized meetings/reunions.Does the Alumni Network have any advantages for you personally?I am forever grateful for the friends I’ve made along the way through RIAS. My 2022 group and I remain close. Anytime one of us in a city where another lives we ensure we meet up to catch up! This past week at RTDNA I reunited with Sheryl Worsley and Kevin King. And in two weeks Iwill reunite with Omar Atia in NYC. I still need to find my way to Atlanta, DC and LA to catch up with Katherine Bennett, Esther Ciammachilli, Brandon Benavides, Matt Gregory, Scott Neuman and Andrea Gutierrez. RIAS really is a family. I know I can pick up the phone and call any of them for advice anytime — which I have done already.Why do you do so much for RIAS?I will be eternally grateful to RIAS for the opportunities it provided me. In 2018 when I participated in the first RIAS Student Program, I traveled to Europe for the first time. As a first-generation college student from a low-income background, never in my dreams did I consider studying abroad in Europe or traveling there, it just was not financially possible. RIAS provided that opportunity for me. It was my first time in a country where I did not speak the language and was not familiar with the culture. Within the first few days I remember thinking “what am I doing here? I should go home.” Luckily, I stayed and it forever changed my trajectory. At the time I had just finished myundergraduate studies in journalism and political science and was preparing to start graduate school at the University of California, San Diego in Latin American Studies. I wanted to study Latin American journalism, but quickly changed my focus to immigration, primarily asylum law, all thanks to the exposure RIAS provided me to immigration in Germany. The student program focused on the Cold War. I remember visiting museums where I learned those living on the East used methods such as fake passports, tunnels and smugglers to get to the West. These are all methods that continue to be used today. Furthermore, hearing firsthand from a Syrian refugee about their experience navigating immigration policies, further pushed me to continue learning about immigration.What do you like most about RIAS? What do you like least?I love the alumni network and the RIAS spirit that is reignited every time alumni gather. Most recently at the RTDNA conference in Minneapolis I organized a RIAS alumni dinner for alumni at the RTDNA conference and Minneapolis based alumni. It was amazing to see complete strangers bond over a shared experience for two hours. My favorite part was when we were trying to figure out which news organization in Cologne has that moving elevator. After some thinking, and a search through old photographs we realized it was WDR. I wish there more opportunities foralumni to gather. ... Read MoreRead Less

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RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION

5 days ago

RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION
Erik Kirschbaum, the executive director of the RIAS Berlin Commission since 2016, said he will be stepping down by the end of the first quarter in 2024 after leading the German-American exchange program for broadcasting journalists for the last seven years. The number of exchange programs to Germany and the United States has nearly doubled from five to eight since 2016 and the number of American and German journalists traveling across the Atlantic to learn more about each other’s countries has also doubled from around 50 each year to about 130 per year.The German-American exchange program has started a search for a new executive director for the Berlin-based binational organization. Candidates for the position with a target starting date in early 2024 can write to info@riasberlin.org for further information and further details about the opening will be published shortly.“It’s been a great honor to lead the RIAS Berlin Commission over the last seven years,” said Kirschbaum, who also served as a member of the 10-person RIAS board from 2013-16 and was a guest speaker for RIAS programs since 1997. “I appreciate the board’s support for all the reforms we made to strengthen RIAS, and I will cherish the alumni network for all the energy the journalists have poured into improving our programs.” Kirschbaum, 63, said he plans to focus on journalism and writing again as well as further develop renewable energy and property projects.The RIAS Berlin Commission is a binational German-American organization that was created in 1992 by the German and US governments to promote transatlantic exchanges in the field of broadcasting journalism, expand horizons and create transatlantic networks for broadcasting journalists from across both countries. Nearly 2,000 German and American journalists and journalism students have taken part in the exchange programs that last from one to three weeks over the years, including many leading and important broadcasting journalists in both countries. Hundreds of alumni take part in alumni programs, events with their local chapters and support visiting journalists from Germany and the United States. RIAS Berlin Commission also holds an annual RIAS Media Prize competition for outstanding radio, TV and digital journalism aired in Germany and the United States; among the recent winners were Wolf Blitzer (CNN), Ingo Zamperoni (ARD), Jan Philipp Burgard (ARD), Katrin Bennhold/Claire Toeniskoetter (The Daily at The New York Times) and Stephanie Wolf (Louisville Public Media).Kirschbaum is the second executive director to lead RIAS and followed in the footsteps of Rainer Hasters, who helped create and shape the programs as executive director for 25 years from 1992 to 2016.Following is a personal note Kirschbaum sent to the participants and prize winners at RIAS:Dear friends at RIASThanks for all your wonderful support, your questions, your curiosity and your hunger to learn over the last 7 years on RIAS programs, at RTDNA conventions and especially on our six big 30-person alumni programs since 2019. I wanted to let you know that I will be stepping down as executive director of RIAS in about 6 months as soon as a new director is in place. I’m hoping to return to more writing and journalism work in the next chapter of life as well as catching up on some of the sleep that I missed out on since this unforgettable ride started back in 2016. I’m also eager to catch up with family, my children and grandchildren. Some new solar power and property projects are also in the works. And in the event that anyone out there in the RIAS alumni network or elsewhere is interested in one of the best jobs in the world, please reach out if you need any further information. There will be more details on the RIAS website and published elsewhere soon.In this last chapter over the last 10 years at RIAS, including the first 3 years as a member of the board and the 13 years before that as a guest speaker in Bonn and Berlin, it was an honor and privilege to meet you, travel with you, learn new things with you and laugh with you. You took me out of my comfort zone and I enjoyed every minute of it. You’ve given me a lifetime‘s worth of memories over the last 7 years along with myriad new friendships. Your insatiable appetite to learn has been inspiring. Probably more than anything else, I’ve enjoyed watching you grow on — and after — our ambitious programs …..apologies if they seemed overly challenging or demanding at the time. I have also learned a tremendous amount from you and your groups. The goals are to expand horizons, build transatlantic networks and keep the spirit of the original RIAS radio and TV stations alive. I wanted to take you a bit out of the „comfort zone“ and appreciate your willingness to go there with me. Thanks again for all your „hard rowing“ over the years. I also really appreciate your support in helping me grow the alumni network, increase diversity in all our programs, and forever improve our schedules.I think we accomplished a lot together—not the least of which include two horizon-expanding student programs each year and our energy-filled alumni programs. I will be eternally appreciative of all of the alumni who altruistically volunteer so much of their time to make our programs and alumni chapters better every year. I honestly can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done over the years and am looking forward to seeing you again and staying connected.Sincerely Erik ... Read MoreRead Less

