3 May 2011
The Director-General of Deutsche Welle, Erik Bettermann, pointed out that authoritarian and despot regimes are increasingly eradicating the freedom of the Internet. To mark World Press Freedom Day (May 3) he told an event in Brussels that in some regions of the world the free exchange of information and opinions for Internet bloggers and people using social networks can be dangerous.
Technical aids make it possible to trace the origin of even anonymous expressions of opinion and to take action against different-minded people. The Internet is no longer an instrument for dissidents and activists, but also for dictators, said the Director-General.
State-run organizations in the Arab World and in China use it to keep them in line and cut off from the outside world. In China the digital wall has downgraded the Internet to a national intranet. It is used to choke the creation of a counter public. The measures make it difficult to get information about China. For example, search requests from abroad are censored in China or do not lead anywhere. This influences our perception of China in the West. There seems to be a regular export of censorship expertise between China and other authoritarian regimes.
The Chinese government employs tens of thousands of paid bloggers with its so-called Five-Cent Party. They post articles in forums out of political conviction or for financial motives. Its hard to differentiate whether it is original or paid-for opinion. Foreign media have to be careful using such sources. Regarding the harsher measures being imposed on Chinese regime opponents, said Bettermann, the list of interview partners for the Chinese Service is getting shorter every day because of state repression.
The manipulation of the Internet is a huge challenge for journalism. It has to be incorporated in the apprenticeship and vocational training of journalists. The Web 2.0 and its opportunities and risks has become a key element of the DW-Akademie curriculum, said the Director-General.
Bettermann pointed out that the journalistic program of Deutsche Welle continues to be banned in key target regions. Since April broadcasts of the Amharic Service have again been jammed. Satellite broadcasts to Iran continue to be interrupted. In China, DW is strongly censored.
28 April 2011
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has selected award-winning broadcaster and communications executive David Ensor to serve as the next director of the Voice of America (VOA). VOA reaches an audience of 123 million people with unbiased news and information in 44 languages across multiple media platforms.
The democracy uprisings of the past two months have shown the critical importance of the free flow of credible information in empowering people around the world. The Voice of America has been pursuing this mission for seventy years by providing great journalism and a clear presentation of America and its policies, said Walter Isaacson, Chairman of the BBG which oversees all U.S. international broadcasting including the VOA. David Ensor is uniquely suited to lead VOA in fulfilling this dual mission. We are deeply honored that he would continue to be of service to journalism and to his country by following in the tradition of Edward R. Murrow and John Chancellor.
Ensor has been Director for Communications and Public Diplomacy of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan since January 2010 and will join VOA in June.
David Ensors unique experiences and skills make him a solid fit for this role, said Judith A. McHale, the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, who serves as Secretary of State Hillary Clintons representative to the BBG, and who oversaw Ensors work in Afghanistan. The State Department has been very fortunate to have David oversee our public diplomacy effort in Afghanistan, and we wish him well as he prepares to take the lead at VOA.
Ensor is a winner of a National Headliner Award and an Emmy-nominated broadcast journalist whose 32-year career in television and radio news included extensive reporting on international affairs. Ensor covered the demise of Communism in Russia and Poland, armed conflicts in Bosnia, Chechnya, El Salvador, and Afghanistan, and the U.S. response to the 9/11 attacks. He was CNNs National Security Correspondent and prior to that, an ABC News correspondent, with assignments in Washington, Moscow, Rome, and Warsaw. Ensor reported from Washington for National Public Radio covering foreign policy and defense issues.
In welcoming David Ensor, the BBG thanked retiring VOA Director Danforth Austin for his outstanding leadership. The Board recognized Austins role in improving VOA’s ability to engage with and grow audiences across multiple media platforms, integrating broadcast, online and social media while remaining steadfast to the principles of sound journalism enshrined in the VOA charter. Appointed to the post in October 2006, Austin has been one of the longest serving VOA directors.
Ensor is a member of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and is fluent in French. He received a B.A. with honors from the University of California, Berkeley. Ensor holds the Knights Cross awarded by the President of Poland.
28 April 2011
The Network is a brand new talk-show in debate format, presented by Chris Burns, an experienced journalist, a dual French-American and a European resident for the past 18 years.
The programme links 3 personalities with diverging opinions and points of view. Each guest answers questions on a current headline.
The Network is a short and straight-to-the-point debate around burning issues, produced in a 3D environment with a clear and uncompromising view of the story of the week, driven by Chris Burns energetic style, allowing each viewer to compare and form his or her own opinion.
The Network is a bi-monthly 8 talk-show programme broadcast throughout the week from Thursday to Monday, edited in 10 linguistic versions. Available 24/7 on euronews.net. This week: Portugal: time to declare bankruptcy? On air Thursday 14th April at 9:45PM Paris – 8:45PM London – 11:45PM Moscow – 3:45PM New York
Next issues Thursday 28th April, 12 May, 26th May
and following each two weeks
« The Network » is on-air alternaly with « I Talk », Alex Taylors new rendez-vous on euronews.
