BMW and the power of innovation

A series in the BMW museum.

BMW features a museum full of history and beautiful luxury vehicles.
(photo by Katie Pflug)

by Michelle Graessle

Black leather seats. The cool smoothness of a steering wheel in eager hands. The tenacious purr of a hand crafted engine. Jaw-dropping design that would leave Leonardo Da Vinci in awe. This machine belongs in one place: on the road.

The classic image of a sleek BMW is only slightly altered for the company’s newest concept, BMW i. That difference is not actually even visible, only audible because the BMW i series of vehicles is completely electric. Although its purr may be somewhat muted, its innovation, power and design are unaltered if not improved.

Manuel Sattig, communication manager for BMW project I, is adamant that although combustion engines are becoming more efficient, they will eventually be phased out and electro-mobility will be at the forefront of automotive innovation. He said that people are becoming more and more interested in the environmental and ecological responsibility of the products they buy. With that in mind, and BMW being a customer-driven company, it has to keep up with its customers’ wants and needs and prepare for the future while maintaining brand identity.

“In this time period we are in the middle of an iconic change. Right now, this is not a technology that is the most suitable necessarily for today and tomorrow, but it will definitely be one of the major technologies of the future. That’s why you have to take care of it now, to make your company fit for the future,” Sattig said.

An American BWM tour guide showcases one of BMW's tiniest models.

An American BWM tour guide showcases one of BMW’s tiniest models.
(photo by Marina Weis)

BMW did extensive research before moving forward with the cars. The BMW i3 will be released this fall and the BMW i8 next year.  The price for the i3 will be under 40,000 euros  in Euope; BMW hasn’t finalize the price yet.

The BMW i was formerly known as the “Megacity Vehicle” and is best suited for urban markets. The car must be charged like any other battery-powered device but is also complemented with a small combustion engine. This combination makes for an extraordinary driving experience while also maintaining exceptionally low fuel consumption and emission levels, Sattig said.

Sattig said that the two most important benefits of driving a BMW i are its focuses on environmental and economic efficiency.

“The environment is important because we have to reduce resources and emissions of vehicles. Also, you can actually say right now that driving an electric vehicle is about half the price, just for energy costs, of driving a very efficient combustion engine. Those are the two major factors people think about when considering electro-mobility,” Sattig said.

New innovations aside, BMW will always be a company devoted to driver experience and the tradition of the brand as Stefan Mueller, a staff member of the International Corporate Communications department, can attest to.  For example, it is important to BMW that its cars can go from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds.

“BMW is a brand driven by emotion. Our cars are sold on the notion that driving is for sport and it’s fun,” Mueller said.

The appropriately shaped BMW building.

The appropriately shaped BMW building.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

BMW can trace its roots back to Karl Rapp and Gustav Otto, according to the company’s website. In 1916, the Flugmaschinenfabrik Gustav Otto company had merged into Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke AG (BFW) at government behest. Elsewhere, in 1917, the Rapp Motorenwerke company morphed into Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH, which was duly converted into an AG (public limited company) in 1918. BMW became an automobile manufacturer in 1928; the first motorcycle was produced in 1945. It bought the Rover Group in the United Kingdom to expand its range of models, including the Land Rover, Rover, MG, Triumph and Mini. It acquired Rolls Royce in 1998

This idea holds true as visitors cross the street into the BMW Welt and Museum, where the tradition and history of this iconic brand is encapsulated in some exquisite architecture. Classic cars and new concepts are on display for visitors to ogle, including the Rolls Royce and Mini vehicles it produces. Shiny and pristine, the museum holds original airplane engines and motorcycles of the inception of the company as well as showcases the development of BMW through the years.

As the Point Park visitors made their way through the many displays, Mueller’s idea of “driving for sport” is grossly apparent. Each specimen of automotive prowess displayed at the BMW Welt and Museum clearly wants to be used for more than just driving to work. Emotionally invested employees clearly designed and created these cars with some grand scheme of experience in mind; not just for transportation but for the love of driving.

DPA’s classic news in a modern world

dpa_newsroom_politik3by Connor Mulvaney

Chief photographer of the Deutsche Presse-Agentur Michael Kappeler believes taking one good photograph is all you need to market news photos.

“Before in the print world, we tried [to get] one good photo which tells the whole story, but now that’s changing,” said Kappeler.

Today in the digital world, photographers are able to tell stories in countless photographs. However, this is not how DPA conducts its business.

“Print is still important,” said Kappeler.

A surprising statement from a modern newsperson, but in his opinion, it’s a justifiable one.

“It’s the moneymaker for us because we cannot earn money in the digital world,” said Kappeler.  “So we make money with the print clients and so we have to satisfy them.”

Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH, founded in 1949 in Germany and based in Hamburg, has grown to be a major worldwide operation serving print media, radio, television, online, mobile phones, and national news agencies. News is available in GermanEnglishSpanish and Arabic. The English service is produced in Berlin, which is also the location of the central news office. The DPA has offices in 80 countries, 12 regional German bureaus along with 50 additional offices in Germany. Point Park students and faculty visited the Berlin office and also heard from Christian Rowenkamp, head of corporate communication, on DPA operations.

