For two to four weeks, German journalists are each guests in the editorial departments in other European countries. In return, they are visited by their exchange partners. They write about their experiences in the new city for the host medium and for their readers at home.
From November 2012 until April 2013, the focus is on countries of central-eastern and south-eastern Europe. Twelve online and newspaper reporters will write from Düsseldorf, Budapest, Berlin, Riga, Bonn, Vilnius, Neustadt, Ljubljana, Freiburg, Trieste and Athens.
Europa, wie geht’s? (Europe, how are you?) is the focus of their investigations. How well do we really know Europe? What unites, what divides us Europeans? Are the clichés that we cling to about other countries and their inhabitants true?
During their stay, the journalists will become familiar with the everyday routines in their host offices; they will investigate, observe and write about their impressions on location. Their perspectives are fresh because they are on unfamiliar ground. They open our eyes to everyday situations and also put subjects to paper that we do not hear about very often. The articles produced during the course of the project will be printed a few times each week in the host medium and, in some cases, in their home medium as well.
In this way, articles from Germany and other European countries convey a cultural exchange from two perspectives: thinking about one’s own and about the other European culture – about similarities and differences.
The Close-Up journalists’ exchange is taking place now for the fifth time. The project started in 2008, with an exchange of German journalists and colleagues from Islamic countries, was extremely successful. “I’d like to gain an insight into how German newspapers work, become familiar with everyday life in Germany and, for example, understand why everything comes to a halt on 24 December,” said Yacouba Sangaré, editor at the Ivory Coast daily Le Patriote in Abidjan before his departure. He was one of six journalists taking part in the exchange programme of the Goethe-Institut in 2008.
From November 2012 until April 2013, the focus is on countries of central-eastern and south-eastern Europe. Twelve online and newspaper reporters will write from Düsseldorf, Budapest, Berlin, Riga, Bonn, Vilnius, Neustadt, Ljubljana, Freiburg, Trieste and Athens.
Europa, wie geht’s? (Europe, how are you?) is the focus of their investigations. How well do we really know Europe? What unites, what divides us Europeans? Are the clichés that we cling to about other countries and their inhabitants true?
Photo Gallery „Close-Up“
During their stay, the journalists will become familiar with the everyday routines in their host offices; they will investigate, observe and write about their impressions on location. Their perspectives are fresh because they are on unfamiliar ground. They open our eyes to everyday situations and also put subjects to paper that we do not hear about very often. The articles produced during the course of the project will be printed a few times each week in the host medium and, in some cases, in their home medium as well.
In this way, articles from Germany and other European countries convey a cultural exchange from two perspectives: thinking about one’s own and about the other European culture – about similarities and differences.
The Close-Up journalists’ exchange is taking place now for the fifth time. The project started in 2008, with an exchange of German journalists and colleagues from Islamic countries, was extremely successful. “I’d like to gain an insight into how German newspapers work, become familiar with everyday life in Germany and, for example, understand why everything comes to a halt on 24 December,” said Yacouba Sangaré, editor at the Ivory Coast daily Le Patriote in Abidjan before his departure. He was one of six journalists taking part in the exchange programme of the Goethe-Institut in 2008.
