9 July 2007
The Armenian parliament has failed to pass a bill that would have placed severe restrictions on foreign broadcast media, particularly RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty).
The legislation would have banned foreign broadcasts on Armenian public television and radio and heavily taxed their rebroadcast on private stations.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had said the proposals, which passed its first reading on June 29, amounted to a “ban on RFE/RL” and could have made Armenia’s March 2008 presidential elections less free and fair.
The measure didn’t pass in its second and final reading because opposition, independent, and even some pro-government lawmakers blocked a quorum by boycotting two separate votes.
Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, had called the legislative package a potential blow to media freedom in general.
The failed vote in parliament, where just enough lawmakers boycotted the vote to prevent a quorum, means the government must start over if it wants to try again to pass the legislation. That involves redrafting the proposals and resubmitting them again for a new first reading.
Victor Dalakian, an independent member of parliament, was one of the more outspoken critics of the legislation introduced by the government.
“The minority proved that quality is more important than quantity, and this would be a lesson for the parliamentary majority, that it should respect one of the most important rights: liberty,” Dalakian told RFE/RL.
But it wasn’t just the minority that doomed the draft legislation. It didn’t pass its second and final reading because opposition, independent, and even some pro-government lawmakers blocked a quorum by boycotting two separate votes. In the first attempt, only 64 votes were cast (63 for, none against, one abstention) in the 131-member parliament. In the second try, 65 votes were cast (63 for, none against, two abstentions). Both fell short of the 66 votes necessary for a quorum.
Speaker Tigran Torosian and other officials had argued that the legislation would actually not have affected RFE/RL broadcasts. But that position, given the legislation’s wording, left observers both inside and outside the country puzzled.
That’s because the legislation clearly spelled out sharp disincentives for private Armenian radio stations to carry foreign broadcasters’ programmes. They would have had to pay more than 200 US dollars in taxes each time they retransmitted a programme produced by a foreign media organization. That is about 70 times more than broadcasters must pay for a locally made program.
6 July 2007
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service offered intensive coverage of the May 12
parliamentary elections in Armenia – work that’s been recognised by the OSCE.
On Election Day and the day after,
the Service broadcast live for over three hours, with special election
programmes produced in both Prague and Yerevan.
The coverage was singled
out for praise by the OSCE/ODIHR joint observation mission for its
balance and thoroughness (the OSCE/ODIHR “Statement Of Preliminary
Findings And Conclusions” can be found at
http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2007/05/24424_en.pdf).
The Director of RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Hrair Tamrazian, may be
reached by email at tamrazianh@rferl.org. The Armenian Service’s website is at http://www.azatutyun.am/; English-language news about
events in Armenia can be found at
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarchive/country/armenia.html
6 July 2007
If you are in the Pacific you can now tune into Radio Australia any time driving to and from work, in a taxi, or while at home or in the office, simply by turning on local FM.
The ever-expanding Radio Australia FM network throughout the Pacific now delivers high quality broadcasts to audiences in the key urban centres across the Pacific. Providing a diverse choice of programmes that previously have been available only via shortwave and select rebroadcasts from Pacific national broadcasters, Radio Australia is keen to increase the interaction with audiences from across the Pacific.
With new services switched on this month in the Cook Islands (Rarotonga 93FM), Papua New Guinea (Lae 102.1FM), Kiribati (Tarawa 90FM) and shortly Vanuatu (Santo 103FM) the FM network continues to build on Radio Australia’s long-standing commitment to Pacific audiences.
Newly appointed CEO of Radio Australia Mr Hanh Tran is delighted with the growing Pacific FM network. “It is exciting to see that in the Pacific our traditional radio business is alive and well, and if anything becoming more relevant to audiences than ever before. It’s a reflection of our diversity that we can provide quality and tailored content to audiences in Asia via a range of online services and to urban areas in the Pacific via our own 24-hour FM broadcasts. It shows the true meaning of being a multi-platform, varied-content provider while meeting the demands of audiences that rely on us,” stated Mr Tran.
Radio Australia now has 13 x 24-hour FM relays throughout Asia and the Pacific.
Phnom Penh and Siem Reap 101.5FM; Dili 106.5FM; Port Moresby 101.9FM; Lae 102.1FM; Honiara 107FM; Port Vila & Santos 103FM; Suva and Nadi 92.6FM; Nuku’alofa 103FM, Tarawa 90FM and Rarotonga 93FM.
6 July 2007
According to a public survey carried out by Magram Market Research commissioned by the NTV Plus satellite television company, the share of monthly audience of the Russia Today TV channel was 16% in Moscow and 25% in other regions of Russia.
The audience of Russia Today in Moscow is higher than the respective figure of CNN that has reached 15%. The Bloomberg TV channel specialising on financial and economic new is interesting for 14% of Moscow respondents.
At the same time, five per cent of the audience watch Russia Today nearly every or every day, 21% of the respondents do this once or twice a week and 14% – fewer than once a week.
Fifteen per cent of the Moscow respondents are employed in the industrial sector, 12% – in the finance, banking and insurance sectors, 6% – in public management and another 6% – in science and education. Thirty-nine per cent of the polled are mid-managers and 16 per cent are top managers.
The survey sampled more than 2,000 subscribers of NTV Plus in Moscow and other regions of Russia and was carried out in a way of telephone interviews from December 2006 to February 2007. Men and women aged 16 to 60 took part in the survey.
The news from Russia Today aim primarily at the English-speaking audience. Our audience in Moscow and Russian regions are all those who need unbiased and interesting information about Russia on a daily basis, but who do not speak Russian. The survey was made in winter. However, we have all reasons to believe that today these figures could be even higher, Margarita Simonyan, Editor-in-Chief of Russia Today, said.
26 June 2007
WORLDSPACE Satellite Radio walked home with an award for Best Programme/Show (Kannada), from the India Radio Forum 2007 Awards Ceremony held earlier this month in Mumbai, India.
The award honored Suvarna Samputa, a three-month series airing on WORLDSPACE Satellite Radio’s Kannada channel, Radio Sparsha. The category under which Radio Sparsha won this award is designed for shows that deserve particular recognition for their high standards, originality, professionalism and innovation.
Radio Sparsha’s original series was produced in-house and scripted by Mr. Prem Kumar, a well-known expert in Kannada history and literature. The series aired consecutive Sunday mornings beginning in February, to coincide with the commemoration of the Golden Jubilee celebrations for the state of Karnataka. As the name indicates, this ‘Golden Collection’ is a collection of highly interesting facts about the state, its history, literature and people. These include well researched narratives and dramatic adaptations of historical events and peoples’ profiles read out and enacted by popular Indian faces and voices from film, theatre and various other fields.
“It is an honour to be recognised for the Suvarna Samputa series on our channel Radio Sparsha, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Indian state of Karnataka,” said William Sabatini, vice president of global programming, WORLDSPACE Satellite Radio. “WORLDSPACE strives to provide programming that is unique, compelling and exclusive to our listeners in our primary market of India and beyond. This award validates that approach and motivates us to continue to develop unique programming for our markets around the world.”
