MIP 2007 on AIB TV
One of a series of reports made for AIB members on AIB TV – this features Diana Ingraham of US Independents:
The future's women at Al jazeera
Al Jazeera has won the Media Woman of the Year award at the 7th Middle East Businesswomen and Leaders Awards gala held in Dubai. The Awards, presented on 8 March, are designed to celebrate the achievements of professional women in the Middle East, and recognised the numerous contributions of Al Jazeera’s female staff and their unique role in advancing Al Jazeera’s mission of groundbreaking news to the Network’s global audience.
The Award was given on behalf of all female employees of Al Jazeera who participate in virtually every aspect of the Network’s news-gathering and reporting process.
Accepting the award on Al Jazeera’s behalf, Khadija ben Guena, one of Al Jazeeras leading women presenters said: “Al Jazeera has been a pioneer in integrating women into the company’s operations at all levels and is an example of the valuable contribution women can make to an organisation. From on-air personalities and journalists to editors, producers and support staff, the many women of Al Jazeera continue to demonstrate their ability to perform and succeed.”
Commenting on the Award, Al Jazeera Director General Wadah Khanfar said: “Al Jazeera is extremely proud of this honour. The contributions of our female staff are simply too numerous to list. Their presence on the screen, their hard work behind the scenes, and their courage reporting from dangerous locations on the field, have helped to make Al Jazeera the success that it is today. They have been an integral part of our workforce, supporting or editorial mission and vision, for our 11 year history. We are very fortunate to have such a committed and professional staff and every female employee at Al Jazeera deserves this award.”
RFE/RL still heard in Armenia
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has restored broadcasting on shortwave frequencies to Armenia to counter the government’s blackout on independent news.
RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin said on 11 March: “It is disappointing that because of restrictions imposed by the Armenian government we have to take this step backward to an outmoded frequency we stopped using in Armenia three years ago, but I’m happy to say it is working.”
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reinstated broadcasting on two shortwave frequencies March 8, a week after its regular broadcasts on FM frequencies were taken off the air by its two local affiliates. The affiliates were complying with an emergency decree by President Kocharian that allows only government-sanctioned news to be aired. RFE/RL is the only Armenian language foreign radio in the country.
Broadcasts are now one hour daily on shortwave, instead of the previous three hours on local FM. But all programmes can be heard on RFE/RL’S Armenian language website, armenialiberty.org
RFE/RL has added more news items to the website and is updating its content every hour of every day, to supplement the loss of local FM broadcasting. Statistics suggest the strategy is working. Listenership on RFE/RL’s Internet sites for Armenia tripled in March, compared to a month ago.
Listeners are also finding other ways to hear uncensored RFE/RL news. The service is getting reports that Armenian bloggers are posting RFE/RL news on their sites and that RFE/RL news programmes are being repackaged and posted on YouTube.
KBS TV heads into South Asia
KBS-Korea has reached an agreement with Prasar Bharati, the broadcasting corporation of India, to carry its international television channel, KBS World, in the South Asian country.
KBS World is carried via DD Direct + which is a free-to-air Direct-To-Home platform open to Indian households. This enables some five million viewers in India to catch KBS World without additional charge.
The channel will also enable the 7,000 Koreans residing in India as well as some 70,000 Korean visitors to India each year to catch up on live news and programming from KBS.
A KBS spokesperson said that this agreement was a result of rigorous negotiation between KBS and Prasar Bharati for more than one-and-a-half years.
The deal with Prasar Bharati marks the latest KBS foray into Asian markets. Currently KBS World is available in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
AIB chair for IPTV World Forum
AIB chief executive Simon Spanswick is chairing the first day of this year’s IPTV World Forum in London on 12 March.
This annual meeting of the growing IPTV industry takes place at London’s Olympia with a major exhibition and a conference examining developments in the IPTV and web TV space. AIB members benefit from a 15% discount on conference registration.
Iranians interacting via SMS with Radio Farda
Radio Farda has launched an SMS text messaging service for Iranians that’s receiving comments from hundreds of listeners on subjects ranging from politics to music to jokes.
Radio Farda Editorial Director Golnaz Esfandiari says the SMS, launched on February 29, was an instant hit: “In less than three days, we received over 300 messages from Marivan, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tehran and many other places.” She said listeners are sending praise and criticism of Radio Farda programs, as well as comments on the forthcoming March 14 parliamentary elections and a range of problems in Iran.
A listener in the Eastern Azerbaijan province of Iran complained that the government was giving huge amounts of money to Iraq, Afghanistan and Hizbullah. Another listener sent a complaint about president Ahmadinejad’s trip to Iraq this week, urging Radio Farda to “ask these gentlemen why they give loans to Iraq and invest there while backward regions of Iran need that investment much more urgently… I asked a year ago for an employment loan and they haven’t responded yet to my request.” Others said they would go to the polls March 14 to show America how democratic Iran is; yet others said they will ignore the elections because “our vote does not count, why should we bother.” Workers in one town complained they have not been paid and asked Radio Farda to “let people know we are suffering.” Another message complained of inflation and corruption in the country, appealing to Radio Farda: “please help the people.” One listener wrote: “the major achievement of (president) Ahmadinejad is to have isolated Iran.”