In particular, DPA aims to please clients with its “classic” news photographs.  That is, one photo that shows the action and emotion of a situation, and tells the story with one exposure of the camera sensor. Kapperler said the agency has 100 photographers in Germany alone to accomplish that compared to the eight the Associated Press has in all of Germany.

By using the word “client,” Kappeler is of course referring to media outlets.  Not the public.  This in opposition to its  American counterpart, AP, who caters to its  news partners but also permits some public access to its website, stories and photographs. .

“We are only providing news to business clients,” said Kappeler.  “They can use these pictures or information to bring to their clients because we have no way to earn money back [from non-business clients].  So they can [sell] news to their clients, so they can buy the news.”

The DPA’s international reach and commitment to its German clients make it vital to reporting German news.  Its client list proves it. Nearly 100 percent of German media outlets are partners of DPA, according to Kappeler.

“For…the Olympics, or the pope’s election… we send our own DPA photographers to countries where these things happen,” said Kappeler.  These photographers have two jobs – “They do general news, but they also follow the German interest.”

dpa_web_02A hard concept to understand for Americans, as the United States is often at the center of attention when it is involved in global affairs.  For smaller countries like Germany, an extra effort is required to report international news.

“If something happens, there is not always a German interest [reported by other outlets],” said Kappeler.  “The best example is the Olympics.  If a German sports team reaches fourth place, nobody will take a picture of them because [reporters] just follow the medal winners.”

One DPA German photograph of interest worldwide was the recent one that Kappeler himself took – of outgoing Pope Benedict’s hand with the papal ring about to be destroyed per Catholic Church regulations.  He said he took a chance on that photograph, but it was used in countless publications.

Thus, DPA’s commitment to its clients leads them to exactly what they need.

“It’s our task, then, just to follow the German interest because there is a huge media market in Germany, so we have a lot of clients and they want to know what the Germans are doing.”

Pittsburgh, meet Munich

The Glockenspiel towers over Marienplatz.  (photo by Carson Allwes)

The Glockenspiel towers over Marienplatz.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

by Carson Allwes

Point Park University’s International Media class arrived in Munich on Friday from the airport and straight into a tour of Germany’s third largest city.

Tour guide Arnoud Beck provided a bus tour from the airport to the hotel. Beck pointed out key points such as the Autobahn, the highway in Germany famous for not having a speed limit. The advisory speed limit is 130 kilometers or 81 miles per hour, and buses and trucks should travel at 80 kilometers per hour or around 60 miles per hour, according to the highway’s website.

Old and new buildings, including Munich’s soccer stadium, flashed by the bus windows as the bus took the group to its hotel. The hotel, Europäischer Hof, is in the center of Munich, near Marienplatz.  And it was very close to the main train station, which the group used a number of times for visits.

Henry the Lion founded Marienplatz in 1158. Today it is a shopping center. Downtown Marienplatz was filled with people browsing shops, eating in cafés, visiting street vendors and enjoying outdoor street music.

Vendors set up along the streets with their carts full of fruits, vegetables and white spargel, or asparagus, which was in season.  Their customers were dressed in everything from lederhosen to everyday apparel.

This Marienplatz street vendor sells fresh produce. (photo by Carson Allwes)

This Marienplatz street vendor sells fresh produce.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

Marienplatz has several key points that depict Munich. Beck showed the group a couple of churches, including Bürgersaalkirche and the Frauenkirche.

Bürgersaalkirche is between two buildings and almost blends into the scenery. The church has a museum for the Rev. Rupert Mayer SJ. He was a Jesuit priest who was a chaplain in World War I, losing a leg in a grenade attack. During World War II he preached against the Nazis and was placed in “protective custody” and later sent to a concentration camp by the Nazis. He returned to a hero’s welcome from Catholics and others after the war ended and died of a stroke in November 1945. Pope John Paul II beautified him in 1987, which is a path to sainthood. The museum also displayed many other different religious statues and relics.

The Frauenkirche is the tallest building in Munich. It was decided by the city that no building should be taller than the Frauenkirche’s two towers, which are around 100 meters tall.

Beck explained why the Frauenkirche survived the war.

“The high points of the church gave the army [a marker] to bomb the city,” he said.

This saved the Frauenkirche and many other tall buildings as they were used for the military during the second war.

Inside the Frauenkirhe, Beck told the story of how the church was built. According to legend, Jörg von Halsbach needed funding in order to build the church and asked the Devil for help. The Devil would help but only if Halsbach did not put windows in the church.

The devil's footprint sits on a tile inside the church. (photo by Carson Allwes)

The devil’s footprint sits on a tile inside the Frauenkirhe church.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

Halsbach tricked the Devil by using the architecture to give the appearance of a windowless church. Devil was not fooled.

“In [the Devil’s] anger at being fooled, he [stomped] his foot and left his footprint [in the floor],” Beck said, showing it to the students.

The Frauenkirche is also the home of the archbishop. This is the church where former Pope Benedict XVI practiced as bishop before moving on to the Vatican.

Another famous piece of architecture is the Glockenspiel.

