26 June 2007
WORLDSPACE Satellite Radio has announced that Dr. Frank-Jurgen Richter, president of Horasis, was elected to the Company’s board of directors.
“Dr. Richter has demonstrated throughout his career, the leadership, knowledge and strategic insights that he will bring to our board,” said WORLDSPACE Chairman & CEO, Noah A. Samara. “In addition to Europe, WORLDSPACE continues to be focused on emerging markets and we believe Dr. Richter’s insights and experience will be very valuable to WORLDSPACE in the years ahead.”
“WORLDSPACE is one of the global growth companies that I most admire,” said Dr. Richter. “I am really looking forward to working with Mr. Samara and the rest of the WORLDSPACE board to help with all of the amazing things they are doing in India and Africa and as they expand into China and beyond.”
Frank-Jurgen Richter is a world authority in international affairs and global business and is the founder and president of Horasis (http://www.horasis.org) — The Global Visions Community, incorporated in Geneva, Switzerland. Through Horasis, Dr. Richter is a senior advisor to the leadership of corporations from Asia, Europe and North America. Prior to founding Horasis, Dr. Richter was director of the World Economic Forum, in charge of Asian affairs. During this time he has developed an extensive experience and knowledge on the world’s economic, business and political scene and of its key players. Under his leadership, the World Economic Forum’s summits in Asia, as well as the Asia portion of ‘Davos’ have evolved to facilitate the exchange of experiences and ideas between leaders in business, government, and civil society. He has a thorough understanding of how the world functions today — an understanding created through an on-going interaction with top business, political and intellectual leaders around the world.
19 June 2007
Australia’s ABC News has developed a ground-breaking programme to prepare journalists and
crews for covering potentially traumatic events.
The ABC’s Trauma Awareness Program was developed in collaboration with the
Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma.
In developing the courses, Heather Forbes from ABC News said she was
conscious that journalists and crews work in a demanding environment of
deadline pressures and high levels of responsibility.
“Almost by definition news is about change, fast-paced events, confrontation
and sometimes conflict,” Ms Forbes said. “Some stories, such as war, road
crashes, crime, violence, bushfires and other natural disasters may be
especially stressful and traumatic.”
The ABC has hundreds of journalists, producers, camera crews, editors and
technical staff working Australia and overseas who deal with covering
potentially traumatic events.
“Given the importance of this issue to the ABC, it was crucial to develop a
program of education, training and support that met the needs of staff and
to raise the awareness of the issues of stress and trauma in the workplace,”
Ms Forbes said.
Cait McMahon of the Dart Centre says most staff are resilient, and with good
management and a supportive work culture will cope well with reporting
traumatic events.
“But a minority of staff exposed to trauma will develop mental health
problems,” Ms McMahon says.
The ABC programme takes a three-tier approach: peer support group training,
manager awareness and staff awareness. The training sessions begin with a
powerful documentary made by ABC News in which ABC journalists and
production staff talk about their experiences of covering traumatic events.
The Trauma Awareness programme has already been rolled out in Western
Australia and training sessions are planned for the rest of the country over
coming months.
On Sunday 24 June on ABC TV at 2130, Compass examines the trauma experienced by
journalists. Former ABC News Correspondent Philip Williams speaks about his
experience of the traumatic aftermath of covering the Beslan massacre.
Philip also speaks to other journalists about their experiences.
19 June 2007
The results of the latest annual EMS Survey, published on 19 June, show that EuroNews is the most watched international news channel by upmarket consumers in Europe.
7.1million affluent decision makers and opinion leaders watch EuroNews every week. EuroNews audience has experienced continuous growth and today weekly reach stands at 18%. According to the survey, EuroNews is ahead of all the other international news channels: CNN International, Sky News, BBC World, CNBC and Bloomberg, across 16 European countries.
Olivier de Montchenu, Sales and Marketing Director of EuroNews said: “This is a huge breakthrough for the channel and will be a major turning point for the international advertising market. This is the latest evidence of the relevance of EuroNews’ concept, which meets the needs of the European elite. It really is a knock-out win for the next generation TV news channel and this will be our communication message in the coming days.”
