4 May 2010
Al Jazeera Childrens Channel (JCC) has signed an agreement with Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing (BQFP), Qatars first publishing house, to publish a series of books inspired by the Channels most popular programs and educational characters. The Fafa book series based on JCCs famous Baraem character will be the first to be launched. The series of books will be distributed by BQFP in Qatar, across the Arab region, and in international markets.
This step comes as part of the channels strategy to further expand Baraems reach to more pre-school children and to generate more interactivity and family engagement. By collaborating with BQFP and drawing on their publishing expertise, the Channel aims to produce a creative and educational book series that will appeal to young children and create a passion for reading.
Further agreements with leading Arab and international publishers are in the pipeline. This project comes as JCC pledges to enrich the lives of Arab children by promoting reading and helping them develop their creative and learning abilities.
JCCs Executive General Manager, Mahmoud Bouneb said: We strive to diversify our communication tools with children to achieve the highest and most effective reach. There is a major readership deficit in the Arab world nowadays. Therefore, we have taken this initiative in order to provide appealing and vivid content for children in their formative years and play a key role in the rise of an avid readers generation. We are also hoping to assist parents involved in their childrens reading activities.
Amira Abed, Education Program Developer at Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing said: We at BQFP are delighted to work on this new childrens book series with JCC. Fafa in recent years has gained unmatched popularity to become one of the most popular characters developed specifically for pre-school children in the Arab world.
Award-winning author Sally Grindley will write this series of books basing her characters on Fafa and her friends and bringing in new adventurous plots that children just love. Illustrator Sirine Matta has created delightful versions of the characters for the printed page. I think fans of Fafa will be delighted with this new series. The books will be released in Arabic and English editions at the same time later this year.
4 May 2010
Nepal’s Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar, tells VOA he is willing to resign if “it’s better” to aid the peace process in his country.
Kumar spoke exclusively to VOA Correspondent Steve Herman aboard a commercial flight taking him to Kathmandu.
Nepal’s government has been under growing pressure from former Maoist rebels, who won national elections in 2008, but quit the government last year over terms of a peace agreement.
Kumar told Correspondent Herman he is willing to leave his post if it will help expedite the peace process in Nepal, including the drafting of a new constitution, which is mandated by May 28th.
Mr. Kumar said: “If someone comes forward and there’s an understanding over any questions then it’s better that there be a national consensus government involving all the people.”
Thousands of Maoist supporters are now in the capital preparing for a May Day protest that the former rebels promise will be peaceful.
The decade-long civil war in Nepal ended in 2006 with a peace agreement that brought the Maoists into the political mainstream, leading to the formation of a democratic republic and the toppling of the country’s 250-year old monarchy.
A full report on Mr. Kumar’s interview is being broadcast on the Voice of America and can be found on the VOA website: www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Nepals-Prime-Minister-tells-VOA-of-Willingness-to-Resign-92490009.html.
4 May 2010
Members of the audiovisual archive trade body, FOCAL International have voted AP Archive Footage Library of the Year at its annual awards event in Central London.
The award was presented by the prominent film producer and patron of FOCAL International, Lord Puttnam in front of 500 figures from the audiovisual production sector. Now in their seventh year, the FOCAL International Awards celebrate the best use of archive material across all production sectors with footage users being allowed to vote for who they believe to be the best supplier out of over 50 footage libraries.
APs Director of International Archives, Alwyn Lindsey accepted the award for AP Archive at the event held in the Royal Lancaster Hotel on April 27th. Speaking of APs win, Lindsey commented, This award means a great deal to us and is a great reward for all of the hard work that our team puts in every day. Its a great thrill to get this recognition especially as the award is given by customers theres no better endorsement than that.
AP Archive was also nominated in the category of Best Restoration & Preservation Project for its ongoing work in restoring the 3,500 hours of the lost United Press International Television News (UPITN) archive. That award was given to restoration of Michael Powells 1948 classic film, The Red Shoes, and was accepted by the film director Martin Scorsese.
29 April 2010
WRN is adopting a new brand identity – from 29 April 2010 the company will be knows as WRN Broadcast.
The change of company name reflects last year’s acquisition of TSI Broadcast and the integration of the two companies is now complete. WRN Broadcast’s technical facilities have been rebuilt and the new Media Centre represents one of the finest state-of-the-art ingest and playout centres in Europe. Not only has this resulted in an increased range of broadcast services but technical staffing levels have doubled as the company continues to invest in service delivery for clients.
28 April 2010
Support services company VT Group, which transmits the BBC World Service, has been presented with the Professional Services Award at this year’s BBC Global News Reith Awards for its exceptional effort in protecting the BBC Asia relay station in Thailand from severe flooding and maintaining transmission.
The site, located in the Nakhon Sawan province in Northern Thailand, is owned by the BBC and operated by 29 VT Group staff.
The building faced major damage and the staff were also in danger after extreme rainfall in the region caused authorities to divert flood waters from dams to protect the population of Bangkok and other urban areas.
However, as a result, the transmitting station was in the direct path of the diverted flood waters and desperate action was needed to protect the site and staff. Hundreds of tons of sand were packed into bags to protect site buildings and inside doors were sealed and additional barriers erected.
Once the flood waters began to rise there was nothing more staff could do as the site was breached and eventually the safety of the equipment was compromised. There was no alternative but to cease all broadcasts and to find alternative ways to transmit in appropriate quality.
The decision to close the site triggered the VT planned emergency response. Within 30 minutes, all on-air transmissions had been placed at alternative VT transmitting stations.
Site staff even enlisted the help of the Thai army who worked with volunteer staff to reinforce the sand-bag wall, operate the pumps and control water ingress. The building stood secure and essential power was maintained until the waters subsided and a clean-up plan was put in place, using local staff to ensure a cost-effective and efficient solution.
Subsequent work upgraded flood defences, including the re-design and re-laying of drains around the station to control any ingress of water better, strengthening the perimeter wall and raising the height of equipment in the antenna field.
VT Group General Manager Communications John Prior explained: Inspirational leadership and great teamwork avoided a potential disaster. Although there was a threat to the homes of many staff, they remained on site to lead the efforts there. If the water had entered the building, it would have affected the equipment. BBC transmissions from the site would have been off air for months and the financial costs of repair would have been enormous. The response of the staff was really beyond the call of duty.
Nigel Fry, Head of Transmission and Distribution in the BBC World Service said the tremendous effort of the VT Group staff has been recognised with this award. The response is a great reflection on the relationship that we have with the VT Group team.
In recognition of the help offered by local teams, VT and the BBC made financial and other aid donations to the local flood aid centre for distribution to the neighbouring population.
