DW-AKADEMIE presented “7 Minutes for the Media” at the European Development Days, an international conference on development cooperation held December 6 and 7 in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

Various guests joined host Patrick Leusch on the DW-AKADEMIE stage to discuss a variety of core issues affecting media development in brief, intensive talks. Each interview focused on a specific area. Leusch, for example, asked Erastus Mwencha, vice-chairman of the African Union Commission, about a media initiative for Africa. He spoke with Poland’s Development Minister, Krzystof Stanowski, about the public acceptance of development cooperation in his country, and discussed the role of the media in Zimbabwe’s democratization process with Luke Tamborinyoka, spokesman for the Zimbabwean Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai. Each talk lasted just seven minutes.

Conference participants could watch the interviews in person or follow them online at a website designed especially for the talks. “‘7 Minutes for the Media’ is a concept which works with various discussion formats both in a live setting and on the Internet,” says Patrick Leusch, Head of DW-AKADEMIE’s Project Development.

The fifth European Development Days held December 6 and 7 was organized by the European Commission and the Belgian EU Council Presidency.