Premium content from MBC GROUP’s Shahid exclusively onboard Emirates’ ice

29 June 2022

Premium content from MBC GROUP’s Shahid exclusively onboard Emirates’ ice

Emirates partners with Shahid, the world’s leading Arabic streaming platform, to offer premium content exclusively onboard its award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice.

Shahid is part of MBC GROUP, the largest and leading media company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

This partnership makes Emirates ice the only channel to offer access to highly popular titles by Shahid Originals, aside from the streaming service’s own premium-subscription online platform.

From July 2022, all Emirates customers can enjoy an extensive selection of over 135 hours of Shahid content from 15 shows with something to appeal to all members of the family. Programme subtitles also make the content accessible to an even bigger international audience onboard Emirates.

The newly added content from Shahid adds to the extensive collection of Arabic content already available on Emirates with over 420 channels of audio and 170 channels of films and TV shows.

In total, Emirates’ award-winning ice inflight entertainment system, with over 5,000 channels, offers an unmatched breadth of content in 40 languages to cater to its global customer base, with more than 4,000 hours of movies and TV, and close to 3,500 hours of music and podcasts.

Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Retail, IFE & Connectivity said: “We are excited to welcome the world’s leading Arabic streaming service content onboard – so passengers can catch up on all their favourite entertainment inflight, just as they do at home. We look forward to growing the partnership and making even more of their popular shows and movies available to our customers in the future.”

Natasha Matos-Hemingway, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer (VOD) at MBC GROUP added: “We are extremely proud to partner with Emirates, an award-winning airline who, like us, is always striving to give the best to their customers. Emirates is our first airline partner, and their global footprint enables us to reach viewers from many new markets and broaden the reach of our shows and brand – there is no better match for our ambitions.

“We are excited to offer Shahid’s content for Emirates’ customers to enjoy, just in time for the busiest travel season of the year.”

Shahid’s biggest original production Rashash, which has been hugely popular in the Arab region, will be streamed for the first time by an airline on-board Emirates. In addition, Emirates customers can enjoy a broad range of exclusive Shahid Original titles and other hit MBC GROUP titles including: Anbar 6, Hell’s Gate, Dor Al Omor, Nemra Etnein, Al Shak, Al Jedar Al Rabea, Rahn El Tahqiq, 2020, Bi Saraha Ma’a, Dofa’at Beirut, Aghani Min Hayati, Kaf w Dafoof, and Salon Zahra. Content originates from territories including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, Egypt, and Lebanon.

In addition to entertainment, Emirates ice offers a range of other practical features, such as checking the status of the flight while en route; a real-time view of the sky during take-off and landing from cameras that are fixed on the aircraft’s nose, tail and underbelly; a helpful travel guide about Emirates’ hub Dubai; EmiratesRED; the world’s first inflight TV shopping channel; and a range of personal development content including LinkedIn Learning.

Prior to their flight, Emirates customers can browse through over 5,000 channels of on-demand movies, music, TV shows, box sets, and documentaries, and create their very own playlist on The Emirates Mobile App, and sync it on board for a more personalised travel experience.

For more information, visit Emirates/inflight-entertainment

[Source: MBC press release]

VOA Spanish programmes win Gabriel, Chesapeake Bay Emmy Awards

29 June 2022

VOA Spanish programmes win Gabriel, Chesapeake Bay Emmy Awards

Voice of America’s Spanish broadcasting service won a first place 2022 CMA Gabriel Award in the Single Story – National Release: Radio – Spanish language category for its special radio feature “Impacto cambio climático en la sobrevivencia regional” (“Climate Change – Impact on Regional Survival”).

Supported by VOA Spanish correspondents in Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, senior editor Gioconda Tapia Reynolds, producers John Burnett and Héctor Contreras, and coordinator Judith Martin Rodriguez, explored the issue of climate change in four Central American nations seriously affected by natural disasters, including drought, hurricanes, storms and floods and their deadly effects on agricultural production.

“What an honor for the VOA Spanish service to win two such prestigious awards,” said Acting Latin America Division Director Sandra Thomas-Esquiv e l. “These two stories – so different, yet both so compelling – really showcase the depth and variety of quality program offerings VOA Spanish produces for its audiences.”

