Spiegel and Its Online Mission

It is impossible now to argue that the internet is not taking over the world by means of penetrating the very fundamental institutions of human society, and the press is not exempted. Spiegel Online is a good example of how a traditional press organization is coming to terms with the Net, i.e. an established print magazine extending to online, and interactive, news. But a more interesting question is whether the move signals the end of traditional news provision.

It is interesting to see that about half of Spiegel Online’s audience comes from the U.S., while only a quarter comes from its country of origin – German. The site is claimed to attract considerable advertising money. News production for the site involves a crew of reporters and editors quite independent of that of its print production. Will these prove the decline of news provision in print magazine in years to come?

Research on the changing readership of traditional print information with the arrival of online news provision has be far from definite, with results pointing towards both the decline and rise of print readership. Futurists are pleased with the decline signal, and not too upset about the opposite signal. It can be claimed that the traditional print readership, most of which old or middle-aged middle-class, needs time to grasp the internet.

But the absence of advertising on the Spiegel Online International arouses some thinking for me. Such ad absence from BBC Online as a public broadcaster is easily understandable. But for Spiegel Online International, it points toward different argument. The site is after all a brand enhancement and audience loyalty technique by Spiegel. As admitted by one of its editors, its online readers in the US have some connection to Germany, and the online edition staff is far smaller than that of the print edition. Spiegel is still largely dependent on profit from its print edition, while the online edition works to keep the readers connected to Spiegel, who may or may get to the print edition but for sure know the quality and nature of Spiegel – knowledge that of course works for brand enhancement and audience loyalty.

Many journalists are happy, probably for the first and only time, with Rupert Murdoch’s proposition that third-party sites and readers should directly pay news sites, rather than being exploited by advertisers (i.e. selling news not eyeballs). But even Spiegel Online editor is not sure if that will work out. For the time being, advertisers’ money – especially for the print edition – is good enough.

Experiencing the Internet and Online News

When I first used the Internet in the first semester of my freshman year exactly a decade ago, the Internet was no more than another frustrating library. The first web site I used was www.altavista.com, and it was for my first university assignment on Sri Lanka. The school library, for its small collection and extremely limited opening hours, was a disappointment as an information source. The Internet did not fare any better. A lot of the sites popping up in the search results were for tourist information and not much time was left on the clock before the Internet café had to close as most businesses did early in the evening.

But today, the internet is a completely different tool – or world. I can indulge it (or in it) losing the sense of time and (physical) space, for it is capable of taking you on a journey across enormous amount of information knowing no time limit and geographical boundaries. This is how I usually get lost in the information cyberspace. But oftentimes, going directly to www.bbcnews.com, www.skysports.com, or www.phnompenhpost.com (or www.spiegel.de only if I had some connection to Germany), apparently guarantees that I am not going to get lost in the cyber information world. At the end of the day, I still prefer the brands and to be loyal to them, and maybe get a print copy of them to read without investing in the internet and its associated monetary and non-monetary costs.

Information Authority

Starting a written piece in an academic context has always been simple, albeit quite difficult, for me. It is almost always about starting right away with an argument, one that constitutes my claim, followed by a painstaking task of making sure the syntax, reasoning and cross-referencing work in an “objective” mode. The hard work pays off in the sense of establishing some authority over the claim and information by confirming ‘objectivity’ for which the readers buy the argument. But this whole scenario, as I have just been told, may be too boring for blog readers.

So I just left behind the information authority issue and enjoyed the luxury of subjectivity. But what is it about Spiegel Online that may be interesting so as to strip myself of the objective look and gain the attention of the public – not academics? I am not sure, but I just tried.

1. How does Johnny Haeusler manage Spreeblick?

2. How does Johnny build an interactive way with the readers?

3. How to be a good blogger, as Johnny suggested:

Neue Palais is enlisted in UNESCO World Heritage Sites

It is only a stone’s throw from Berlin to Potsdam. Idyllic Havel-river lakes, forests and palaces surround this quite region. New Palace is a mind-blowing architecture among the other palaces in Potsdam that has a long history.

