Uganda: DW-AKADEMIE director visits African Stories project
“I’m impressed by the quality of the television pieces being produced here,” said Gerda Meuer in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. She was visiting a DW-AKADEMIE workshop where participating teams from three television stations in Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan are researching and producing stories they consider worth telling. A German team of trainers headed by project manager André Sure is lending its support.
One of the participants’ pieces looks at a low-energy oven that also produces charcoal. Another focuses on single mothers building a new life together, and a third looks at the use of cell phones for making payment transactions. “Our trainers don’t come here to lecture about topics they’ve prepared ahead of time,” said Meuer. “This project is about supporting African media workers in telling their stories in professional and interesting ways.” A total of 30 stations from across Africa are participating in the project.
In the project’s second phase Deutsche Welle television editors will be added to the trainer team and together with the most successful participants will produce 18 co-productions. “I’m pleased that these co-productions will be broadcast not just by our partners’ stations but also by DW-TV,” said Meuer.
Projects such as this one are not the core of DW-AKADEMIE’s work, which primarily focuses on multifaceted, long-term media development projects. But working together within the African Stories framework is equally important, says Gerda Meuer. “We’re working on location with very good partners. I feel it’s important in Africa to cooperate in areas where things are more developed than elsewhere. Co-productions can only work at this level,” she says, adding that they generate positive feedback and ultimately benefit all those involved. The German embassy and GIZ (Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit) confirmed this during talks with Meuer. The Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) is providing additional funding for the African Stories project.