1 July 2014
In the age of big data, Google critics say online services come at the price of freedom. Opponents say old business models for journalism are being redefined by the Internet and the people who use it.
Mathias Döpfner, CEO of media publishing house Axel Springer SE and U.S. Internet expert Jeff Jarvis locked horns in the first main debate at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany. Döpfner says that people pay for seemingly free online services with their freedom, while Jarvis says he’s glad “that Google knows where I live.”
The “Media summit” on the first day of conference focused on the future of journalism and the role of international broadcasters. Also participating in the debate were Salah Negm, Director of News at Al Jazeera’s English channel, Jawhar Sircar, CEO of Indian public broadcaster Prasar Bharati and Peter Limbourg, Director General of Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle.
Jarvis accused Döpfner of calling for state funding to save the faltering business model of paid journalism, rather than concentrating on developing new ideas. In response, Döpfner said his publishing company had already changed radically, and that digital content generates two-thirds of the business’ profits. He said that Axel Springer SE wants to become a leading digital publisher. Speaking to an international audience that included many journalists, Jarvis pointed out that “It’s far too soon to know what the Internet is and that we should define it in analog of our ways in the past.”
In a keynote speech just prior to the panel discussion, Döpfner predicted that “a culture of paying for digital journalism will take root over the next few years. Content that is less valuable will continue to be free, content that is particularly relevant, exclusive or entertaining will be paid for.” He also said it was a misperception that people can access online content for free. “The services which are perceived to be free of charge have a much higher price than money. Those who pay with their behavior, pay in the end with their freedom.”
“My newspaper can’t do that”
According to Jarvis, anyone who wants to be successful online needs to be Google-oriented. Google isn’t a gatekeeper who decides what information reaches people, he said. “It is a platform that enables anyone and everyone to speak.” Jarvis also pointed out that Google has a strict service commitment to its users and the personalized online experience it is developing will be a big part of the future of journalism. “I am happy that Google knows where I live and where I work because I get relevant data back in return. My newspaper has no idea who I am and where I live and where I work and can’t give me relevance.”
Journalism is a mission, not a profession
Debate moderator Tim Sebastian pointed out that not only the business model of journalism faces insecurity, but that journalists themselves are too often in danger, citing the three Al Jazeera reporters sentenced to prison in Cairo without fair trial. On the topic of security for journalists, Salah Negm, called for more solidarity from the international journalism community. Negm said that for him, the future of journalism is less of a technical question. “The most important factor is trust,” he said, “and we have to earn that trust everyday and every minute. I would like to think of journalism not as a profession but as a mission.”
Peter Limbourg, Director General of Deutsche Welle agreed, adding that international broadcasters have a duty to stand up to their responsibility as information providers when national media outlets only show one side of a story. “I think it’s good that we have the Russians, the Chinese and the Gulf states in the market and they should come to us and they should bring their opinions,” he said, “but it’s a vice versa thing. Let me try to broadcast Deutsche Welle in Saudi Arabia. This would be a difficult thing. Let me try to go in and broadcast in China. Or let me go in and broadcast in Russia – everywhere with everything.”
International partners and co-hosts
DW’s national and international partners for the 2014 Global Media Forum include, among others, Amnesty International, Deutsche Telekom, the Grimme-Institut, NATO, the United Nations, the Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications and Voices of Africa.
The conference is co-hosted by the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse Savings Bank in Bonn. Support is also provided by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the City of Bonn. Cooperation partner is The Right Livelihood College Campus Bonn.
For more information about the conference, go to www.dwgmf.de
30 June 2014
Radio Sawa is giving fans access, anywhere and at any time, to the most popular radio network in the Middle East through the launch of the new Radio Sawa app. Owners of iPhones, iPads and Android phones and tablets will have instant access to Radio Sawa’s streams of breaking news, music, Radio Sawa programs and hourly news updates. Listeners can click here to download the Radio Sawa app.
Content and features available through the Radio Sawa app include:
- Live Broadcasts of Seven Streams – Listeners can tune in to one of Radio Sawa’s seven streams to listen to Western and Arabic music, newscasts and news updates twice an hour, andRadio Sawa’s information programs. The country and regional streams available include Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Gulf, Lebanon and Sudan.
