31 October 2013
Deutsche Welle (DW) Director General Peter Limbourg has announced a structural reform aimed at making the broadcaster more internationally competitive. The reform will involve staff changes.
On November 1, 2013, Deutsche Welle will combine its two programming departments in Bonn and Berlin under a single director, a post Gerda Meuer was appointed to fill. Meuer (54) is currently in charge of the DW Akademie, Germany’s leading international media development organization. Current Director of Regionalized Content Christian Gramsch (53) will take over as director of DW Akademie. Director of Global Content Christoph Lanz (53) will be leaving DW on Oktober 31, 2013. In a meeting on Wednesday (30.10.2013), Deutsche Welle’s Administrative Board unanimously approved the structural reforms and personnel appointments in agreement with the chairman of the Broadcasting Board.
Director General Limbourg said that with a view to media convergence and increasing challenges in international media markets, DW must streamline its programming. Structural obstacles have to be set aside “in order to provide the best content for our users worldwide,” he added. “Our goal is to further optimize our journalistic content, to give journalists more creative freedom and flexibility and to bring our two broadcasting centers closer together.”Limbourg also noted that restructuring is part of DW’s implementation of a relevant board decision.
Apart from having extensive experience in international journalism, Limbourg said that Gerda Meuer has showcased her management skills by successfully developing the DW Akademie. Her new challenge will involve coordinating the integration of DW’s two programming departments, while reorganizing journalistic work to span the two broadcasting centers as well as a variety of media formats.
The director general said that Christian Gramsch will draw on his experience as a director of multimedia content in his new position at DW Akademie. Gramsch will increase the institution’s focus on the demands of working with varied types of media, Limbourg said. In the last few years, Gramsch has successfully integrated editorial departments for radio and online content and has promoted the production of television magazines at DW in Bonn. He also has years of experience training young journalists, the director general noted.
Peter Limbourg also thanked outgoing Director of Global Content Christoph Lanz “for his many years of excellent work,” adding that as the head of Deutsche Welle’s television division, Lanz has been instrumental in developing and expanding Germany’s international TV broadcasting since 1992. “Particularly pivotal moments in his work were the introduction of Arabic television programming in 2002, along with the structural reforms of 2012 and the expansion of Spanish-language television programming. These reforms significantly contributed to DW’s successful positioning in international media markets and to perceptions of Germany worldwide,” said Limbourg.
In order to facilitate the merger of DW’s two programming departments, Limbourg has established a Change Team, which, along with Deutsche Welle staff members, will help oversee the changes taking place in the coming months.
24 October 2013
As a new member joined its ranks, the Broadcasting Board of Governors today announced a series of restructuring efforts to improve the way the bipartisan board operates.
“The work this agency does is vital, and we must do everything in our power to make sure we as a Board are doing the best we can – not only for our employees, but for the millions of people who depend on the news and information our networks provide,” said the Board’s chair, Jeff Shell.
Shell introduced and welcomed to the Board Kenneth Weinstein, who was confirmed by the Senate in September and sworn in on October 18. He also welcomed Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Douglas Frantz, who was designated by Secretary of State John Kerry – a BBG board member – to represent him at today’s meeting.
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| Governors Weinstein and Crocker at the Oct 23 meeting of the BBG |
Among the changes that the Board adopted is a simplified structure that includes an Advisory Committee and special committees focused on specific strategic issues. Two such special committees were immediately established – one dedicated to defining the responsibilities of and initiating a search for a Chief Executive Officer of U.S. international broadcasting and another to examining the efficacy of shortwave radio transmissions. The Advisory Committee is made up of Governors Shell, Armstrong, Meehan and Weinstein. Governors Shell, Armstrong, McCue, and Weinstein will serve on the Special Committee on the Creation of a CEO, while Governors Armstrong, Crocker, Meehan, and Weinstein now constitute the Special Committee on Shortwave Broadcasting.
With this meeting, the Board began using a consent agenda to adopt items of business that are non-controversial or routine. From now on, Board members will consider and vote on items of business as a group, though any member can request that an agenda item be considered separately. The use of the consent agenda, as well as a revised Board travel policy that was also adopted, were among the recommendations of the Office of Inspector General in its January 2013 inspection report.
The Board also announced the selection of Paul Kollmer-Dorsey as the agency’s General Counsel. Kollmer-Dorsey joined the BBG as Deputy General Counsel and Acting General Counsel in June 2009. Prior to joining BBG, he served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Global Relief Technologies and worked for a dozen years in the international satellite communications industry. He earned his law degree from the Stanford School of Law.
