This overview tells you how to find out about the news in writing, video and radio formats.

Most of the media mentioned are available in German, English or Arabic.

News in text form

Spiegel Online

Spiegel Online is an online news portal for the magazine “Der Spiegel”. It offers news about politics as well as societal topics. Spiegel Online is available in German (www.spiegel.de) and English (www.spiegel.de/international).

Zeit Online

Zeit Online is the website of the German weekly newspaper, “Die Zeit”. It mainly offers articles related to society and politics. Zeit Online is available in German (www.zeit.de) and English (www.zeit.de/english).

Nachrichtenleicht

Nachrichtenleicht (www.nachrichtenleicht.de) is a news website written in simplified German. You will find brief articles on all sorts of news, short videos and even a podcast (www.nachrichtenleicht.de/podcast-nachrichtenleicht.2134.de.html).

WDR for you

WDR for you is a news website for refugees with information and documentation, as well as entertainment and services for children. It is available in German, English, Arabic and Persian. There are also short videos with tips for life in Germany (http://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/wdrforyou).

In addition, most of the websites for the major German daily newspapers like “Süddeutsche” (https://www.sueddeutsche.de/ or international.sueddeutsche.de) or “Welt” (https://www.welt.de/ or https://www.welt.de/english-news) have news in German and English.

Video news

Tagesschau

The “Tagesschau” is the most popular German news programme on television. You can watch it every day at 8 pm (and at other times) on the broadcaster ARD or the website (www.tagesschau.de/). There you can also find a short video version of the news in German in 100 seconds (https://www.tagesschau.de/100sekunden/).

ZDF in Arabic and English

ZDF is the largest German broadcaster and offers news and other shows. A selection of shows is available online with English (www.zdf.de/international/zdfenglish) or Arabic (www.zdf.de/international/zdfarabic) subtitles.

ARD Guide for Refugees

ARD Guide for Refugees presents the news about current topics from ARD in Arabic and English (in some cases, in Dari, Pashto and Urdu or easy German, as well).

It is also possible to enable subtitles: https://www.daserste.de/specials/service/barrierefreiheit-im-ersten-untertitel-deutsch100.html.

Radio news

WDR Refugee Radio

WDR Refugee Radio is a radio programme specifically for refugees. Programmes are available twice daily in Arabic and German (http://www1.wdr.de/radio/cosmo/programm/refugee-radio/)

Last Updated: 12.01.2022