The Glockenspiel is in the center of Marienplatz, an old gothic-themed building with gargoyles and flying buttresses. The clock is in the center tower. The clock tower has two open windows with pieces that move at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., attracting a crowd. The inner mechanics put on a show for the people in the square. The entire show lasts about 15 minutes.

Beck’s tour ended with permission to begin exploring and sampling Munich’s cafés and restaurants. The tour formed a foundation of important landmarks and history that better shaped the group’s understanding of the city over the rest of their trip.

An Overview of Süddeutsche Zeitung

Suddeutsche Zeitung features a broadsheet layout.  (photo by Carson Allwes)

Suddeutsche Zeitung features a broadsheet layout.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

by Carson Allwes

Point Park International Media class’ final media visit was to Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of the largest quality newspapers in Germany.

Süddeutsche Zeitung was the first free national paper in Germany. It reaches about one and half million people and is a Monday to Saturday paper. It depends partly on subscribers and single copies; about 84 percent of total sales come from this. One subscriber pays about 51.60 euro per month.

Having this revenue helps it not accept any government funds, which is true for some other German media. “There is no political pressure…no pressure from the government what to write,” said Michael Stengl, the product manager of advertisements.

Stengl started with a video of what a day is like at Süddeutsche Zeitung. Stengl translated the video and introduced the group to the newspaper company.

A day at Süddeutsche Zeitung starts at 4 in morning and the paper starts printing at 6 o’clock in the evening. There are usually three editions of the paper before the final copy.

“There are a few similarities between The New York Times and Süddeutsche Zeitung,” Stengl said.

There are regionals papers, free advertising papers, business information and specialized medicial and technology papers under the Süddeutsche Zeitung brand. The national edition of Süddetusche Zeitung, often abbreviated simply as “SZ,” contains four feature sections in economy, culture, sports, and politics. Issues printed for Munich and its closest municipalities will normally contain a local news insert.

Süddeutsche Zeitung has published an eight-page insert of The New York Times articles since 2004; this is known as The New York Times International Weekly and it is in English.

Suddeutsche Zeitung's first issue was published in 1975. (photo by Carson Allwes)

Suddeutsche Zeitung’s first issue was published in 1975.
(photo by Carson Allwes)

In 2000, advertising problems became a concern for the company. Süddeutsche Zeitung Library was created to response to provide revenue, which is a book group that has 50 works in the collection. Consumer can either buy the complete set or the individual book. The library venture was a huge success, Stengl said.

Süddeutsche Zeitung sold 80,000 complete sets and 12 million books total. Now, the company is expanding its medium to CDs and DVDs.

Süddeutsche Zeitung was located in Marienplatz for about six decades until the economy collapsed, Stengl said, and it resulted in a major staff reduction and need for a new direction to survive. A new building was constructed on the outskirts of Munich in 2007, and at the time was the most advanced and ecofriendly building in Germany.

Süddeutsche Zeitung is a unique newspaper because it has its own major production process plant, Stengl said, which is home to a state-of-the-art printing press. It is in charge of printing and packaging enough papers to supply SZ’s massive circulation as well as single copies. Along with Süddeutsche Zeitung’s own audience to satisfy, there are 13 other newspapers in Munich printed at SZ’s plant that exist outside of Süddeutsche Zeitung brand.

Stengl emphasized the quality of the paper and the need to be innovative to keep subscribers and to attract new readers.

“We focus on the quality of the paper,” Stengl said. “[And] on the quality of our products.”

He also said the editor in chief wants to be sure “not to bore” the professor or businessman but also to “educate the common people.”

Several other staff members and editors addressed the group, journalist Viola Schenz and Barbara Vorsamer, subchief editor. They reviewed the online process and the journalistic process the newspaper follows.

Vorsamer noted that the paper’s has “one of the most-read and unique news sites in Germany.” She said, “We were not the first, but we have one the most highly regarded sites in Germany.”

The staff posts all of what’s in the print edition, but some content is exclusively online. The newspaper uses real-time tracking for the site, and she noted that the peak time is noon to 1 p.m., or lunchtime.

Both Vorsamer and Schenz stressed that he most important issue for Süddeutsche Zeitung was the quality of its paper to reflect the brand of all its products for the masses. The paper has worked tirelessly to deliver the best news possible to their subscribers and have been rewarded immensely for their efforts, they said. Their innovation in printing, quality journalism, business and advertising have earned them significant recognition and accolades.

Point Park University students tour ZDF with Wulf Schmiese

Wulf and his co-host chat with musical act Frida Gold

Wulf and his co-host chat with musical act Frida Gold

by Johnie Freiwald

On their fourth day in Berlin, Point Park students and faculty visited the public television network Zweites Deustches Fernsehen or ZDF. They were awake bright and early to walk to the station with their tour guide because the day held something special: They were ready to be part of the studio audience of ZDF’s morning show, MoMa Café.

During the show the students experienced a live performance by Frida Gold, a German pop band. ZDF’s MoMa Café is a modern, trendy show similar to the United States’ “Good Morning America.” They regularly bring musical acts and guests that are well known by the young people in Germany to attract a youthful audience.

