Sylvie Stephan, ARTE programme director © ARTE/Frédéric Maigrot
Born 19 February 1968 in Mühldorf/Inn, Germany
German and French citizenship
Professional Experience
ARTE GEIE, Strasbourg
since 1 January 2026: Programme Director and Managing Director
2022–2025: Head of the Linear and Non-Linear Programming Department and Deputy Programme Director
Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR/ARD), Munich
2020–2021: Head of Culture – Radio, Television, Online
2014–2020: Head of the Press Department and press spokeswoman for the director
2018–2019: Head of the ARD Press Office during Ulrich Wilhelm’s chairmanship
French correspondent, Paris
2011–2014: Correspondent for various daily papers: Rheinische Post, Weser Kurier, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, Rhein-Zeitung, Schwäbische Zeitung, Saarbrücker Zeitung
International Energy Agency (IEA/OECD), Paris
2005–2010: Head of the Press Department and press spokeswoman
Handelsblatt, Paris Office
2005: Freelance correspondent in France
ARD-Hörfunkstudio Paris (BR, SWR, MDR)
2001–2005: French correspondent
Bayerisches Fernsehen, “Schwaben und Altbayern” Service, Munich
1999–2001: Presenter and reporter
Radio information service “B5 aktuell”, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich
1998–2001: Editor, reporter and presenter
Bayerischer Rundfunk, Radio and Television, Munich
1993–2001: Newsreader and programme announcer
1991–1996: Freelance work as a translator and interpreter (French) in Munich
Education
Editorial traineeship (radio, television) at Bayerischen Rundfunk, 1996–1998
Master’s degree (M.A.) in Political Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, 1996 Studied Literature (1987/88), Political Science, Modern History, International and European Law at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, and at Humboldt-Universität, Berlin, 1992–1996
Trained as a State Certified Translator and Interpreter of French and Spanish at the Sprachen- und Dolmetscher-Institut, Munich, 1991