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RIAS more important than ever, according to speakers at Media Prize Awards ceremony
About 200 RIAS Berlin Commission alumni, board members, former employees and friends of the legendary Cold War-era radio and TV station celebrated the 2019 RIAS Media Prize awards at a gala ceremony in the RIAS building on Thursday evening hosted by Helge Fuhst, program manager at Phoenix TV and a RIAS alumni himself. RIAS chairman Peter Limbourg, the Director-General of Deutsche Welle, and co-chair Christina M. Higgens, the Minister Council for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, spoke about the important role that the bi-national organisation continues to play. RIAS Berlin Commission Executive Director Erik Kirschbaum paid tribute to the work of newly created alumni chapters in Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Washington DC and New York that have helped keep the spirit of RIAS alive.
“If the RIAS Berlin Commission didn’t already exist, it would definitely have to have been invented by someone by now,” said Limbourg, who was filling in for RIAS Berlin Commission honorary chair Monika Grütters after the Federal Government’s Commissioner for Culture and the Media was held up at a European Council meeting in Brussels. “It’s enormously important.” Limbourg also urged journalists to report as accurately and factually as possible in an era that has become increasingly polarised. .
Higgins said that disagreements in some areas between the United States and Germany should not harm the transatlantic friendship between the two countries: “There are no easy answers to the many tough challenges that we face, and that’s why the free debate between our countries is more important than ever before…The willingness to debate and even disagree it is therefore not a negative. it is a sign of partnernship. And that’s why you may find the US government has been very vocal about asking all NATO members, including Germany, to ensure the safety of our energy supply, telekom networks and our national defence.”
Higgins added that Rick Grenell, the U.S. ambassador who is also an honorary chairman of RIAS, has stressed that Germany and the United States are “on the same page”.
“In the United States and Germany our societies do allow for this free exchanges of ideas,” she said. “And when it comes to liberty, human rights and freedom of the press we are on the same page. It’s important that we continue to fight together for freedom of the press as a fundamental right and RIAS is absolutely part of that story and part of that shared commitment.”
She added: “RIAS has stayed true to its mission. The Commission reaches a broader audience and a wider selection of media outlets and platforms than ever before. RIAS journalists cover a broad range of political social and cultural topics from all possible angles. It represent a diversity of opinions to a diverse audience and that promotes accountability and it does indeed spark public debate. if you follow our twitter feed, we like to spark public debate at the US embassy.”
In his speech, Kirschbaum noted that 737 Americans since 1992 have now taken part in one to three week fellowships in Germany, many of whom were in Europe for the first time. Also 885 German journalists have taken part in the fellowships in the United States, some of whom for the first time. There were 78 fellows on six programs in 2018, which was 24 more fellows than in 2017.