The hosts of MoMa Café frequently took time to speak with their studio audience. However, because the show is completely in German, most of the Point Park students were more or less in the dark for the entirety of the show. Despite the language barrier, MoMa Café has a similar format to many American morning news and talk shows with guests, musicians, video segments, games, and interruptions to present the weather or breaking news.

After the show, the group met with one of the show’s presenters or host, Wulf Schmiese. He spent most of his career as a hard-news journalist and had studied in the United States for a number of years during his time in university. Schmiese worked as a political correspondent for a Bonn newspaper in the early 2000s and then went on to be one of the founders of the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine. Then, in 2009, he left his longtime post as a political correspondent to cohost ZDF’s MoMa Café.

He explained that because ZDF is a public broadcasting system, and the one and only national television station in Germany, it does not have to worry about revenue. German residents must pay 16 euros a month to get this channel. “It’s a huge amount of money we get every year, billions of dollars,” he said. “For viewers, we mark it [pour programming] down to 16 cents for getting information and entertainment. Our show, I describe it as a salad. … the meat is the political stuff and the green and red stuff is the entertainment.

“It works well. It’s part of the democracy here. We’re like a newspaper. We’re like a magazine … a little bit of everything.”

The audience of ZDF's morning talk show, MoMa Cafe.

The audience of ZDF’s morning talk show, MoMa Cafe.

Schmiese imparted his wisdom about broadcasting and ZDF to the Point Park students and a group of young Palestinian students studying international diplomacy who were also visiting Germany. He explained what journalism means to him: “You have to find the middle. You have to find a way that it is not too banal or too stupid for people who are informed and have an idea of what’s going on in Palestine or wherever. You can’t be too complicated just for the professors and have a lot of people saying ‘What is he talking about.’  So you really have to find the middle way.”

He prepares himself by reading voraciously and writing his own scripts. That helps his presentation of the information, something he said he is still working on and critiques continually. He develops four to five questions for his interview subjects on the show but still tries to be natural in his work.

Schmiese is also the producer and editor-in-chief for the show, and he said the planning process starts days ahead of the broadcast. The staff is flexible, though, for breaking news. “We work like a newspaper,” he said. “The team watches what happens overnight and we have a telephone conference at 8 a.m. for the next day’s work.

The students were able to take away the level of Schmiese’s experience and expertise as well as his love for his work. His past work as a correspondent – sometimes even joining the president, chancellor, and foreign minister on trips – as well as his current post as a successful morning show host helped him, he told the students.

Schmiese answered questions about German’s allegiance to Israel and the need to recognize Palestine as a nation from the diplomacy students, who wore commemorative T-shirts marking the exact anniversary of that day in 1948 that Palestinians were expelled from Israel and now still cannot return to Haifa.

“Germany has a special relationship with Israel. We don’t call Palestine a nation … but as a territory. We must be careful – as people may say you who killed the Jews. Germany is waiting for U.N. acceptance as Palestine as a state. It should be more of what your people want, not what your government wants,” he said. Schmiese noted that he had worked as a correspondent in the Middle East and had full knowledge of the difficulty of divided cities and nations as he responded.

. The Point Park students finished this informative and fun-filled visit with a group picture with Schmiese and their new Palestinian diplomacy student friends.

Complete madness then, a beautiful museum now

madness-pflug

Part of the Berlin Wall, on the Topography of Terrors grounds, that reads “Madness”
(photo by Katie Pflug)

by Katie Pflug

Berlin, Germany’s Topography of Terror historic site is set on what used to be the site of the Reich Security Main office, but it is now a complex where visitors can learn more about the history of the Holocaust and the Nazi reign in Germany.

Even though National Socialist terror was planned and organized by other parties, the Reich Security Main Office was the center of most of the Nazi regime’s mass crimes and acts of terror.  Between 1933 and 1945, the central institutions of Nazi persecution and terror – the Secret State Police Office with its own “house prison,” the leadership of the SS and, during the Second World War, the Reich Security Main Office – were located on the present-day grounds of the “Topography of Terror” that are next to the Martin Gropius Building and close to Potsdamer Platz, according to its website. It was just blocks away from the Suite Novotel, where the Point Park group stayed during its time in Berlin.

After the war the grounds were leveled and initially used for commercial purposes. Later, in 1987, as part of Berlin’s 750th anniversary celebration, the terrain was made accessible to the public under the name “Topography of Terror.” An exhibition hall and the exposed building remains on the former Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse (today’s Niederkirchnerstrasse) and Wilhelmstrasse were used to document the history of the site. The documentation center opened in 2010.

Exhibit at the Topography of Terrors (photo by Katie Pflug)

Exhibit at the Topography of Terrors
(photo by Katie Pflug)

Now the grounds of the Topography of Terror have a haunted feel, almost as if visitors are being transformed back into that time period. It has part of the Berlin Wall as a backdrop, which adds more history and eeriness. There is a piece of the wall with the word “Madness” lightly written.  This part of the wall stuck out to many visitors because many of them stopped and looked at the part of the wall particularly long.  “The word [madness] describes how Germany was during that time period through the use of one word,” Andrea Karsesnick stated.

