The Global Media Forum, organised by the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), has commenced in the city of Bonn.

The conference brings together journalists and media business managers from around the world to deliberate on best practices in journalism. It also allows the DW team to interact with its distribution partners across the globe.

At a dinner gathering on Sunday, June 16, at the Bonner Ruder-Verein, Director of Sales and Distribution at DW, Petra Schneider, emphasised that this year’s conference should focus on finding solutions to the many challenges facing journalism today.

Amid a global economic squeeze and advertising budget cuts, journalism around the world has become more difficult than ever. “Whatever obstacles we face, I’m very sure we can find solutions together,” Schneider said.

“It’s a time of multiple crises for journalism. Each crisis poses a myriad of challenges, leading to a high risk of resignation and overwhelm. To ensure the future of the profession in the long-term, we must engage in collective problem-solving, strategising, and action,” the programme outline stated.

“From AI to journalists’ safety, from the climate crisis to war reporting, and platform diversification to news fatigue, let’s explore existing initiatives from journalistic practices around the world. What solutions are already out there?.”

The conference will also examine democracy and its impact on media practice and explore why journalism is not activism.

In a world with pockets of authoritarianism, the gathering will dedicate time to defending free access to online information under authoritarian rule.

The programme is set in the historic city of Bonn, the birthplace of classical music icon Ludwig van Beethoven, and the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990.

The western German city straddles the Rhine River. It’s known for the central Beethoven House, a memorial and museum honouring the composer’s birthplace.

Nearby are Bonn Minster, a church with a Romanesque cloister and Gothic elements, the pink-and-gold Altes Rathaus, or old city hall, and Poppelsdorf Palace, housing a mineralogical museum.