VOA’s Latin America division also received a 2021 National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter Emmy Award in the category of News Feature – Light Feature (Single Report and Multiple Reports). VOA Spanish TV reporter Iacopo Luzi won an Emmy for “Cuando las cigarras se convierten en un postre de chocolate” – (“When cicadas become a chocolate dessert”). The story attracted the judges’ attention for its creative presentation of the subject. For some, cicadas are a plague. However, Luzi found a local business owner who decided to create a recipe to eat the insects and saw the recent “invasion” of the Washington Metropolitan area by cicadas as a business opportunity.

Initiated in 1965 and administered by the Catholic Media Association, the Gabriel Awards honor excellence in film, broadcast, and cross-platform media productions released in the United States and Canada.

The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter is one of the largest of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with more than 1,500 members. It oversees The Emmy Awards regionally, including all media outlets in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

[Source: VOA press release]

RFE/RL condemns Ihar Losik’s addition to Terrorist Watch Registry

29 June 2022

RFE/RL condemns Ihar Losik’s addition to Terrorist Watch Registry

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) condemns the Lukashenka regime’s addition of imprisoned RFE/RL Belarus Service journalist Ihar Losik to a terrorist watch list.

Losik was arrested by Belarusian agents in June 2020 and tried on fabricated charges including “organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order” and “preparation for participation in riots.” After a five-month trial held behind closed doors, Losik was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2021. Since his arrest, Losik has faced severe physical and psychological pressures, and has undergone weeks of hunger strikes to protest his detention and charges.

“This escalation is an egregious abuse of the state’s authority and underlines the Lukashenka regime’s contempt for journalists who expose the truth,” said RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly. “We continue to demand Ihar’s immediate release from prison so he can be reunited with his wife and daughter.”

Losik’s addition to Belarus’ terrorist watch list is the latest escalation in the country’s assault on free press in the region. Earlier this month, Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Belarus Service was sentenced to six years in a maximum-security prison on the bogus charges of creating or participating in an “extremist organization.” Belarus Service journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich also received a sentence of one and a half years in a penal labor colony in March for “taking part” in mass protests that he was covering on assignment.

Additionally, RFE/RL was added to Belarus’ registry of “extremist organizations” in December 2021, RFE/RL’s bureau in Minsk was raided and sealed by Belarusian security forces in July 2021, and numerous other journalists on assignment to report on the disputed August 2020 presidential election were harassed, detained, and stripped of their accreditations.

RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, with a monthly average of over 33 million visits to its websites and 59 million page views, was first established in 1954 and is a leading provider of news in one of Europe’s most restrictive societies, defying the government’s virtual monopoly on domestic broadcast media.

[Source: RFE/RL press release]

NHK WORLD Monthly Focus July

29 June 2022

NHK WORLD Monthly Focus July

Manga Artist René’s Diversity Lesson

Cameroon-born manga artist Hoshino René says he wants to “make Japan a country where people can embrace differences.” His works help to do just that by highlighting cultural distinctions. As the number of foreign residents rises, some newcomers have trouble adapting to Japan. One 17-year-old girl from Nepal facing just such a challenge came to René for advice. Join him as he visits her school to help students confront the problems they face, in part by turning to manga.

Transmission dates to be announced

J-FLICKS
Close-up: Cannes Film Festival

This episode sets the spotlight on the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Screened in competition was “Broker,” the first release by Kore-eda Hirokazu to be shown at the festival since he received the Palme d’Or in 2018 for “Shoplifters.” Then we look at Hayakawa Chie’s science-fiction feature,“PLAN75.”

July 17 Sun.

0:10/ 6:10/ 12:10/ 18:10 (UTC)

Cross-Cultural Documentaries from Asia

“I DREAM OF CARING”

July 1 Fri.

14:30 / 20:30 / 3:10 / 10:10 (UTC)

July 6 Wed.

19:00 (UTC)

This documentary, co-produced by a Filipino filmmaker and a Japanese cable TV station, depicts the struggles of a Filipina caregiver working in Japan and nurses who dream of doing the same.