- User Participation Through Sawa Chat – Listeners can now interact with Radio Sawa’s popular interactive feature Sawa Chat on their phones. The feature asks listeners a question about social issues, and phone users can immediately record their audio answers and upload them. In conjunction with the launch of the Radio Sawa app, the first Sawa Chat question will be this: What is the one thing in your country that needs to change and how would you change it?
- Ease of Use and Sharing Content – The app features gesture-based navigation via swiping and using graphics and photos without complicated menus. Original content, such as the “Have You Read This?” social news section can be easily shared with friends and colleagues on Facebook, Twitter and e-mail.
- On Demand Podcasts – Radio Sawa’s news and information programs such as Sawa Magazine and its hourly newscasts will be available for listeners to tune in when it is convenient for them. If they miss an episode, it takes just a click on the app to hear stories such as child labor in Jordan, the Syrian refugee crisis, the Iraqi government’s fight against ISIL and corruption in Lebanon.
- Continuous Audio Playing – Audiences can tune into Radio Sawa while using other apps. This new feature will provide continuous Radio Sawa audio while listeners are multi-tasking and using other apps on their phone.
The Radio Sawa app is produced in partnership with the Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of Digital & Design Innovation (ODDI).
“We are very excited that this app will fundamentally change the way people can listen to Radio Sawa,” stated Brian Conniff President of Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), which manages and operates Radio Sawa. “The new app allows listeners from across the region to have access Radio Sawa’s brand of accurate and objective news in a way that is easy for them. This is especially important in countries where Radio Sawa does not have an FM transmitter.”
“We joined forces with MBN to design and build an app unlike any in the Arab market,” said Will Sullivan, Director of Mobile for the BBG’s Office of Digital & Design Innovation. “We focused on building a gorgeously designed, touch-driven, mobile-only application which played to the huge popularity of streaming radio on smartphone devices.”
Radio Sawa is an Arabic-language radio network that broadcasts music and news 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with more than 370 newscasts per week. Newscasts range in length from 30-minute in-depth reports (including interviews and analysis) to 90-second headline reports. Radio Sawa’s flexible format permits the station to respond quickly to developing news events and expand both newscasts and live coverage as required. According to international research firms, Radio Sawa has a weekly reach of more than 11 million people.
In addition to Radio Sawa, MBN also operates and manages Alhurra Television. MBN is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency. The BBG provides oversight and serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters.
The BBG’s Office of Digital & Design Innovation (ODDI) builds the solutions to the biggest digital challenges faced by U.S. international media. ODDI works with technology to improve US international news media by creating new ways for journalists to reach their critical audiences and understand the audience from a technology standpoint. The ODDI Mobile team’s previous apps have been internationally-recognized for their innovation by being selected as finalists for the 2014 GSMA Global Mobile Awards “Best Mobile Publishing Product or Service” and the 2014 Appy Award for “Best Multicultural App.” (Source: Press release)
23 June 2014
Intelsat S.A., a leading provider of satellite services, and Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., a worldwide leader in satellite networking technology, solutions and services, today announced a multi-year, multi-transponder agreement under which Gilat Colombia will use Intelsat Ku-band capacity on Intelsat 907 at 332.5° East to support the Kioscos Vive Digital 2 (KVDII) project.
KDVII provides connectivity to rural communities and schools in six regions within the framework of the Colombian Ministry’s national Kioscos Phase 2/VIVE DIGITAL project. Gilat’s SkyEdge II WebEnhance was chosen to be used in four of these, including the regions serviced by Gilat Colombia. Under the agreement between the companies, Gilat Colombia will use Intelsat’s satellite services for the three year initiative. As part of the project, Gilat will integrate its SkyEdge II WebEnhance data networking platform with Intelsat’s satellite services to provide internet connectivity to 1,903 kiosks within rural communities located in Colombia.
“Satellite continues to provide critical broadband infrastructure to regions where terrestrial technologies are not cost-effective or are unreliable or impossible to use given geographies,” said Carmen Gonzalez-Sanfeliu, Intelsat’s Regional Vice President, Latin America. “Gilat’s high-performing and efficient technology combined with Intelsat’s flexible and high-performing satellite services closes that divide and delivers essential internet connectivity and telephony to children and adults in communities across Colombia. The KVDII project is a great example of how the satellite community works together to provide the necessary connectivity to aid in the educational and economic development of fast growing economies, such as Colombia.”