And after three years with the BBG and decades of distinguished public and private sector service, International Broadcasting Bureau Director Richard Lobo announced his retirement, effective on November 30. Board members expressed their gratitude for his service and leadership during a period of budgetary challenges.
“The agency and, in fact, the country owes Dick a debt of gratitude for what he did at the IBB,” Shell said. “Dick was instrumental in developing the proposal for establishing a CEO to streamline the agency as well as leadership of the IBB during a challenging period of uncertainty and tightening budgets.”
Lobo thanked Shell and the other Board members and read from the letter he had just sent to President Barack Obama: “The proposed implementation of the plan, which I helped formulate, to create the position of CEO and to subsequently abolish the IBB Director’s position creates the ideal time for me to step aside. After more than five decades in broadcasting, I intend to retire and return to my native state of Florida.”
Turning to the latest events affecting U.S. international media, Shell acknowledged the hard work and sacrifice required of BBG employees during the partial government shutdown that ended on Oct. 17. Despite the furloughing of approximately 40 percent of the agency’s federal workforce, programs were produced and distributed around the world uninterrupted.
In addition to the administrative challenges of operating during the shutdown, Shell took time to acknowledge how in recent months, journalists across the BBG’s broadcast regions have been harassed, threatened, and wrongly detained as a result of their work.
The simple act of reporting on public demonstrations or events has brought physical attacks on a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reporter and a Voice of America (VOA) reporter in Herat province of Afghanistan, the detainment and release of correspondents for RFE/RL in Astana and in Minsk, and the arrest and beating of a VOA correspondent in Angola.
In Iran, officials have continued harassment against VOA and Radio Farda journalists and their families, and in an attempt to intimidate the press and control coverage of elections, Azerbaijan’s ruling political party has targeted RFE/RL and VOA broadcasts with complaints of illegal electioneering.
The Board also called for the immediate release of Alhurra TV reporter Bashar Fahmi as well as other journalists being held incommunicado in Syria. Fahmi has not been seen or heard from since he went missing while reporting in Aleppo, Syria in August 2012.
“The people who make up this agency are some of the most dedicated, courageous and selfless people I have ever known,” Shell concluded. “No hardship, whether it is a partial government shutdown, or unjust incarceration can stop the good work of our workforce. And for that we thank you.”
The Board paused to pay tribute to two distinguished colleagues who recently passed away – Jack Payton, an esteemed and accomplished newsman and senior editor at VOA, and Dave Strawman, recently retired manager of the BBG transmitting station in Tinang, the Philippines.
23 October 2013
BBC Global News announced today a new partnership with Twitter Amplify, the social broadcast network service’s innovative video promotion tool. This is the first Twitter Amplify partnership with a global news broadcaster.
“This new collaboration harnesses our global reach and newsgathering capabilities to bring our advertising partners clever and impressive products,” said James Montgomery, Director of Digital & Technology at BBC Global News Ltd. “Building on the efforts of BBC America’s partnership with Twitter, we’re thrilled to bring our ad partners with us at the cutting edge of news.”
BBC Global News will provide the global Twitter community timely in-Tweet video clips that complement its global newsgathering operation. This partnership offers BBC Global News and its future brand partners an integrated cross-platform tool to reach new audiences on Twitter. BBC Global News operates BBC World Service radio, BBC World News television, and bbc.com/news outside the UK.
“What makes this partnership exciting is the amazing content Twitter users will get from BBC Global News, no matter where they are in the world,” said Glenn Brown, Senior Director of Twitter Amplify. “We look forward to working with BBC Global News to bring these programmes to market.”
BBC.com has already begun production of a new in-Tweet broadcast, #BBCTrending, a new series of innovative short form video broadcasts that will be presented by Anne-Marie Tomchak (@AMTomchak) and will launch later this autumn. The broadcast will give users the inside story behind the latest trending phenomena on social media that day. #BBCTrending is distributed to the 4.8 million followers of the BBC international news Twitter handle, @BBCWorld, and will be enhanced by Twitter Amplify.
#BBCTrending will incorporate three key elements: 1) the BBC’s international social media reach and 24-hour video production operation 2) the BBC’s global newsgathering and monitoring operations, which provide both round the clock news reporting and monitoring of global TV, radio, press, internet and news agency sources, and 3) Twitter Amplify’s innovative real-time video promotion tool.
