23 September 2010
The Associated Press and VISLINK News & Entertainment announced today the successful completion of trials of ENPS working seamlessly across VISLINK’s microwave and Advanced Gateway systems. Together they provide an integrated solution, which enables file-based workflow from the field as if connected directly to the studio LAN.
Journalists using ENPS in the field can now use bandwidth provided by VISLINK to connect directly to ENPS servers at base, submit finished stories and simultaneously send live video. VISLINK emphasises the use of microwave bandwidth. This reduces potential problems with public broadband, which can become clogged in breaking news situations.
23 September 2010
President Barack Obama has appointed Richard M. Lobo as director of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB).
“We are excited to have Dick in this important position as the Broadcasting Board of Governors begins a comprehensive review of its strategy and operations around the world. He brings outstanding qualifications to the job, as a veteran journalist and broadcast executive,” said BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson.
The IBB Director manages program placement and transmission services for the BBG, the federal agency that supervises all U.S. civilian, international broadcasting. The IBB manages a global network of transmitting sites and an extensive system of leased satellite and fiber optic circuits, along with a rapidly growing Internet delivery system. For the agency?s federal components, the IBB provides research, manages the evaluation of broadcasts and is responsible for VOA editorials, along with support services including human resources, Equal Employment Opportunity, procurement, security, administrative, and graphics.
“I am proud to serve my country in this role and through this Administration,” said Dick Lobo. “IBB plays a critical role supporting our broadcast services and I am delighted to be a part of it.”
Prior to his appointment as director of the IBB, Lobo served as chairman of the Florida Public Broadcasting Service, Inc. He was also president and chief executive officer of WEDU (PBS) Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota. Lobo previously was president and general manager of WTVJ in Miami, station manager of WNBC-TV in New York, and vice president and general manager of NBC stations in Chicago and Cleveland. He served as director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting in the mid-1990s. An Emmy Award-winning journalist, Lobo has also been honored with the New York Black Citizens for a Fair Media’s Community Service Award, the Wall Street Chapter of IMAGE?s Hispanic Executive Award, and the Leadership Award of the Chicago Latino Committee on the Media. Under his direction as general manager of WTVJ, the station won the Peabody Award, the duPont Award, and the Edward R. Murrow Award for its coverage of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
A graduate of the University of Miami, Lobo has served on the board of the Florida Association of Broadcasters, was a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Suncoast chapter, and is the recipient of its Silver Circle Award. He was recent inductee into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame. The Sarasota Chapter of the American Jewish Committee presented Lobo and his wife with the Civic Achievement Award. Lobo is a Captain (Retired) in the U.S. Army Reserve. He is married to Caren Lobo, has three children and five grandchildren.
20 September 2010
Jean Lesieur graduated from the Journalism School of Columbia University (1974) and started his career in Canada as a reporter for the French Canadian weekly La Liberté (Winnipeg, Manitoba).
In 1976, he started working in France as a reporter for the Sports Daily LEquipe.
One year later he joined the weekly news magazine Le Point as an international correspondent and soon became Associate Editor.
He moved to LExpress in 1989 as a senior reporter and was appointed Managing Editor of the magazine in 1994. In 1995, he was named Executive Editor of the French magazine, GALA.
From 1999 to 2004, he headed the largest-selling TV magazine in France, Télé 7 jours and then joined the Executive board of HACHETTE-FILIPACCHI Magazine Group as Editorial Advisor in New York and Paris.
Jean Lesieur had joined FRANCE 24 in 2006 to take part in the launch of the channel as Executive Producer in charge of magazines and talk shows. In 2009, he had left FRANCE 24 to pursue other interests in the United States.
Jean Lesieur is also the author of an investigative novel published in 2008 Laffaire Carolyn Black (JC Lattès).
18 September 2010
I attended a debate at the Frontline club on Thursday where there was a discussion on whether human rights should be at the heart of climate change policy.