The outside exhibit begins with the year 1933, which is when the Nazi Party rise began. It was set up with large pictures, text, and propaganda posters.  There are also other sections of the wall that are on their sides, with the metal exposed.  The wall, in the form, looks like an art form.

It all starts in 1933 with “The Path to Dictatorship,” describing how Adolph Hitler came to power.   This section of the exhibit is very time consuming but worth each second. It starts with describing the phase where Germany was between democracy and a dictatorship.

There is one picture in particular that stood out more than the others.  The picture of the marching SS officers holding the flag with the Nazi symbol on it made it known to everyone that the Nazi Party was taking over.  This photograph was taken in January 1933.

The Reichstag Fire and Nazi Terror in Berlin was another key section of the 1933 exhibit, explaining the burning of the Reichstag building.  The burning of the Reichstag building, executed by a young Dutchman, Marinus van der Lubbe, led to the Nazi Terror taking place in Berlin.

The Topography of Terror, a commemorative site in Berlin, details the Nazi Party's rise to power in 1933 through the end of the war and the Nuremberg trials. Here Professor David Fabilli views some of the public shaming Jews endured in the years leading up to the Holocaust.  (Photograph by Helen Fallon)

The Topography of Terror, a commemorative site in Berlin, details the Nazi Party’s rise to power in 1933 through the end of the war and the Nuremberg trials. Here Professor David Fabilli views some of the public shaming Jews endured in the years leading up to the Holocaust.
(Photograph by Helen Fallon)

There are many propaganda posters hanging around the exhibit.  Each of them offers an explanation of what each poster is trying to persuade everyone to think is right.  Each of the photographs and propaganda posters really brought the exhibit to life.

In the middle of the 1933 exhibit there are separate hanging posters to remember some of the victims of Nazi Terror in Berlin.  All of the victims’ photographs are accompanied by their personal stories that would make anyone sick to his or her stomach.

For example, Franz Wilczoch, a laborer, was taken to the district court prison on June 22, 1933.  The Nazis were using the district court prison as a detention and torture center.  When he was there, they severely maltreated him.  His face was beaten with burning torches, they poured hot tar onto his wounds, his hair was cut or torn out, and he was plastered with adhesive tape.  He died from his injuries on June 30, 1933.

The exhibit then goes into events happening later in 1933, such as the Anti-Jewish Terror, purges and employment bans, Day of National Labor and the destruction of the trade unions, book burning, and the consolidation of power.

After the 1933 exhibit there is much more to see inside the  documentation center, which continues the timeline until beyond 1945 – from the start of the war, the “shamings” and public humiliation of remaining Jews, SS officers retreats, persecution of prisoners and Hitler’s opponents, to the trials of the leaders.

The grounds are landscaped with trees and a large pathway, which makes it easy to stop for a second and remember the terrible events that happened on that very location.

The pathway leads around all of the grounds and finally makes its way back to the documentation center.  Information on the Gestapo and SS offices are just a few of the examples of history that is around the pathway.

The center also includes a library, open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.; guided one-hour tours are also available. No admission fee is charged, and the site operates from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. daily.  Staff members start closing the documentation center at 7:45 p.m. It is all wheelchair accessible.

According to its website, 900,000 people visited the “Topography of Terror” in 2012, making the documentation center one of the most frequently visited places of remembrance in Berlin.

Point Park University’s International Media Class gets a touch of culture in Salzburg, Austria

Mirabell Gardens all photos courtesy of Johnie Freiwald

Mirabell Gardens
all photos courtesy of Johnie Freiwald

by Johnie Freiwald
Point Park University students and faculty visited Salzburg, Austria, on Sunday, May 19, on a side trip as part of this year’s International Media class.  Salzburg has a rich history of musically talented people.  The students dodged raindrops to see the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and where the famous singing Von Trappe family lived, a real family made famous by their story’s retelling in the widely known film 1965 film “The Sound of Music.”

When the Point Parkers arrived in Salzburg, they met Ursula, their tour guide for the day. The tour began at the intricately designed Mirabell Gardens.  The garden is near the steps made famous by the Trappe family children singing “Do, Re, Me” in “The Sound of Music.”  Next to these beautiful gardens, the tradition of music continues, in the Mozarteum.  This music university hosts musicians from all over the world and takes pride in training today’s musicians and theatre arts students. The Mozarteum is also home to the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, one of Austria’s most well-known orchestras and a longtime participant at the Salzburg Festival in July.

The tour included brief stops at the two houses where Mozart lived – where he was born and where he lived as a teenager before leaving for Italy and finally Austria, playing for kings and queens during his brief but prolific career as a composer and musician.

Lovelocks on the Makarsteg Bridge

Lovelocks on the Makarsteg Bridge

The Point Park students then crossed the Makarsteg Bridge, which is home to many lovelocks. A lock is placed on the bridge by a couple to symbolize that their relationship will last forever.  After the lock is placed on the bridge the key is thrown into the Salzach River. As the group proceeded on their tour of Salzburg they saw vendors selling goods by the river.  Many generations of Austrians have had the pleasure of enjoying these open air markets.  They are now visited by citizens and tourists alike.

