Carmen Thomas

Carmen Thomas (born 7 May 1946) is a German journalist, radio and television presenter, author and lecturer. On television, she was the first woman to present the ZDF's das aktuelle Sportstudio. She worked for public radio, running Hallo Ü-Wagen, a weekly travelling talk radio show for two decades. In 1990 Forbes named her one of the 100 most influential women in Germany.

Carmen Thomas
Thomas in Hallo Ü-Wagen on 29 July 1982
Born (1946-05-07) 7 May 1946
Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
EducationUniversity of Cologne
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • Radio presenter
  • Television presenter
  • Author
  • Lecturer
Organization
Websitewww.carmenthomas.de

Career
Hallo Ü-Wagen

Born in Düsseldorf, Thomas studied German, English, and pedagogy at the University of Cologne. Even during her studies, she worked for the broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne,[1] from 1968 as a presenter, then as a freelance contributing editor, later on the staff, and also as director for a group of programs (Programmgruppenleiterin).[2]

She began in the live morning show WDR Morgenmagazin, working until 1974. From 1969 to 1971, she was a reporter for the television news Hier und heute.[1] In 1972, she was the first woman to present the television day magazine, which led to a contract for a year with the BBC for Midweek, the first such contract for a German woman.[3] She was the first female sports presenter when she began presenting das aktuelle sportstudio of the ZDF in 1973.[2][3] After the Sportstudio, from 1975, she presented the 3 nach 9 talk show on Radio Bremen for two years.[4]

From 1974 to 1994, she was director and presenter of Hallo Ü-Wagen (Hello Radio Van),[1] a travelling talk radio show which she ran weekly at different locations, focusing on topics suggested by listeners and live interviews with experts and the audience.[3][5] For Hallo Ü-Wagen, Forbes named her one of the 100 most influential women in Germany in 1990.[6]

From 1976, Thomas developed one of the first support groups (Selbsthilfegruppen) in Germany.[7] In 1989 the WDR began a group Forum für Mitmach-Sendungen (Forum for Participation Broadcasts), which Thomas directed for almost ten years.[8]

Thomas taught at universities for 13 years, and has coached people in commerce, politics, and media since 1980.[8] She became executive director of the ModerationsAkademie für Medien + Wirtschaft Carmen Thomas in Ehreshoven in 2001.[2][3]

Literature
  • Antje Kahnt: Düsseldorfs starke Frauen – 30 Portraits Droste, Düsseldorf 2016, ISBN 978-3-7700-1577-1, pp. 175–180.
  • Stefan Willeke: Null fünf – Das Carmen-Thomas-Jahr hat begonnen. In: Die Zeit, 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
  1. Roland Kirbach: Zehn Jahre „Hallo Ü-Wagen“: Viel Erfolg durch viel Gefühl. In: Die Zeit, No. 50/1984
  2. Carmen Thomas (In German) Who's Who?
  3. Schalke 05 – Wie ein Versprecher zur Berühmtheit verhalf. Generalanzeiger Bonn, 2 February 2013
  4. Der Klassiker der Talkshows im deutschen Fernsehen / Erstmals am 19. November 1974 im deutschen Fernsehen (in German Radio Bremen
  5. "5. Dezember 1974 - Start der WDR-Sendung Hallo Ü-Wagen - Zeitgeschichtliches Archiv - WDR.de" (in German). WDR. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  6. Die 100 einflussreichsten Frauen Deutschlands. In: Forbes, 8 August 1990
  7. Organisierte Selbsthilfe (Teil 2). webwecker-bielefeld.de, 16 November 2005
  8. Jeannette Gräfin Beissel von Gymnich, Stefan Schaal: Frauen führen! Erfolgsgeschichten aus der NRW-Wirtschaft. 2012, pp. 160–161.
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