Carmen Thomas (born 7 May 1946) is a German journalist,

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

and

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

, author and lecturer. On television, she was the first woman to present the

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

's ''

das aktuelle Sportstudio ''Das aktuelle Sportstudio'' (stylized in lowercase) is a weekly sports TV show on German channel ZDF, broadcast late on Saturday evenings. The program is repeated later on 3sat. It was first broadcast on 24 August 1963. From 1999 to 2005, the ...

''. She worked for public radio, running ''

Hallo Ü-Wagen ''Hallo Ü-Wagen'' (''Hello Radio Van'') was a German travelling talk radio show of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk, WDR. It was presented and directed weekly by Carmen Thomas from 1974 to 1994. In 1990, ''Forbes'' named her one of the 100 most influe ...

'', a weekly travelling

talk radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, Interview (jo ...

show for two decades. In 1990 ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' named her one of the 100 most influential women in Germany.

Career

Born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, Thomas studied German, English, and

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne () is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 45,187 students. The Universit ...

. Even during her studies, she worked for the broadcaster

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...

(WDR) in Cologne, from 1968 as a presenter, then as a freelance

contributing editor A contributing editor is a newspaper, magazine or online job title that varies in its responsibilities. Often, but not always, a contributing editor is a "high-end" freelancer, consultant, or expert who has proven ability and has readership dra ...

, later on the staff, and also as director for a group of programs (''Programmgruppenleiterin'').Carmen Thomas
(In German) Who's Who? She began in the live morning show ''WDR Morgenmagazin'', working until 1974. From 1969 to 1971, she was a reporter for the television news '.Roland Kirbach
''Zehn Jahre „Hallo Ü-Wagen“: Viel Erfolg durch viel Gefühl''.
In: ''

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

'', No. 50/1984 In 1972, she was the first woman to present the television day magazine, which led to a contract for a year with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

for ''Midweek'', the first such contract for a German woman.''Schalke 05 – Wie ein Versprecher zur Berühmtheit verhalf''.
Generalanzeiger Bonn, 2 February 2013 She was the first female sports presenter when she began presenting ''

das aktuelle sportstudio ''Das aktuelle Sportstudio'' (stylized in lowercase) is a weekly sports TV show on German channel ZDF, broadcast late on Saturday evenings. The program is repeated later on 3sat. It was first broadcast on 24 August 1963. From 1999 to 2005, the ...

'' of the

in 1973. After the ''Sportstudio'', from 1975, she presented the '' 3 nach 9'' talk show on

Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (), shortened to RB () is Germany's smallest Public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster and the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerha ...

for two years. From 1974 to 1994, she was director and presenter of ''

'' (''Hello Radio Van''), a travelling

show which she ran weekly at different locations, focusing on topics suggested by listeners and live interviews with experts and the audience. For ''Hallo Ü-Wagen'', ''

'' named her one of the 100 most influential women in Germany in 1990. From 1976, Thomas developed one of the first

support group In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping str ...

s (''Selbsthilfegruppen'') in Germany.''Organisierte Selbsthilfe'' (Teil 2).
webwecker-bielefeld.de, 16 November 2005 In 1989 the WDR began a group ''Forum für Mitmach-Sendungen'' (Forum for Participation Broadcasts), which Thomas directed for almost ten years.Jeannette Gräfin Beissel von Gymnich, Stefan Schaal
''Frauen führen! Erfolgsgeschichten aus der NRW-Wirtschaft''.
2012, pp. 160–161. Thomas taught at universities for 13 years, and has coached people in commerce, politics, and media since 1980. She became executive director of the ''ModerationsAkademie für Medien + Wirtschaft Carmen Thomas'' in

Ehreshoven Engelskirchen (literally "angel’s churches") is a municipality in Oberbergischer Kreis, Germany in North Rhine-Westphalia, about east of Cologne. The neighbouring municipalities are (clockwise from the west) Overath, Lindlar, Gummersbach, Wiehl ...

in 2001.

Literature

* Antje Kahnt: ''Düsseldorfs starke Frauen – 30 Portraits'' Droste, Düsseldorf 2016, , pp. 175–180. * Stefan Willeke
''Null fünf – Das Carmen-Thomas-Jahr hat begonnen''.
In: ''

'', No. 2/2005. * ''WDR Geschichte(n) – Eine Zeitreise in 14 Interviews: Carmen Thomas'', a film by Klaus Michael Heinz, WDR, 6 October 2018, 60 min.

References

External links

* * *
WDR Geschichte(n) – Eine Zeitreise in 14 Interviews / Carmen Thomas
(media, in German) WDR * *
1. ModerationsAkademie für Medien + Wirtschaft

Carmen Thomas bei 3nach9, März 1975
(video, in German) 1. ModerationsAkademie für Medien + Wirtschaft {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Carmen 1946 births Living people 20th-century German journalists German talk radio hosts German women radio presenters German television talk show hosts German women television presenters Women sports journalists German sports journalists German women journalists German sports broadcasters Mass media people from Düsseldorf University of Cologne alumni ZDF people Westdeutscher Rundfunk people Radio Bremen people 20th-century German women