The Channel | 2009 | Issue 2

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THE CHANNEL | ISSUE 2 2009 | 05
GUNDA CANNON EDITOR
The Channelis the
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Broadcasting
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Simon Spanswick
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EDITOR
Gunda Cannon
E gunda.cannon
There is nothing like talking to people. The
interviews we undertook for this edition brought
very interesting insights – it is a pity really that
we cannot publish them in full.
"The present of the Arab world is ugly, it's sad,
it's full of challenges and nonsense on the
political, the social and the cultural front – is this
the world that we want our kids to inherit?" said
Mahmoud Bouneb, Executive General Manager
of Al Jazeera Children’s Channel and Baraem
channel. Here is a man who moved from the
news and current affairs world to kids' TV – and
he is passionate about his mission. And also
realistic enough to admit that his ambitious TV
offering for kids is not sustainable as a
commercial model but depends on government
support. In another part of the world, in Kenya,
mobile operator Safaricom has been hugely
successful and part of that success is due to the
company's social responsibility – a modern-day
tale of giving freely and receiving back many-
fold. The company has also leapfrogged the West
by offering a product that was designed
essentially for the unbanked but is now
universally used.
In this edition we focus on the Middle East – on
the channels headquartered there, like Al
Arabiya and Al Jazeera, and the growing number
of channels targeting this region, such as France
24 and Russia Today. Audiences are not only
interested in global news – there is more to life
and news broadcasting needs to reflect that. We
asked our interviewees whether there are almost
too many channels now – Bloomberg's Brian
Martinez felt that "the market will tell us what
too much is – if we are all in business and
succeeding then there is room for all of us". The
elections in Iran brought a watershed for citizen
journalism – the main challenge for broadcasters
was to verify the varied offerings. And the
revolution in newsgathering marches on with
new software that allows you to download
videos from your mobile to a broadcast server in
minutes.
In the last issue we carried a feature on 'Crisis
creation' by the media. There is still huge
uncertainty in the market but for some
companies being forced to look at things
differently has been a healthy and successful
exercise – Pharos, Vizrt and Quantel are a case
in point that despite the recession you can
perform well. Things though will never be the
same again – for NAB and IBC this means an
image makeover to appeal to the wider industry
and the interactive departments.
I hope you enjoy your read.
WELCOME
Elections
in Iran brought
a watershed for
citizen
journalism ”
“
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The views and opinions
expressed in The Channel
are not necessarily those
of AIB. The publisher
accepts no responsibility
for errors, omissions or
the consequences thereof
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Association for
International Broadcasting
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