On a Sunday, many residents strolled the streets dressed in their traditional Austrian garb, something Ursula said is very common and evidence of pride in their heritage.

One of the most prominent features of Salzburg is the vast number of churches. One specific church, Sebastianskirche and Friedhof, which has been repeatedly rebuilt due to deterioration and natural disasters, features the classic baroque style that is so iconic in Gothic architecture. The church contains a crowded but very beautiful cemetery that is the resting place for hundreds of late Austrians.

Salzburg Cathedral

Salzburg Cathedral

The last stop on the tour was the Salzburg Cathedral.  The church was lit up with brilliantly colored lights to celebrate the Catholic youths convening that weekend in Salzburg. There were rows of flickering candles surrounded by groups of prayerful churchgoers, young and old. Outside, the group admired the grand architecture and marble stairs. Even near the church there were plenty of street vendors and money to be made by musicians and buskers, especially across the street where an army of horse-drawn carriages stood in waiting for tourists to purchase their services and ride through the Salzburg streets.

The group finished its visit in Salzburg with free time to explore the collection of shops, cafes, and street vendors followed by some traditional Austrian dining. The Point Parkers then embarked for their train and returned safely, yet exhausted, to Munich.

Lecture: German Media During World War II

Dr. Elfriede Fürsich speaks to the group during a walking tour of Freie Universitat  (photo by Alexa Blanchard)

Dr. Elfriede Fürsich speaks to the group during a walking tour of Freie Universitat
(photo by Alexa Blanchard)

by Sara Tallerico

Dr. Elfriede Fürsich, a visiting professor at Freie Universitat in Berlin, specializes in issues of media globalization and journalism. Her lecture, “German Media During World War II” offered visiting Point Park students an insight on how German media structure originated.

Fürsich’s lecture featured various prominent figures in German media that allowed students to grasp how certain media operations developed

“A lot of media structure today is because of World War II,” Fürsich said, and no censorship edicts stand in direct opposition to what occurred back then.  The Nazis also contradicted what was a very liberal media policy during the Weimar era in the 1920s, which she said was “very liberal and advanced.”       She explained how the no censorship rules that now exist that came about because of the loathing to return to those days.

She offered a brief history of how media worked during World War II.  The main principle of German media was Gleichschaltung, meaning “making the same.”  This is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control over all aspects of society. Standard acts in Germany prior to World War II no longer applied.

Freie Universitat is home to an impressive library.

Freie Universitat is home to an impressive library.
(photo by Katie Pflug)

Germany’s main strategy for spreading ideas and information was propaganda. Fürsich spoke of two prominent figures who largely spread propaganda throughout Germany during World War II. She spoke about Joseph Goebbels first. Goebbels was a German politician and the minister of public enlightenment and propagranda. He was one of Adolf Hitler’s closest associates and most devout followers. His main role was to centralize Nazi control of all aspects of German cultural and intellectual life, particularly the press and radio. A great speaker, Goebbels believed in the power of the radio as his propaganda machine. Radio broadcasts were heavily utilized to spread the ideas of the Nazi regime, which caught fire because of the dire economic situation Germans found themselves in at that time, a result of the war and the worldwide Great Depression.

The next prominent figure Fürsich discussed was filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.  Riefenstahl was a huge fan of Hitler. She often was part of the retinue for Hitler’s mass speeches and created documentaries regarding them. Her documentaries were showed at movie halls in Germany, and students were required to watch them. The documentaries always featured the latest technology, a patriotic style and they never sounded emotional.

Despite the subject matter, she has been emulated. “She developed an aesthetic used to this day in film and advertising,” Fürsich said.

Fürsich explained that with Riefenstahl’s documentaries came propaganda films. Most of these films were produced at the Universum Film AG, better known as the UFA. During the Third Reich, many propaganda films were produced such as “Derewige Jude” and “Münchhausen.” She said they were terrible depictions of Jews and Hitler’s opponents, and the only other  films shown then were comedies, stories and musicals.

Post war, two media systems were created: one model for West Germany and another for East Berlin in keeping with the Allies control over the conquered country.

West Germany’s model was known as the Social Responsibility Model. This model consisted of a mixed system. The government did not control the media but checked on it in a responsible way.

In East Germany, Soviet officials relied on the Marxist-Leninist Model. This model utilized the media and journalists to educate the masses. The government completely controlled the media. With little to no freedom regarding media, journalists began a method referred to as “reading between the lines.” East Berlin housed many newspapers, and  journalists were constantly being told what to write about from the government. However, journalists would often change words around to let the public know what was really going on, and West Germans continually interfered with the other side’s television broadcasts. Along with newspapers and TV news programs, East Berlin also had various television shows. One popular television show that Fürsich discussed was “The Black Channel.”  This television show included recorded extracts from recent West German television programs re-edited to include a Communist commentary, but many areas – including Dresden and Neubrandenburg – couldn’t get it. She called them “The Valley of the Clueless.”

When the Berlin Wall fell and Germany underwent a reunification process, many East German journalists – those who covered art, music, sports, culture and more – “stayed great journalists,” she said. “But the political journalists had to go.”