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RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION

6 days ago

RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION
The third RIAS Berlin Commission “short/alumni” program moved from Cologne to Munich on Germany’s famous high-speed Intercity Express (ICE) train at speeds of up to 240 kilometers per hour on September 19 for the second half of the program for the 32 American journalists. Several of the reporters used the four-hour train ride to file live reports back home to their stations in the USA. (www.RIASBerlin.org)After arriving in Munich, they moved quickly to their first appointment in Munich at the Paulaner brewery in Nockherberg to learn more about the art of beer making from two “Braumeister” at the brewery that traces its origins to the 16th century. The Americans learned how ultra competitive the beer making industry is in Germany and how Paulaner strives to improve its product each year. They also visited the BMW headquarters in Munich for a tour of the factory, visited Munich’s Jewish community, Bavarian TV/Radio headquarters and spent an hour talking with Bavaria’s state secretary for Federal Affairs and head of the state chancellery – Florian Hermann. He talked about the Bavaria state election on October 8 and the pressures on the ruling Christian Social Union party.American journalists talked with Greens party leader in Bavaria Katharina Schulze about the upcoming state election and lessons she learned from working on a Barack Obama presidential campaign in Detroit, Michigan in 2008The Americans also had a talk with senior journalists at BR TV and spent an afternoon at the world-famous Oktoberfest learning more about the special challenges facing the festival’s 600-person police force, how Paulaner has developed new high-tech patents to improve the efficiencies in their 8,000-seat beer tents, and had a talk with the CEO of Paulaner about how the brewery has emerged from a difficult Covid-19 era.With the Bavaria state election looming, the Americans also had the chance to talk with the leader of the opposition Greens party Katharina Schulze, who talked about lessons she learned in Detroit in 2008 as a campaign worker for the US candidate at the time Barack Obama and how she has brought the US-style “door-to-door” campaigning to help her party in Bavaria. They also talked to CSU member of state assembly Gerhard Hopp about the CSU campaign and his district in the eastern region of Bavaria near the Czech border.They also had the chance to talk with Stefan Kornelius, a senior editor at the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. They visited the Allianz Arena for a behind-the-scenes look at the stadium that is home to the Bayern Munich soccer team, visited the DJS German broadcast journalism school and many visited the Dachau concentration camp memorial outside of Munich.American journalists learned more about the enormous economic impact of Oktoberfest on Bavaria’s economy and how it has come roaring out of the Covid-19 era with its cancellations from the CEO of the famous Paulaner brewery.The program was organized for the most part by the RIAS local alumni chapters in Munich and Cologne. The Americans met dozens of German RIAS alumni during the program, which is designed to deepen their knowledge of Germany and transatlantic relations years and sometimes decades after they first took part in a RIAS program. Many of the Americans also used the program meetings for stories they worked on for their stations back home in the USA. ... Read MoreRead Less

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RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION

1 week ago

RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION
After 8 meeting-filled days in Cologne and Munich, 32 American broadcasting journalists celebrated the end of their RIASBerlin program with the traditional passing out of the certificates of completion. They also meet the leader of the Greens party in Bavaria Katharina Schulze, who brought lessons she learned working on campaigns in the USA to Germany. They also met süddeutsche Zeitung editor Stefan Kornelius and took a behind-the-scenes tour of Allianz Arena. ... Read MoreRead Less

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RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION

1 week ago

RIAS BERLIN KOMMISSION
After 8 meeting-filled days in Cologne and Munich, 32 American broadcasting journalists celebrated the end of their RIASBerlin program with the traditional passing out of the certificates of completion. They also meet the leader of the Greens party in Bavaria Katharina Schulze, who brought lessons she learned working on campaigns in the USA to Germany. They also met süddeutsche Zeitung editor Stefan Kornelius and took a behind-the-scenes tour of Allianz Arena. ... Read MoreRead Less

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