“Being a part of this new project is thrilling,” said Tomchak. As the face of #BBCTrending, Tomchak will be working with production units across the BBC to identify and build compelling conversations on what’s trending around the world. During Tomchak’s tenure with the BBC, she’s worked on both sides of the camera from producing the flagship interview show HARDtalk to presenting The World’s Newsroom live on the BBC’s international television channel BBC World News. “On Trending, we’re tapping the most powerful internal insight tools and the massive BBC international newsgathering and language operations to decipher why and how trends are happening on social media around the world.”
In April, BBC America signed a similar deal with Twitter Amplify to offer the first in-Tweet branded video synced to hit series, including Top Gear.
18 October 2013
Eurosport Group has agreed a new long term partnership with MotorSport Vision (MSV), rights holders of the MCE British Superbike Championship, to extend their deal past its original 2015 term to the end of the 2020 season. The deal renews exclusive TV and digital worldwide rights for coverage of all rounds of the MCE British Superbike Championship (BSB) live and in HD in all Eurosport’s markets*.
The new agreement increases live coverage of the premier and support classes in the UK specifically, extending to Saturday’s qualifying sessions which will see both the established three stage MCE BSB knockout qualifying and the Motorpoint British Supersport sprint race broadcast live and in HD.
British Eurosport Managing Director David Kerr said, “MCE British Superbikes continues to be one of the strongest set of rights on the channel, so extending the term of the deal and adding even more depth to our coverage is fantastic news.
“Working with a dynamic rights holder like MSV allows us to go beyond the traditional broadcaster relationship and spend time discussing what we can do together in the best interests of BSB.
“Extending the term of our agreement means we can take a much longer term view and invest in more live programming that will deliver premium quality content for our viewers and will raise the profile of BSB and the other series even further.”
Stuart Higgs, Series Director of MCE British Superbikes said, “Eurosport is well known as the Home of Bikes particularly in the UK and MCE BSB has been the cornerstone of that programming for some time. They understand bike racing and the series, have a strong, growing and loyal viewing audience and they understand how we want the series to grow.
“In addition, being part of the Eurosport family means we now have a far wider global distribution, including the USA through Discovery Velocity. Overseas markets are a key consideration for us and it is an area we want to grow over the term of this deal.”
British Eurosport will continue to cover every race of the MCE BSB series live and in HD until the end of the 2020 season, but will now add live HD coverage of MCE BSB qualifying and the Motorpoint British Supersport sprint race on Saturdays (except when races are held on Bank Holiday Monday, in which case qualifying and the sprint race will be on Sunday).
Coverage of the MCE British Superbike Championship continues on British Eurosport this weekend as part of ‘Superbike Sunday’ with nearly nine hours of live motorcycle racing, including coverage from the final rounds at Brands Hatch, with just one point separating leader and reigning champion Shane Byrne from his closest challenger Alex Lowes. Coverage starts at 0915 on British Eurosport 2 HD.
* Eurosport broadcasts in 54 countries in Europe and 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region
18 October 2013
Kenneth Weinstein was sworn in today as the newest member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent federal agency that oversees all US government-supported civilian media. On September 23, the Senate unanimously approved the President’s nomination of Weinstein to the board.
“The work of the BBG has never been as important as it is today given the increasingly complex geopolitical climate, multifaceted media environments, and a growing threat to human rights around the world,” Weinstein said shortly after being sworn in. “The work this organization does on a daily basis is impressive, and I am honored and humbled to become a part of such a great operation.”
“We are proud to have Ken Weinstein joining our ranks,” said Jeff Shell, chairman of the BBG Board. “His deep experience in global affairs and public policy will be of great benefit to our oversight of U.S. international media.”
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Kenneth Weinstein
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Weinstein has served as President and CEO of the Hudson Institute since 2011 and has held several other positions in the organization since 1999, including Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Fellow, and Director of the Washington office. He also served as the Director of the Government Reform Project at the Heritage Foundation from 1996 to 1998. From 1994 to 1996, he was Director of Research at the New Citizenship Project. He served on the National Council of the Humanities from 2006 to 2012 and was appointed to the D.C. Advisory Board to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2010. Weinstein received a B.A. from the University of Chicago, an M.Phil. from the Institut d’ Études Politiques de Paris and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Weinstein succeeds former Governor Dennis Mulhaupt. He joins Shell and fellow board members Ryan Crocker, Matt Armstrong, Susan McCue, and Michael Meehan.
he Broadcasting Board of Governors is a bipartisan board appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate; the Secretary of State serves ex officio. The Board’s next public meeting is scheduled for October 23.