Today, Germany has a legal framework that guarantees its media and journalists freedom of expression, and laws state there will be no censorship. The goal is more reporting for the people as opposed to reporting for government, though, and privacy is very important with libel laws not very different than what exists in the United States, she said.

In her first address, she explained Germany’s dual broadcast system – public and commercial – and noted that most papers in Germany are regional, although there are major national newspapers, two of which – Die Welt and Suddeutsche Zeitung – the Point Park group visited. The media have suffered a loss in advertising, but automatic subscription renewals for newspapers and some government funding for broadcast places them in a more solid position, she said. Tabloids like Bild have also become very popular and have taken the lead in political coverage.

While the advertising declines mirror the states, Fürsich said the media are turning to digitalization, but Germans haven’t taken to the Internet and social media as Americans and others have done. Germans are still readers; there are bookstores in all towns. She cited the fact that 72.4 Germans said they used the Internet in 2012, but while they will use Facebook, they don’t like Twitter.

Recent Point Park graduate Richelle Szypulski stated, “Dr. Fürsich’s lecture provided a wonderful understanding on the different media systems after World War II.  She explained them in a simple, straightforward way that made it really easy for us to grasp.”  And the lecture prepared the students for the media visits in both Berlin and Munich.

PR shines at the Munich Tourism Office

Isabella Schopp gives a presentation on the Munich Tourism Office (photo by Katie Pflug )

Isabella Schopp gives a presentation on the Munich Tourism Office
(photo by Katie Pflug )

by Katie Pflug

Isabella Schopp, who works in public relations for the Munich Tourism Office, really knows her facts about the third biggest city in Germany and was not shy to share them with Point Park University’s International Media class.

Munich, known as the “all around city,” is home to 1.4 million people.  That number seems like nothing compared to the 12.4 million visitors Munich achieved in 2012, which was a record year.  The United States of America, Italy, Arabia, The United Kingdom and Russia are among the countries with the leading amount of tourists that visit each year, Schopp said.

It also has the second largest number of universities, right after Berlin. Munich has 104,000 students in 15 universities, Schopp said.

Founded in 1158, Munich is now the center of science and economy.  High tech industries like BMW, EADS, and The Linde Groupe all call Munich home. Google, Siemens and Microsoft are also some of the leading I&C companies in Munich.  Munich is now the second largest city for broadcasting companies, right after New York City.

But, Munich has much more to offer than just being a great business hub.  Munich is full of culture, castles, history, churches, shopping, beer gardens, all set in an amazing location.

There are 63 museums in Munich, along with 100 theaters, two operas and three orchestras.  The Nymphenburgh Palace and Royal Residence are some of the castles in the area that are a must see while visiting Munich.  Right outside of Munich there are also the castles Neuschwantstein and Linderhof.  Castles are large part of Bavarian culture and a beautiful way to explore the history of the area.

Munich is a very green city with many parks.  As well as the many parks throughout Munich, 80 percent of locals own a bike, Schopp said.  The beer gardens also make many people want to be outside, she said.  In this particular part of Germany, visitors are able to bring their own food to the beer gardens.  That is something that is not permitted in the northern part of Germany.  Beer gardens have been around 200 years and are some of the main attractions for visitors.

Munich is a very busy city for events.  During February there was the Munich Creative Business Week.  In May there was the Long Night of Music.  Coming in June there will be the City Foundation Festival, celebrating 855 years of Munich.  Later in June, Munich will be hosting the Summer X-Games, Schopp said.  Of course in late September into early October there will be Oktoberfest, which marked its 200th anniversary in 2010.  Then in the end of November all the way until Christmas Eve, the Christmas Market will be available to residents and tourists.

The Munich Tourism Board’s general manager is Geraldine Knudson.  There are five different departments of the Munich Tourism Office: Marketing, Convention Bureau, Tourist Information, International Media and Public Relations.

The International Media is the branch of the office that Schopp is involved with, having previously served as a tour guide. She and her colleagues are responsible for the press kits, online image database, footage, the international newsletter, press trip assistance, film and photo permits, interviews. and research assistance.

Working in the International Travel Media section of the Munich Tourism Office are five colleagues and a trainee.

The Munich Tourism Office has professional photographers on staff, but sometimes it will buy photos from other journalists, Schopp said.  The in-house photographers are responsible for the photo archives.

The Munich Tourism Office plays a big role in educating journalists and others about what Munich has to offer, she explained.  And although Schopp will visit London and Paris to meet some of them and pitch Munich travel stories,  “The journalists come to us for stories, not vice versa.” It also plays a huge role in organizing events such as Oktoberfest and the Christmas Market in Marienplatz.

The Munich Tourism Office works with the Germany National Tourist Board, which she said is its most important partner, the Bavaria Tourism Marketing GmbH, Magic Cities Germany and the Munich Airport to do its support work.

Journalists from Toronto Star, Budget Star, and Irish Times have all used the Munich Tourism Office for their resources.  When the journalists check into the hotels they have a press kit waiting for them, Schopp said, and the Point Park students each received a scaled-down one as a sample. The press kit includes Munich Facts and Figures, a city map, a Munich City Guide, Munich Events, and Photo Services papers.

