3 May 2011
A major distribution agreement signed with ‘La 10’ opens euronews to over 17
million homes in Spain. ‘La 10’ is a national digital channel operated by
Vocento, Spain’s #1 communications group, which also produces the national daily ABC.
17 million Spanish homes will be able to watch euronews on ‘La 10’ for one and a half hours every day starting Friday 29 April. From Monday to Friday the international news channel will be broadcast three times a day: from 7.00 to 7.30, 9.00 to 9.30 and 14.30 to 15.00 and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10.00 to 10.30, 14.30 to 15.00 and 01.00 to 01.30.
With euronews, viewers of ‘La 10’ will be able to follow international news from a pan-European perspective. Every broadcast on ‘La 10′ will include a European and world weather bulletin as well as euronews’ emblematic programme: ‘No Comment’, the day’s headlines presented in images and without comment.
Thanks to this agreement, euronews will increase its presence in Spain (where it is already available on every paying television platform) and open a new door to national digital terrestrial television for free at a time when international news is making big headlines.
This agreement was signed shortly after and extensively covered press conference in Madrid on 8 February 2011 during which euronews revealed a number of changes, including the opening of its international news correspondent offices, a new and improved programme schedule and the arrival of some well-known presenters.
3 May 2011
More than 700 television networks worldwide received live coverage of the Royal wedding through Associated Press Television News (APTN).
APTN was the first news agency to offer a worldwide High Definition (HD) live broadcast of the event, marking a new era in international news distribution.
A full 10 hours of High Definition coverage was delivered to news channels on a network of specially-leased satellites.
Since Monday, the groundbreaking live news service APTN Direct has delivered more than 53 hours of live coverage from Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and the Goring hotel, culminating in Fridays ceremony and long-awaited kiss on the balcony.
The ceremony capped months of comprehensive coverage, with APTN producing more than 85 stories on the approaching wedding since February.
APTN clients received a further 35 wedding edits on Friday alone, capturing the event from every angle, with exclusive analysis from AP Royal Consultant Jennie Bond.
The Royal wedding is a truly momentous event in the history of the monarchy, and I am thrilled to have been part of it.
In addition to APTNs record-breaking global output, APs Global Media Services (GMS), provided 65 international broadcasters, including Al Jazeera and CCTV English, with operational support and facilities comprising:
21,000 minutes of live reports and anchoring for GMS’ international broadcast customers
10 kilometres of fibre-optic cable transmitting in all world standards
20 camera positions along the procession route and a live high definition signal from UK news partner Sky News with many more cameras for the big occasion
Five specially-built dedicated transmission booths in front of Buckingham Palace
Five permanent studios at New Zealand House, midway between the Palace and Westminster Abbey
30 different satellite channels spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Middle East
125 telephone, ISDN and DSL lines
3 May 2011
The Director-General of Deutsche Welle, Erik Bettermann, pointed out that authoritarian and despot regimes are increasingly eradicating the freedom of the Internet. To mark World Press Freedom Day (May 3) he told an event in Brussels that in some regions of the world the free exchange of information and opinions for Internet bloggers and people using social networks can be dangerous.
Technical aids make it possible to trace the origin of even anonymous expressions of opinion and to take action against different-minded people. The Internet is no longer an instrument for dissidents and activists, but also for dictators, said the Director-General.
State-run organizations in the Arab World and in China use it to keep them in line and cut off from the outside world. In China the digital wall has downgraded the Internet to a national intranet. It is used to choke the creation of a counter public. The measures make it difficult to get information about China. For example, search requests from abroad are censored in China or do not lead anywhere. This influences our perception of China in the West. There seems to be a regular export of censorship expertise between China and other authoritarian regimes.
The Chinese government employs tens of thousands of paid bloggers with its so-called Five-Cent Party. They post articles in forums out of political conviction or for financial motives. Its hard to differentiate whether it is original or paid-for opinion. Foreign media have to be careful using such sources. Regarding the harsher measures being imposed on Chinese regime opponents, said Bettermann, the list of interview partners for the Chinese Service is getting shorter every day because of state repression.
