Qantara.de at ifa - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen

From 1 July 2024, Qantara.de will be continued by ifa - Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen. What’s new?

As of 1 July 2024, responsibility for Qantara.de will be transferred from Deutsche Welle to ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen. In conjunction with the change, a new, independent editorial team will be established, under the direction of the new editor in chief Jannis Hagmann. ifa will take over editorial responsibility until the new editorial team begins its work. In the meantime, background articles will continue to be published in three languages – Arabic, English and German. That means the most important thing will remain unchanged: Qantara.de promotes understanding between European societies and societies influenced by Islam through in-depth articles by international journalists, academics and authors.

What will happen to Qantara.de’s previous content?

Around 85% of all author contributions that have appeared on Qantara.de in Arabic, English and German in the last 20 years will be retained. That means that the work of authors and the editorial team over this period will continue to be accessible to the public. For the most part, these are contributions that have "Qantara" or "Deutsche Welle" as the copyright reference. It has not yet been possible to transfer some articles. These include, for example, secondary use of daily media, which, for legal reasons, are now only retrievable from the original portals, and articles by cooperation partners and specialist journals, which are temporarily unavailable, for which ifa is currently obtaining rights of use.

What will change for authors who have written for Qantara.de in the past?

All past authors are invited to continue to write for the portal. They can report in a differentiated, critical and independent way. The editorial team ensures that the reporting is balanced and presents multiple perspectives. ifa values the work and expertise of the editorial team and the authors of Qantara.de. The editorial team, with its editor-in-chief Loay Mudhoon, have built a high-quality network of journalists and reporters in the Islam-influenced world over many years. For legal reasons, the complete integration of the portal into ifa involves newly advertising all the positions in the editorial team.

Qantara.de and ifa – how do they fit together?

Qantara.de was established in 2003 as a cooperation project by Deutsche Welle together with the Goethe-Institut, the Federal Agency for Civic Education and ifa. Now, after 20 years under the auspices of Deutsche Welle, responsibility for Qantara.de is being transferred to ifa. The mission of Qantara.de is to make connections between European and Islam-influenced societies. The objective of ifa’s work, too, is to promote and support exchange and understanding. The significance of Qantara.de will be maintained and continued. At ifa, Qantara.de will continue to make a vital contribution to objective debate and the sensitive handling of socially relevant topics. ifa has a stable network that has grown over many years. Through this network, ifa aims to mediate non-European perspectives even more strongly to civil societies, to continue to provide balanced coverage and to deepen understanding between Europe and Islam-influenced societies. By transferring to ifa, which receives institutional funding from the Federal Foreign Office, an important requirement for consolidating the Qantara.de project has been met.

What is ifa?

ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen is an autonomous mediation organisation for foreign cultural and social policy. It works independently and is not subject to instruction. ifa works with partners worldwide to promote freedom in the arts, research, media and civil society and brings people together who are committed to an open society. To this end, it generates analogue and digital spaces for people to meet, network, negotiate and co-create. It gives activists, artists and academics a voice. Based on its core competencies in art, research and civil society, it builds networks to achieve a lasting impact. ifa is supported by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, the state of Baden-Württemberg and its capital Stuttgart.

If you have further questions, please contact qantara@ifa.de