Editorial Desks in Germany

The first dpa news service began at 6.00 am on the morning of September 1, 1949 with a despatch from a white-painted villa located on Mittelweg. The former Bavarian legation in the Hanseatic City still plays a pivotal role in dpa's editorial operations. News coverage from regional bureaux and foreign corespondents is edited here and fed into a range of wire services. Four editorial departments are based in Hamburg, namely those for international politics, financial news, sport and entertainment and general news. The latter includes separate desks for cultural affairs, science reporting and coverage of media matters. Multimedia content also orginates in the port city on the River Elbe along with graphics, consumer-oriented content and news for children. Journalistic work is coordinated at the Central News Office in Hamburg which is at the heart of dpa's editorial operations. Both management and support departments are also based in Hamburg.

The main dpa office in Berlin is home to the agency's staff of government affairs correspondents and the focus of the political affairs editorial department. Both teams work under pressure in the hot-house atmosphere of the capital and are frequently called upon to make difficult, often split-second decisions. Around 120 news items are produced daily, rising to 150 items on peak days. Around 15 seasoned political reporters deal with news involving the German Chancellor, Germany's political parties, the country's ministries and new legislation along with the many federations and a wealth of other topics and assignments. These experts often accompany politicians during public visits abroad, attend international summits and report from the congresses of political parties.

Political news items of national importance are fed into the main German service by a staff of around ten editors. They process material coming in from all over Germany and from the political affairs department in Berlin, shaping the product supplied to customers. They are in constant contact with their colleagues in Hamburg via video link-up. A team of reporters and editors preparing video and audio content is also located at the Berlin office.

The text services of dpa are based in Hamburg and Berlin whereas the Picture Service is coordinated from Frankfurt. From here a large staff of photo editors supplies the German media with up-to-the-minute digital photographic material to accompany the news. Along with supplying coverage of breaking news events the experts here maintain one of Germany's largest picture data banks - a huge resource of contemporary illustrative material. Media players such as magazines, books, public relations and advertising companies which do not work to constant deadlines also profit from another key dpa picture service, dpa Fotoreport.