With the German re-unification, Potsdam became the capital of the newly constituted State of Brandenburg in 1990. I along with my fellow Asian colleagues from the DW-Akademie online journalism workshop and its Projecct Manager, went there to visit Neue Palais or the New Palace. We travelled there from the busy Berlin and the beauty of natural landscape and the palace really charmed us.

New Palace was built during the 18th century by order of the famous king Frederick  the great who was also known as Frederick II. The four hundred room enormous architecture has baroque gardens all around. Frederick  used to spend his leisure time and the noble guests were hosted and entertained here. King’s very intimate friend, French philosopher Voltaire stayed at the palace as guest for two and a half years.

New power…new might

Tatjana was a student of Communication and likes her recent job

Freelance guide of the palace, Tatjana Wachau, requested us not to take any pictures or videos inside the palace. We were a bit gloomy hearing that, but had to obey the rules and regulations. Tatjana has been working here for three years and is enjoying her job a lot. She gave us some background information on the palace and Potsdam.

Potsdam falls under the Prussian history, not even the German. Frederick was a real nature lover- sometimes he is often referred to as a philosopher and an enthusiast of French language. After the legendary seven years’ war, he thought of building the palace. It was the reflection of Frederick’s new power and new might.

Neue Palais is located at the western end of the Sanssouci royal park. To spread the message of Prussian success and to make a leisure place, the king put the constructors into work to build the palace. As said by Tatjana, the constructors felt so tired during their work that they made the little fat angels bit depressing and cheerless. Due to shortage of money and time, Frederick ordered the constructors to work with sandstone instead of brickstone. These were all outdoor views. Indoor view was even more spectacular .

Lavish living

When we entered the palace, we had to wear sliding overshoes, which were really big and awkward to fit on our feet. We were taken to the Grotto Hall where the walls were crafted by shells, stones and marbles. It seemed to me kind a like a depiction of marine animals and plants. Ceilings as well as wall paintings were all around inside the palace. Baroque painters from Netherlands, Italy and France did most of those. The guide also told us about the rococo styled furniture inside the palace, which derived from the French word, ‘rocaille’ that is a seashell.

There are fifteen apartments for noble guests, each having twelve to fifteen rooms- Individual rooms for sleeping, writing, lunch, dinner and many more. We saw the separate sleeping rooms of the ladies and gentlemen. As their marriages were arranged, they did not sleep together. As stated by Tatjana, the only job of the princesses was to produce children. The king had no children and after his death his nephew became the king.

Surprisingly, another room in the palace had electric lights, steam heating and bathrooms. These were all renovated during the 19th century. On the first floor, we went to the marble hall that has an extension of 560 square metres and a height of 60 metres. The ceiling was visible with antique Greek mythology. We could not walk on the floors of the hall because it came down in the 18th century. These days, the wood supporting the floors is quite weak and hard work is going on to protect the floor.

Last but not the least

Servants had to rush to the palace upon calling

After one-hour trip inside the hall, we were out again. Behind the palace, there are the communs, which also had the same style as the palace. Gardeners, palace guards and servants used to live there. The royal kitchen and utilities were there as well. Today, the University of Potsdam uses the buildings and restoration is still going on but there’s lack of fund.

Finally, our tour ended. On our way back from the palace, we crossed a Chinese tea-pavilion and a lake. Although the weather was chilly and windy in Potsdam, it was truly a grand experience for all of us to be a part of the history and to visit the Neue Palais.

SEE ALSO

Touristic information on Neue Palais

More information on Potsdam

Soundslide on Tatjana Wachau explaining Neue Palais

]]> http://training.dw.de/ausbildung/blogs/bonn2009/?feed=rss2&p=383 0 http://training.dw.de/ausbildung/blogs/bonn2009/?p=508 http://training.dw.de/ausbildung/blogs/bonn2009/?p=508#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:08:57 +0000 Leo Gatdula http://training.dw-world.de/ausbildung/blogs/bonn2009/?p=508 I’ve read a Deutsche Welle article about the capital city (or should I say, cities?) of Germany after reunification, and it seemed to me that the issue has not yet really been settled.

Which city truly deserves the honor of being the capital city of the country?

I’m not going to answer that question since I’m not even from Germany, but of course I have my impressions of both cities.