The Channel | 2006 | July

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Global briefing
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Teletrax gainsmajormonitoring contract withUNRadio•SESASTRA increases shareholding inNDSatCom to 100%•Harris
Corporation wins major contract with Japan’s SkyPerfecTV• Australian media law reform plan delayed indefinitely • RTÉ, BT
and RadioScape team up to provide live TV to mobile phone users via DAB-IP • KBS World launches in the Middle East •
Deutsche Welle and ERTU co-productions during Football World Cup•Croatia abolishes prison sentences for defamation
•NewbusinessTVstationDAFto utiliseNorCom’sNCPower •EBUelects Fritz Pleitgen of ARD, Germany as its newpresident
Al Jazeera going ahead in Madrid
Al Jazeera has restarted the process of opening a new bureau in
Madrid, Spain. The first steps were taken over two years ago by Al
Jazeera’s correspondent Tayseer Allouny but the process came to a
halt with his arrest and imprisonment. Now
Allouny has sent a letter from jail urging Al
Jazeera to proceed with the opening of the
bureau. Al Jazeera has announced that
Allouny will head the Madrid Bureau as
planned, and an acting bureau chief will be
appointed until Allouny’s release. When
earlier this year the Spanish Supreme Court
upheld the conviction of Al Jazeera’s
correspondent in Spain, despite the fact
that he was acquitted over alleged links with Al Qaeda, the channel
stated that it was considering an appeal to the Constitutional Court
to help Allouny regain his freedom. “Tayseer is recognized by the
journalistic community as a distinguished correspondent known for
his integrity and commitment to the profession and Al Jazeera will
continue to fully support him and the efforts to appeal his case,” said
Wadah Khanfar, the Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. In a
similar development, on 17July Al Jazeera issued a statement calling
for the immediate release of its Jerusalem bureau chief and said that
the Israeli authorities had obstructed Al Jazeera crews from covering
the present confrontation with Lebanon in northern Israel.
RNW helps victims of Indonesian earthquake
Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) has made 1,000 radios available to the victims of the
earthquake in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Three partner stations of RNW in the region
will distribute the radios among local people. Dutch ambassador Nikolaos van
Dam handed the first radios over to the radio stations. In his speech he said: “The
Yogyakarta relief effort, in which the Netherlands has played an important part, is
now well under way. The survivors are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives.
Access to news and information is an important part of those lives.” People in the
Yogyakarta area will be able to use the radios to receive Radio Netherlands
Worldwide Indonesian-language short wave broadcasts and the partner stations’
FM broadcasts. Radio Netherlands Worldwide’s Director General Jan Hoek adds:
“Many of our Indonesian programmes are also broadcast by our partner stations,
which means our voice will be heard in the region in FM quality.” The three
partner stations have an audience of about one million families.
RNZI goes Pacific with the BBC
Radio New Zealand International has launched a
weekday 30-minute programme exchange with the BBC
Pacific service. The BBC’s Pacific service now relays a bulletin
of Pacific regional news and RNZI’s Pacific current affairs
programme Dateline Pacific. In exchange, RNZI broadcasts
a BBC World news bulletin, followed by detailed BBC
correspondent’s reports on the latest global news and a
round-up of the latest in international Sport. RNZI manager
Linden Clark is delighted with the launch: “This will allow us
to get more listeners for our flagship current affairs
programme across the Pacific. It’s also recognition of the
relevance of the Dateline Pacific programme which is
already relayed by Radio Australia around the region.” The
RNZI programme is on the BBC’s Pacific network of FM relays
and satellite services. RNZI’s short wave broadcasts cover the
area from Papua New Guinea in the west across to French
Polynesia in the east and all the countries in between. A new
digital (DRM) short wave service is just now being launched
across the Pacific region with partner relaying radio stations
in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa,
Tonga and Niue all now equipped with digital software
receivers. More countries will be equipped so they can receive
the new digital signal over the next few months.
Webby for the Voice
The International Academy of
Digital Arts and Sciences has
named the Voice of America
Special English service’s web site
an “Official Honoree” in its 10th
annual Webby Awards.
is a tool for non-native speakers to
practise and improve their
American English, comp-
lementing the VOA’s Special
English radio and television
programmes. One of the most
popular destinations within
,itreceivesan
averageof 500,000visitspermonth.
DW-TV boosts Arabic
DW-TV’s Arabic news is just one element of Deutsche Welle’s long-term strategy for
the Arab world. Using sub-titles, DW-TV began broadcasting three hours a day in Arabic,
starting in 2002. Since 2005 the show has had its own anchor - Dima Tarhini from
Lebanon. She has become a well-known presenter in DW-TV‘s target region. Born in
Beirut, Dima worked for Al Jazeera and CNBC Arabiya before she joined the Arabic team
at DW-TV in Berlin. DW-TV’s Arabic news complements the already existing services
provided by DW-RADIO, and the online output of From Morocco to
Oman, from Rabat to Abu Dhabi, DW-TV continues to provide what remains the only
international programme from Europe to be broadcast in Arabic, via Nilesat 101.
The programme is based on two daily news shows of 26 minutes each with the latest
from the world of politics, business, culture and sport. The programme is watched by
approximately 10 million viewers weekly in more than 20 countries. Together with Abu Dhabi TV,
DW-TV also produces a monthly political talk show, Meet Europe. It highlights an important
current affairs topic with Arabic-speaking European experts.
The programming is highly popular throughout the region and DW-TV is planning to expand
output to 6-8 hours daily, starting in autumn 2006. Deutsche Welle sees the need to expand in an
important market and to intensify European-Arabic dialogue.
Now there are 21
RFI president Antoine
Schwarz and Voice of
Nigeria’s DG , M. Aboubakar
Jijiwa, have signed a
cooperation agreement for
daily RFI broadcasts in
Hausa which will reach 100
million listeners in Nigeria,
Niger, Ghana, Cameroon and
Sudan. Starting this autumn,
the new RFI Hausa service
will operate from Voice of
Nigeria’s premises in Lagos.
This brings the number of
RFI’s languages to 21.