It raised an interesting perspective that I had not considered before because human rights have an existing international legal framework. So if climate change impacts a person’s (or often those of a community or indigenous group) there is a path for redress. It may be difficult to follow it, because the people affected are usually poor, spend all their time just struggling to survive and would not know about these legal rights, let alone how to pursue them.
But those affected can be empowered (with the help from groups such as LEAD) and they can be helped by powerful advocates such as Amnesty International.
Human rights is another lens through which to view climate change and one that opens up more possibilities for holding to account those who contribute to it – who, of course, can be not only governments and corporations but ourselves as consumers.
Here is a video of the discussion at the Frontline club:
http://www.viddler.com/player/cb188acd/
Roger Stone, AIB
17 September 2010
The AIB has announced the first short list for the 2010 AIBs. In the Peoples Choice category, for Best Coverage of Climate Change, the selected entrants come from broadcasters in Belgium, China, UK and the USA as well as from the United Nations, making it a truly international selection.
Unlike the other categories at the AIBs, the Peoples Choice, sponsored by ADB (Advanced Digital Broadcast), allows individuals to view the short list online, vote for their favourite and so decide the winner of the award.
The short listed entries are:
Going Green The Climate Summit from CNN International. At the time of the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen CNNs programme looked at a broad range of the major issues on the table from the impact of the Climategate scandal to the effects of melting glaciers in Greenland and rising sea levels in Asia, from deforestation in Indonesia to efforts to combat pollution in countries as widely spread as Argentina, China, Sudan and the USA
Low Impact Man from VRT, the public broadcasting authority of the Flemish community in Belgium. This is a humorous but telling look at the struggles of one man to reduce his ecological footprint and the impact on his family and life
Earth Rescue Operation from Phoenix Satellite Television in Hong Kong, China. The programme examines the major problems of pollution, carbon dioxide emissions and increasing demand for resources, but looks optimistically at new technological solutions and mans ingenuity in solving problems
Hard Talk on the Road to Greenland from the BBC. Hard Talks format of probing questioning of interviewees is set against the background of a country covered by rapidly melting ice. In the programme ministers from developed and developing countries are asked how differences can be overcome in order to agree inter-governmental action on climate change
Ross Kemp: Battle for the Amazon from Sky Television. The interviewer looks at how the production of two highly-valued commodities, cocaine and gold, is destroying and polluting the countryside in Peru, with farmers and workers struggling for existence, middlemen making vast profits and neither group caring about the long-term consequences
21st Century from the UN. This special programme in the series looks at striking evidence of how the glaciers of Bolivia are disappearing and the effect on water supplies to the cities, as well as the strains on food resources in Vietnam and the increasing problems of flooding in low lying areas of the world such as Jakarta
We are delighted with the quality of entries in this the first year of the Peoples Choice award comments Simon Spanswick, CEO of the AIB. It demonstrates how broadcasters are responding to the changing viewing environment and the need to engage viewers online and particularly via social media. The chosen topic, climate change, is one that generates fierce debate and great interest. Voting will collect the viewers’ direct feedback to climate change coverage by broadcasters in different parts of the world.
The short list will be available to view on major online viewing platforms in the next two weeks as well as on the AIBs website (theaibs.tv). The AIBs site will also have a page) with 2 minute highlights from each short listed entry with buttons to register and vote. In addition the page will have links to allow voters to comment on the entries and share their views on major social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Visitors to the AIBs website who register by Monday 20th September will be invited to a Première viewing allowing them one day to view and vote for the short listed entries before general voting begins.
Because the quality of entries to the award was so high, the AIB is also making available to view four other entries that come from CNN International, Deutsche Welle, France24 and Voice of America. They are already available on the aiblondon channel of YouTube as well as embedded on the AIBs website.
The Peoples Choice is one of 16 categories at the 2010 AIBs, the international media awards. Full details of the award categories, judging and information on the awards ceremony can be found on theaibs.tv.
The 2010 AIBs are sponsored by: 1GOAL (Education for All), ADB (Advanced Digital Broadcast), Bloomberg Television and Eurosport. The 2010 AIBs will be presented at a gala evening in London on 9 November.
