1 May 2013
The Broadcasting Board of Governors today announced a new strategic partnership with leading audio platform SoundCloud, adding hundreds of hours of audio programming weekly for users to access worldwide. The move is expected to expand the BBG’s online audience by introducing its radio broadcasts to a new, widely-available mobile platform and to content-sharing through social media.
“Audio programming is the lifeblood of our broadcasters’ connection to much of their worldwide audiences,” said Syndication Product Lead Addie Nascimento with the BBG’s Office of Digital and Design Innovation. “Reinventing that experience through the SoundCloud platform and allowing for audio to become a social experience will revitalize our audio content in a powerful way.”
From Khmer to Kurdish, content in more than 40 languages from all five broadcasters of the BBG will be made available through the platform. Each of the broadcasters has multiple accounts based on the language services it provides, and there is flexibility to add more accounts based on user demand.
Users will be able to find BBG content by searching SoundCloud for either their favourite program or a broadcaster’s name. Listeners will also be able to connect directly on SoundCloud’s waveform with other users who share similar interests.
SoundCloud provides an easy way to share audio programming on the web, as it lets users distribute content seamlessly across numerous social channels. BBG content uploaded to SoundCloud may be posted to Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler and Pinterest, appearing on the user’s profiles via SoundCloud’s HTML5 widget, thereby increasing audience reach for the BBG.
“SoundCloud is thrilled to be working with BBG to share their expansive, multi-lingual content across the web,” said SoundCloud Head of Audio Manolo Espinosa. “Collaborating with the BBG enriches our community with their global audio programming and offers an opportunity for the BBG to expand their online growth and secure new listeners.”
The partnership between the BBG and SoundCloud provides more comprehensive access than an individual membership would in order for BBG to centrally manage multiple language profiles, through automated feeds or manual uploads.
SoundCloud is available as an app for both iOS and Android, and is available online at www.soundcloud.com.
29 April 2013
Following the appointment of Laurent-Eric Le Lay as Chief Executive Officer of TF1 Publicité, the new leadership has been announced with Philippe Denery as Chairman and Jean-Thierry Augustin as Chief Executive Officer of the Eurosport group promoted from his position of Managing Director, Distribution, Rights Acquisition & Development. Philippe Denery will remain Executive Vice President of TF1 Group Finances.
This organisational change is part of the TF1 group’s ambition to enable Eurosport to continue developing, particularly as part of the partnership agreements signed with Discovery Communications.
26 April 2013
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reports persistent campaigns of intimidation against two of its Radio Azadliq journalists, Khadija Ismayilova and Yafez Hasanov, in retaliation for their reporting. The threats to these Azerbaijan Service reporters come days before a UN-mandated review of Azerbaijan’s human rights performance and months ahead of presidential elections that President Ilham Aliyev has pledged will be free and fair.
In a return to the defamation tactics that targeted Ismayilova in March 2012, on April 25 a pro-government website posted a pornographic video that was fabricated to portray Ismayilova engaging in sexual acts. Ismayilova’s investigative reports for RFE/RL, which earned her the 2012 International Women’s Media Foundation’s “Courage in Journalism” award, have implicated the president’s family in financial activities and arrangements worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Over the past two weeks, Hasanov, who was abducted and threatened in Naxichivan in August 2011 following his investigation into the death of Turac Zeynalov and who was threatened by text, email and social media in November 2012, has been targeted in new incidents that he believes are intended to silence him.
On April 4, a package was sent to Hasanov’s home with documents that suggested he was having illicit relationships with several women. Soon after, Hasanov received a call from a man who identified himself as an agent of the Naxichivani Ministry of National Security (MNS), who recited orders from Naxichivani regional governor Vasif Talibov to cooperate with MNS. The caller also warned that if Hasanov reported on Naxichivan again he would be “exposed” and his life and the lives of his family members would be in danger. On April 19, the pro-government Internet TV station “Ses” aired recordings of cellphone conversations between Hasanov and residents of Naxichivan that Azerbaijan’s Media Rights Institution told the website contact.az could only have been obtained from the country’s security services.
In addition, three close relatives of Radio Azadliq’s Baku Bureau Chief Babek Bagirov were dismissed from their jobs on April 11, an act Bagirov said was reprisal for his work and as an effort to intimidate him and other bureau employees.
Azerbaijan Service Director Kenan Aliyev called these latest attacks shameful and said, “An attack against Khadija and Yafez and any of our journalists is an attack against the entire Radio Azadliq staff and an attack against all independent voices in Azerbaijan. ”
“These are actions of a deliberate and serious nature that the Azeri authorities must take very seriously, especially since many directly or indirectly suggest the involvement or endorsement of official Azeri entities and agents,” said Kevin Klose, Acting President and CEO of RFE/RL. “Yafez and Khadija are exercising their rights and professional duties as journalists and, as a journalists, their well-being is a matter of public and societal concern. I urge the Azeri authorities and President Aliyev personally to take steps immediately to stop the threats.”
Naxichivan, an Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, is an exclave bordered by Iran to the west and Armenia to the east, and Radio Azadliq is one of the only media organizations reporting on the region.
Azerbaijan will hold presidential elections in October in which President Ilham Aliyev will run for a third consecutive term. A joint statement issued in March by the Committee to Protect Journalists and leading international press freedom and human rights groups condemns the recent imprisonment of at least seven journalists in Azerbaijan, criticizes recent government attempts to restrict local press freedom groups and on-line expression and warns that such a crackdown threatens the integrity of the October polls.
Freedom House characterizes Azerbaijan as “not free” and ranked it 172 out of 197 countries surveyed in its 2012 Freedom of the Press Index. The Reporters Without Borders 2013 Press Freedom Index placedAzerbaijan at 156 on a scale of 179 countries.
23 April 2013
Since Friday, when alleged Boston Marathon bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokar Tsarnaev were identified as ethnic Chechens, there has been a surge in interest in Chechnya, the North Caucasusand their potential links to Islamic extremists in the region. Unfortunately, some of this interest has played off of misinformation and stereotypes.
Aslan Doukaev, RFE/RL’s North Caucasus Service director and himself an ethnic Chechen, will respond to questions and comments about the two brothers and their ancestral homeland during an “Ask Me Anything” today at 11:00AM EST / 5:00PM CET on Reddit.
