Barbara Massing has been Director General of Deutsche Welle since October 1, 2025. Previously, since 2014, she had served as Managing Director of Business Administration at DW.
Massing joined Deutsche Welle in 2006, initially as advisor to the Director of Distribution. In 2008, she took charge of the newly established Department of Strategic Planning, which she had built up herself. She also represented DW as a member of the international advisory group
“Science and Society”
for the European Commission.
Barbara Massing studied law and history, focusing on administrative and international media law, in Hamburg and Berlin. She later worked as a producer and researcher for ARD documentaries as well as a lawyer specializing in media and, in particular, internet law. From 2004, she was advisor to the management of ARTE Deutschland in Baden-Baden.