EuroNews is the leading international news channel, clearly ahead of CNN International, with 18% weekly reach (7.1million viewers in 16 countries ahead of all other PETV news channels). When Eastern European countries are taken into account, EuroNews is also the leading international news channel, ahead of CNN International, with 17.4% weekly reach in 19 countries. EuroNews has gone from strength to strength and in 2007 the channel gained 62,000 viewers, meanwhile CNN International lost 657,000 viewers.
EuroNews is now the leading international news channel in weekly reach in 7 of the countries covered by the survey: Czech Republic, France, Finland, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.
For the first time, EMS has expanded in Eastern Europe, providing an insight into the media consumption of the elite in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. 54% of the Central Eastern European elite do not understand sufficient English to watch an English-speaking channel. Russian and German are key foreign languages in this region and are 2 of the 7 languages in which EuroNews broadcasts.
18 June 2007
International broadcast services provider VT Communications is working
with Arqiva Satellite Services to deliver a radical and forward-looking Global
Media Network (GMN). The GMN is a purpose-designed, IP media delivery and integrated satellite network, using
multicast techniques to provide broadcasters and content providers with both
streaming and file-based media distribution. VT has signed a five year agreement
with Arqiva to provide the satellite edge services to carry multiple radio
channels around the globe.
By integrating the GMN with distributed asset-management, network automation and
custom developed content management, VT Communications is able to offer a
complete, single-sourced, media-management, distribution and
transmission/platform delivery service over multiple media platforms. Live or
stream management is facilitated within the GMN allowing point-to-point and
point-to-multi-point distribution within the network.
To complete the global network, Arqiva has provided a flexible, three satellite
solution, initially providing coverage to four continents. This will be used as
an overlay over VT Communications terrestrial MPLS infrastructure, to enable
delivery to those places not connected by fibre and where a satellite solution
is the only option, such as Ascension Island and Ulan Bator in Mongolia.As part of
the agreement, VT Communications has located its state-of-the-art GMN services
and management infrastructure at Arqivas Chalfont Grove Media Centre north of
London in the UK, where it can derive maximum benefit from Arqivas extensive
satellite capabilities and provide distribution and uplinking from its global
network of teleports. The agreement opens the way for both companies to pursue
new, cross-platform media opportunities utilising their combined network
infrastructure, expertise and services.
Bryan Coombes, Director of Broadcast at VT Communications said: We are delighted to
be partnering with Arqiva on this critical development of our business. They
offered us the most robust and resilient solutions allowing us to, not only
offer a plethora of new services, but also to raise the bar to a new level
within our existing service offerings. This is an exciting time at VT
Communications as we develop our distribution and transmission infrastructure,
providing our customers with a simple path to the benefits of our global,
multi-platform, media services.
18 June 2007
The AIB is delighted to
announce that its 2007 Media Excellence Awards are
now open for entries.
This is the third year that the Association
for International Broadcasting has celebrated excellence in the field of
international broadcasting and new media. In 2006, we received almost 100
entries from broadcasters and other organisations in the international
broadcasting sector, all of the very highest quality. This year, we expect the
number of entries to be higher still and to come from more countries (in 2006,
more than 20 countries were represented in the Awards entries).
We have extended the number of categories
to reflect changes happening in international media. We’ve recruited a truly
international panel of judges who will provide peer review of the work of
colleagues. We have maintained the AIB’s reputation for independence and
non-commercialism. And now it’s up to you.
You can download the entry form
here,
and we’ve also made paying the entry fee simple using our online payment system
– click
here. And remember, Members of the AIB receive complimentary access to the
Awards as part of their membership benefits.
The presentation of the AIB Media
Excellence Awards 2007 will take place in central London on
Tuesday 20 November – we’ll be
holding a Diner Pensant and Awards at a superb venue that will help us
celebrate excellence in international broadcasting and new media on a grand
scale.
For more information about
the 2007 AIB Media Excellence Awards, call the AIB in London on +44 (0) 20 7993
2557 or e-mail us: awards2007(at)aib.org.uk.