“We have had a long and successful history of partnering with Intelsat to deliver broadband connectivity in some of the remotest regions of the world,” stated Danny Fridman, CEO of Gilat Colombia and Peru “The quality, flexibility and reliability of their satellite fleet and willingness to reposition the Intelsat 907 spot beam to help us deliver the internet to communities in Colombia made them the best partner to help support our efforts with the KVDII initiative.”
About Kioscos VIVE Digital
Kioscos VIVE Digital is an initiative of the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications which aims to provide community Internet access points to 100% of the population centers of more than 100 people, by 2014. The project is focused on rural areas and remote locations as part of the aim to achieve digital inclusion of children, youth and adults of all ages. www.intelsat.com.
19 June 2014
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today told participating States that events in Ukraine pose a great threat to media freedom and free expression across the OSCE region.
“I ask for all the parties involved to show some modicum of restraint and respect for the fundamental values of free media and make democracy and civilized society work,” Mijatović said while presenting her semi-annual report to the Permanent Council.
“At the end of the day, there’s no more effective way to restrict free media, free expression and the free flow of information than resorting to physical and emotional violence and threats of violence against members of the media. And since the beginning of the Maidan demonstrations there figuratively has been a tide of violence perpetrated against members of the media,” she said.
During her presentation Mijatović said that four journalists had been killed since the conflict in Ukraine began and that countless others had been assaulted physically and emotionally. She said she had intervened about 120 times throughout the OSCE region to defend the rights to free expression and free media since the Representative’s last regular report in November, often connected to the backsliding of journalists’ rights in some participating States.
“The work of my Office will not slow down. It is my mandate to bring information to you on media violations in all countries. The issues at stake in Ukraine are central to the issues of free media and free expression across the entire OSCE region and they have my full attention,” Mijatović told the Permanent Council.
Mijatović pointed to some bright spots in the media landscape in the OSCE region since her last report, including the co-operation between her office and participating States on good-faith efforts to adopt legal regimes beneficial to free media, and training events organized by her office for journalists, government officials and law enforcement officers on central media freedom issues.
“Too many nations around the world know that, like democracy, free media and free speech do not come naturally and cannot be taken for granted. They must be constantly justified, reaffirmed and strengthened. That is the reason why the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media was created and what the Organization must consider in order to make sure it functions properly and professionally in carrying out the mission,” Mijatović said.
The report to the Permanent Council is available at www.osce.org/fom/119957
The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media observes media developments in all 57 OSCE participating States. She provides early warning on violations of freedom of expression and media freedom and promotes full compliance with OSCE media freedom commitments. Learn more at www.osce.org/fom, Twitter: @OSCE_RFoM and on facebook.com/osce.rfom.
19 June 2014
Channel NewsAsia has launched a nation-wide school competition – Days of Rage – Digital Media Competition. The competition, a collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Student Development Curriculum Division, is held from end May 2014 as part of efforts to celebrate Singapore’s 50th year of independence in 2015.
Students from various institutions in Singapore are invited to create a video based on themes and characters seen in the channel’s highly acclaimed series, Days of Rage. Entries should show how one key character featured in the Days of Rage programme would act in today’s context, and the impact it could have on the community.
The 5-part series was first telecast on the channel from January 2014, and the adapted versions in Chinese, Malay and Tamil were subsequently shown on the respective MediaCorp mass entertainment channels. Vice President of International Productions at Channel NewsAsia Network Programming and Promotions, Ms Mok Choy Lin, says, “Days of Rage is one of our top notch documentary programmes that has been very well received from all quarters since it was first telecast. Shot with some of the highest production values, it is not only very entertaining as a TV programme, but historically instructive as well. The Ministry of Education has found the series useful in educating the youths about Singapore’s History and we want to use it to kindle interest among the young about the iconic moments in Singapore’s past and to stimulate thought on some of the events and issues. We are also planning an encore telecast of the series from 1st July 2014.”
The competition is open to all secondary school, Junior College, ITE and Polytechnic students and deadline for submission is end July. The winning entry will win a cash prize of S$1,000 and will be showcased on the Days of Rage microsite on channelnewsasia.com. (Source: Press release)