The manipulation of the Internet is a huge challenge for journalism. It has to be incorporated in the apprenticeship and vocational training of journalists. The Web 2.0 and its opportunities and risks has become a key element of the DW-Akademie curriculum, said the Director-General.
Bettermann pointed out that the journalistic program of Deutsche Welle continues to be banned in key target regions. Since April broadcasts of the Amharic Service have again been jammed. Satellite broadcasts to Iran continue to be interrupted. In China, DW is strongly censored.
28 April 2011
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has selected award-winning broadcaster and communications executive David Ensor to serve as the next director of the Voice of America (VOA). VOA reaches an audience of 123 million people with unbiased news and information in 44 languages across multiple media platforms.
The democracy uprisings of the past two months have shown the critical importance of the free flow of credible information in empowering people around the world. The Voice of America has been pursuing this mission for seventy years by providing great journalism and a clear presentation of America and its policies, said Walter Isaacson, Chairman of the BBG which oversees all U.S. international broadcasting including the VOA. David Ensor is uniquely suited to lead VOA in fulfilling this dual mission. We are deeply honored that he would continue to be of service to journalism and to his country by following in the tradition of Edward R. Murrow and John Chancellor.
Ensor has been Director for Communications and Public Diplomacy of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan since January 2010 and will join VOA in June.
David Ensors unique experiences and skills make him a solid fit for this role, said Judith A. McHale, the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, who serves as Secretary of State Hillary Clintons representative to the BBG, and who oversaw Ensors work in Afghanistan. The State Department has been very fortunate to have David oversee our public diplomacy effort in Afghanistan, and we wish him well as he prepares to take the lead at VOA.
Ensor is a winner of a National Headliner Award and an Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist whose 32-year career in television and radio news included extensive reporting on international affairs. Ensor covered the demise of Communism in Russia and Poland, armed conflicts in Bosnia, Chechnya, El Salvador, and Afghanistan, and the U.S. response to the 9/11 attacks. He was CNNs National Security Correspondent and prior to that, an ABC News correspondent, with assignments in Washington, Moscow, Rome, and Warsaw. Ensor reported from Washington for National Public Radio covering foreign policy and defense issues.
In welcoming David Ensor, the BBG thanked retiring VOA Director Danforth Austin for his outstanding leadership. The Board recognized Austins role in improving VOA’s ability to engage with and grow audiences across multiple media platforms, integrating broadcast, online and social media while remaining steadfast to the principles of sound journalism enshrined in the VOA charter. Appointed to the post in October 2006, Austin has been one of the longest serving VOA directors.
Ensor is a member of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and is fluent in French. He received a B.A. with honors from the University of California, Berkeley. Ensor holds the Knights Cross awarded by the President of Poland.
28 April 2011
The Network is a brand new talk-show in debate format, presented by Chris Burns, an experienced journalist, a dual French-American and a European resident for the past 18 years.
The programme links 3 personalities with diverging opinions and points of view. Each guest answers questions on a current headline.
The Network is a short and straight-to-the-point debate around burning issues, produced in a 3D environment with a clear and uncompromising view of the story of the week, driven by Chris Burns energetic style, allowing each viewer to compare and form his or her own opinion.
The Network is a bi-monthly 8 talk-show programme broadcast throughout the week from Thursday to Monday, edited in 10 linguistic versions. Available 24/7 on euronews.net. This week: Portugal: time to declare bankruptcy? On air Thursday 14th April at 9:45PM Paris – 8:45PM London – 11:45PM Moscow – 3:45PM New York
Next issues Thursday 28th April, 12 May, 26th May
and following each two weeks
« The Network » is on-air alternaly with « I Talk », Alex Taylors new rendez-vous on euronews.
About Chris Burns : Chris Burns has been a print, TV and radio journalist for more than 25 years, including reporting for CNN, Bloomberg TV, France24 and Associated Press. Hes covered conflicts in the Balkans, Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan, politics at the White House and across Europe, global business and financial crises, earthquakes, volcanoes and other disasters, as well as cultural events including the Cannes and Berlin film festivals. Chris is French and American-born with dual citizenship, speaks five European languages (also German, Italian and Spanish) and has lived in Europe for more than 18 years in Paris, Rome, Berlin, Frankfurt and now Brussels. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy and French, and post-graduate studies in Europe.
