tapmag

Dear Readers,

After an exciting couple of years, tapmag has decided it’s time for a break. In the past years of reporting, live-blogging, and commenting on transatlantic relations, we have become part of a network of fellow transatlantic minds, and we hope we’ve helped bridge the gap for some of you and maybe even inspired some of you to cross the pond.

We have been privileged to have meet and work with great transatlantisists and  journalists. A special thanks to all of the guests and participants at our “Reporting America” seminar at the Free University Berlin (read more about it here)!

We will be using our time off to work on various projects ranging from Bachelor’s theses to getting to know Zurich or Chicago. We will check in from time to time and let you know where tapmag is headed.

In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter or stay in touch with the individual editors through their social media presence:

Kolja is currently studying in Zurich, Switzerland. He’s finding out university can actually teach you things, and that the Swiss are a very nice and helpful people. All the while, he’s analyzing media trends and developments in journalism on his blog, All Things Considered.

Jessica has moved to Chicago to study at the Medill School of Journalism. She is roaming the Windy City for stories and moving steadily into multimedia reporting. You can read about her experience being Curious in Chicago on her blog of the same name.

Semir is working hard on his thesis at Free University Berlin and will soon be a proud Bachelor.

Dirk and Peter are moving in the same direction as Semir. They look forward to taking that to the next level at the John-F.-Kennedy Institute’s graduate school, and will thus stay true to North American Studies.

Thanks to our great readers, fellow bloggers and students for sharing this experience with us, for your inspiration and contributions. Please keep in touch!

We are always open for new ideas. If you want to get involved with the tapmag team, please contact one of the team members in Berlin.

Keep your eyes and ears open – we’ll be back!

CBS has started to put up old video clips from their archives on its website. Here is one feature called “See It Now” that takes Edward R. Murrow and his viewers to Berlin – a city marked by the Cold War, the Airlift, and bombed-out buildings. The images might be grain and dusty, but they paint a vivid picture of life in occupied West-Berlin.

Watch CBS Videos Online

USA Erklaert blogger Scot W. Stevenson has been a guest on tapmag before. We were happy to have him also visit our seminar last week, where he gave a compact and informative guest lecture on transatlantic journalism.

Here is the video (in German). Scot mainly talks about the differences between American and German interpretations of free speech, the rights and duties of the press, and how the Internet undermines German privacy rights via American websites. Good stuff.

Several sources report that U.S. President Barack Obama will anounce Phillip D. Murphy, a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs, as the new U.S. Ambassador to Germany.

Murphy, 52, has been in charge of the Democratic Party’s finances, after he left Goldman Sachs in 2006. As an investment banker, Murphy has headed the German branch of Goldman Sachs in the 90s, and was involved in several deals with the Treuhand-Anstalt.  He will replace William R. Timken, who has left Berlin in January.

Atlantic Review points out that the new man in the American embassy is a board member of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, which sounds like he might enjoy a smooth start in Berlin.

As the global economic crisis questions many long-hold beliefs about American and European economic policy, the U.S. press has discovered that some answers might be found across the Atlantic. Germany offers a fine case study for the advantages as well as drawbacks of increased government interference to bring the economy back on track.

[Read more]

The very first seminar hosted by the tapmag crew has seen a few sessions already, so it’s time for a short update! Preparing the course has kept us all busy, so please excuse the low frequency of postings at the moment.

Highlights from “Reporting America” so far:

• We had Michael Dobbs of the Washington Post visit the seminar. We are still thankful that he took the time to meet us and shared anecdotes and insights with the seminar. More on his visit will follow, stay tuned.
• The first two workshops turned out great as well. We had an introduction to blogging, wordpress and the like, and recruited about ten new members to the blogosphere. The results from our first writing exercise will also be published soon.

The next few sessions promise to be interesting too:

• Next week the marketing and PR directors of CNN Germany are at the JFKI (see poster above).
• In three weeks time we will have Joerg Wolf from Atlantic Community join the seminar.
• In the following sessions Scot Stevenson of USAerklaert.de, Jerry Gerber from Democrats Abroad Berlin, and Dalila Nadi, an Al-Jazeera reporter, will meet the seminar. For more consult the syllabus (pdf).

If you are interested to attend, stop by at the John-F.-Kennedy-Institue, each wednesday, 4-6 p.m. at room 201. See you soon.

The Scent Of A Human: Eau De Schwinn?

[Read more]

Is the German response to the economic crisis slower because of German culture, New York Times correspondent in Berlin Nicholas Kuhlisch asked last week. His idea is that the German love for rules and Ordnung, embodied in the strict adherence to each and every sign in a German swimming pool („Nicht vom Beckenrand springen!“, „Nicht auf den Kacheln rennen!“, „Keine Schuhe im Barfussbereich!“), can also explain the transatlantic furor over economic stimulus packages.

German swimming pool: Too many rules?

[Read more]

Starting on April 15th, the team of tapmag will offer a student-run seminar at the John F. Kennedy Institute of the Free University of Berlin. The KVV files it under “Reporting America – How to Write, Edit, Research, and Publish as a Transatlantic Journalist“.

In a collaborative fashion, we want to explore the multi-faceted world of transatlantic journalism, get comfortable writing, and become familiar with the latest Web 2.0-tools. We will invite exciting guests who will help us in our quest. Last but not least, CNN Germany has agreed to cooperate with the seminar. We will publish our results on ireport.com, and CNN will award the best entry.

Here’s the syllabus:

1. Introduction
2. Q&A with Michael Dobbs (Washington Post) on transatlantic Journalism and his career
3. How to set up a blog and make it beautiful
4. Journalism 101
5. CNN, ireport.com & Social Media for Journalists, Guests: Dr. Amelie Heinrichsdorff (Director PR & Corporate Affairs CNN), Joerg Buddenberg (Marketing Manager CNN Germany)
6. Writing for the Enemy, Workshop Session: Exercise in writing from different political viewpoints (e.g. Huffington Post, Foxnation, etc.)
7. Writing for the Net, Guest: Joerg Wolf (Atlantic Review, Atlantic Community)
8. No session
9. Transatlantic Journalim Erklaert, Guest: Scot Stevenson (USAerklaert.wordpress.com)
10. Presentation articles for the CNN ireport contest
11. The other Voice, Guest: Al-Jazzera reporter Dalila Nadi
12. Q&A with Jerry Gerber (Press Secretary Democrats Abroad)
13. Tba
14. Final of the CNN contest, Guest: CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen (requested)
15. Sum-Up & BBQ

This seminar is open to the public, you don’t have to be a student of the Free University to attend. We’re looking forward to seeing you at the JFK-Institute!

[Read more]