Cross-Cultural Documentaries from Asia

“AWAY FROM HOME”

July 29 Fri.

14:30 / 20:30 / 3:10 / 10:10 (UTC)

This co-production by a Vietnamese filmmaker and a Japanese broadcaster depicts a Vietnamese university student’s challenging search for work in Japan and her family’s efforts to support her.

[Source: NHK WORLD press release]

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa opens DW’s Global Media Forum in Bonn

20 June 2022

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa opens DW’s Global Media Forum in Bonn

Global Media Forum in Bonn: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa opens DW‘s international media conference

“If you don’t have facts, you don’t have truth; if you don’t have truth, you don’t have trust,” said Philippine journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa at the opening of Deutsche Welle’s Global Media Forum (GMF).

Nobel Prize laureate Maria Ressa opened her keynote with the questions: “How do we rebuild trust? Because that is what illiberal governments have destroyed. If you don’t have integrity of facts, how can you have integrity of elections?” adding: “The three pillars of technology, journalism and the community will help rebuild trust in journalism.”

In his opening speech, DW Director General Peter Limbourg emphasized the challenges of reporting the war in Ukraine: “This is one of the times in history when journalism can definitely prove its relevance. We cannot stop the war, but we can contribute to decisive political action by keeping the fate of hundreds of thousands of people in the headlines,” he said.

Limbourg: “We are facing a storm of disinformation, propaganda and censorship. When the free and independent voices work together, we can withstand this storm and make a difference.”

In a video statement, German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock commended this year’s DW Freedom of Speech Award laureates Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka: “I’m delighted that the Global Media Forum is honouring them with the Freedom of Speech Award today. They stand for the courage of hundreds of journalists reporting from Ukraine.”

Baerbock: “I firmly believe that free and democratic societies need free media to inform citizens and hold those in power accountable. DW’s Global Media Forum is making a vital contribution to achieving this goal. People throughout the world rely on Deutsche Welle as a source for factual, objective and balanced reporting. Because truth is indispensable – in Mariupol and in Moscow, in Brussels and in Bonn.”

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister-President Hendrik Wüst stated in a video message that “freedom of expression and freedom of the press” are the “foundations of a liberal democratic society.”

Under this year’s theme “Shaping tomorrow, now,” GMF panel discussions and partner sessions will address how to promote resilient journalism and strengthen civil societies in times of crisis.

Guests from the world of politics joining the GMF today and tomorrow include Claudia Roth, Minister of State for Culture and the Media; Věra Jourová, Vice President for Values and Transparency at the European Commission; Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Digital Minister; Laura Braam, Deputy Head of Law and Supervision of the Media Authority of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia; and Katja Dörner, Mayor of the City of Bonn.

Speakers from the fields of media, business and academia include Ukrainian UA:PBC journalist Angelina Kariakin; Timothy Snyder, Levin Professor of History at Yale University; Brazilian investigative journalist Patricia Toledo de Campos Mello; Guido Bülow, Head of News Partnerships for Central Europa at Meta; and Ulrik Haagerup, founder and CEO of the Danish Constructive Institute.

Against a backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the GMF will spotlight the challenges of reporting from the front lines by hosting war correspondents from war zones across the globe. Journalists from Germany, Ukraine and Russia such as Paul Ronzheimer, Angelina Kariakina, Tetjana Kyselchuk, Mikhail Zygar and Maria Makeeva will share how they cope with reporting on the war.

Later in the afternoon, DW will honor Ukrainian AP journalists Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka with its Freedom of Speech Award in recognition of their courageous reporting from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Ensaf Haidar, Saudi-Canadian human rights activist and president of the Raif Badawi Foundation for Freedom will attend the ceremony. Jodie Ginsberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists, will give a laudatory speech.

The DW Global Media Forum is Germany’s only international conference for representatives of the media from all over the world. Together with its main partners, the German Federal Foreign Office, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn, the Federal ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the City of Bonn, DW offers media professionals a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary discussions with opinion-leaders from different fields around the pressing issues of our time.

[Source: DW press release]