The press kits the Point Park group also had paperwork giving students and faculty permission to write, photograph and film within the city, something that is standard procedure for the Tourism Board to do for groups.

There are many different types of journalists that would find writing about Munich exciting as well as on-topic with their publication.  Munich’s target market is really anyone because of the vast amount of things to do and a lot of families find that Munich is the perfect place to go because of that.

Visitors looking to stay in Munich will find no shortage of hotel rooms.  There are around 300,000 hotel rooms in the city of Munich itself.

Schopp has been working at the Munich Tourism Office for three years and said she loves being in direct contact with the journalists.

More information is available on the city at the Munich Tourism Office’s website at www.meuchen.de or via email at travel.media@muenchen.de.

Advertising and the presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung

Printing Presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung

Printing presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung
(photo by Alexa Blanchard)

by Alexa Blanchard

In the world of advertising, he who generates the most profit is king. But for Süddeutsche Zeitung, a quality national newspaper located in southern Germany, innovation is the key to success.

Generating revenue through ad space is extremely important for a print newspaper, as the only other source for money-making relies on subscriptions. But with the universal decline in print, how do papers like Süddeutsche Zeitung keep their advertisers buying space? How do they keep their readers coming back for more?

Michael  Stengl, the product manager of advertisements, was eager to showcase Süddeutsche Zeitung’s unique advertising methods to Point Park University’s International Media class. The group of Pittsburgh students was comprised of communications majors of all varieties, including advertising and journalism majors. For most, this exclusive inside look at the functionality of a newspaper and their advertisements is especially relevant.

BMW, or Bavarian Motor Works, purchases a lot of ad space from Süddeutsche Zeitung. Stengl demonstrated some of the work that has put together to show of BMW’s luxury vehicles.

“We wondered, ‘how can we reach our audience with bigger, poster-sized images?’” Stengl inquired, citing the effectiveness of large billboard images that are exposed to the public.

He ended his rhetorical question by turning a page in his demonstration newspaper and revealing a true poster-sized image of a new BMW model, an ad that spanned across two newspaper pages. It was truly larger than life, compared to the commonplace ads that typically take up one quarter of a page to one half to a full page at most. Two entire pages for one ad are brilliant and unheard of in most U.S. newspapers except for the largest, such as The New York Times.

Alexa Blanchard and Johnie Freiwald check out a special advertisement in the pages of Munich's Sueddeutsche Zeitung. (Helen Fallon photograph)

Alexa Blanchard and Johnie Freiwald check out a special advertisement in the pages of Munich’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
(photo by Helen Fallon)

Stengl passed around several other innovative advertising techniques that Süddeutsche Zeitung has employed, including a scented ad and a multi-sensory ad.

“We published this [multi-sensory] ad for BMW and our competitors called us and said ‘What have you done? This is brililiant,’” Stengl added.

The multi-sensory ad in question details driving a BMW from a chauffer’s perspective. The open road ahead is glossed with UV detailing, and the dashboard of the car actually feels like how a real dashboard would. Readers can touch the steering wheel and feel the texture of leather underneath their fingers, and the sleeves of the chauffer are outlined with cloth. This ad is multi-sensory because readers use not only their eyes, but also their sense of touch. Perhaps they even have a smell.

It encourages the reader to stop and take a moment to interact with an advertisement, something that had never been done before. More than anything, it makes the reader remember. Many will never forget that this two-page spread with a tangible leather steering wheel was an ad for BMW, and that they saw it – felt it – in Süddeutsche Zeitung. This is the kind of interactivity, innovation and notoriety that the paper is going for, Stengl said.

Presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung

Presses at Süddeutsche Zeitung
(photo by Alexa Blanchard)

Still reeling from the never-before-seen advertising, the Point Park students were then treated to yet another inside look across the street at Süddeutsche Zeitung’s printing presses. The printing process, which begins at 6 o’clock each evening, is a mammoth undertaking with an innumerable amount of moving parts, employees and equipment working around the clock to get the job right and ready for delivery.

The presses, spanning multiples floors and reaching far and wide, print the broadsheet newspaper at breakneck speed and push their respective paper sections onto conveyor belts where they are mechanically assembled and frequently checked for color. If the color, layout, or printing angle is incorrect then those batches of papers will be trashed and the process corrected. Advertising inserts – a huge source of revenue for the paper – are automatically inserted. The presses are so automated that mailers and inserters are no longer employed, and a small staff of printers is needed, which saves the company money.

All of this must be done in a matter of hours to satisfy the demand of the paper, which has one of the highest circulations in Germany with over 1.1 million daily readers, not including its international demand. The presses generate about 36,000 papers per hour, according to Stengl, and run all night until pickup in the morning.

All of this combined for what Stengl sees as a bright future for Süddeutsche Zeitung, which experienced extreme financial difficulty in the economic fallout in 2007-2008 and placed it on the brink of bankruptcy. Printing a quality newspaper and publishing books and other projects have set the paper on a sound financial course, as well as reaching out with new technological ventures.

And the paper remembers its near collapse as it moves forward. “Print has a future,” Stengl said. “But it must be interesting [to current and future readers].”