About Chris Burns : Chris Burns has been a print, TV and radio journalist for more than 25 years, including reporting for CNN, Bloomberg TV, France24 and Associated Press. Hes covered conflicts in the Balkans, Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan, politics at the White House and across Europe, global business and financial crises, earthquakes, volcanoes and other disasters, as well as cultural events including the Cannes and Berlin film festivals. Chris is French and American-born with dual citizenship, speaks five European languages (also German, Italian and Spanish) and has lived in Europe for more than 18 years in Paris, Rome, Berlin, Frankfurt and now Brussels. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy and French, and post-graduate studies in Europe.
28 April 2011
Vimond Media Solutions, which provides a comprehensive environment for managing and delivering multiformat over-the-top (OTT) media services, announced today at the 2011 NAB Show that it is teaming up with Vizrt, a leading provider of digital media software for the TV and online publishing industries, to offer an end-to-end solution that allows broadcasters, distributors, and media companies to create and offer their own online video services that monetize content with full broadcast quality.
At the heart of the combined solution is the Vimond video player, which supports simultaneous streaming to different devices and opens up for payment and access to content directly through a television set. The same player logic and functionality works across multiple platforms, allowing consumers to enjoy the video experience over PCs, TVs, mobile phones, tablets, IPTV boxes, media center consoles, connected TVs, game consoles, and IP-enabled set-top boxes. The platform also can be extended to other formats through its open API.
“Our combined solution with Vizrt will allow broadcasters, distributors, and media companies to monetize their content while providing superior, engaging, and attractive end-user experiences based on live and on-demand video services,” said Helge Høibraaten, CEO of Vimond Media Solutions. “And because our player has been developed and intensively tested in real production for many years, broadcasters will now have a flexible, proven, and stable system with which to create their own online video services.”
“With Vimond on board, Vizrt offers one workflow for video streaming and all supporting functionalities, such as subscriptions, advertising, geo-blocking, digital rights management, and analytics,” said Francois Laborie, chief commercial officer at Vizrt. “The complete live and on-demand package comes in one framework, securing smooth delivery on every viable platform or device needing a specific video format or content enhancement.”
The Vimond control servers and the Viz Media Engine transcoders are central to the online video solution that takes advantage of the Microsoft® Smooth Streaming adaptive streaming technology to provide a high-quality viewing experience that scales massively on content distribution networks. Broadcasters can build their own Hulu-like websites and offer a range of business models, including subscription, pay-per-view, and ad-supported services.
The production workflow is tightly integrated, keeping costs low and efficiency high. Vimond already integrates with the existing Vizrt workflow, from storage and transcoding in the Viz Media Engine to online publishing via Escenic Content Studio. All live streams are logged and archived to a dedicated media asset management (MAM) server to build highlights, teasers, or editorially enhanced content later on. Vizrt offers the entire spectrum of Web TV players from in-page standalone players to advanced Web TV players with live sports statistics and subscription management to live TV with electronic program guides (EPGs).
The solution also includes advanced monetization and administration logic. The solution can be made available on-premises, hosted as a SaaS or as a hybrid hosted/on-premises model. Although Vimond Media Solutions is a new company launched in Q1 of 2011, the technology embodied in the Vimond Video Platform has been developed and proven in production over more than 10 years at TV 2 in Norway and at other Scandinavian broadcasters. Now available for the first time to broadcasters, telcos, and media organizations, the Vimond Video Platform provides an intuitive and mature environment for production staff to manage the distribution of online video content, a powerful set of tools for managers to create commercially successful services, and a stable, high-quality experience for viewers.
Vimond Media Solutions is demonstrating the full range of Vimond functionality at the 2011 NAB Show in the Vizrt booth, SL5408.
26 April 2011
Available to 160 million households in 180 countries, FRANCE 24 has recently signed a series of new broadcasting agreements that will strengthen the channel’s distribution over the Asian continent.
The new agreements in detail :
► In India, in just four months, FRANCE 24 already reaches more than 3 million households. FRANCE 24 English channel is now available in the State of Orissa and throughout the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) on more than thirty cable networks.
► Already accessible in English to 1.2 million households in Hong Kong on NOW TV and HKBN, FRANCE 24 French version is now available à la carte on the new HKBN package BB TV. Available on the channel 738, FRANCE 24 in French is offered for a fee ranging from 30 to 70 HK dollars (2.5 to 6.5 euros) depending on length of customer subscription.
► In the Philippines, following the annual PCTA Convention (from April 5 to 8 in Manila) gathering major Philippines cable operators, the English version of the channel is available to 100,000 households across the country.
► In Japan, while the English version of the channel is already available on NTT DOCOMO, FRANCE 24 is now available in French “à la carte” on the IPTV platform KONA TV.
► In Thailand, the number of households receiving FRANCE 24 in English grew from 1.5 to 1.8 million in three months, thanks to recent agreements with cable operator associations TCTA (Thailand Cable TV Association) and COA (Cable Operator Association).
► In the hotel sector, FRANCE 24 has extended its partnership with the ACCOR group in Asia, and the channel is now available in 91 luxury hotels across the region.
For Brice Bertrand, Director of Distribution in Asia Pacific, “these markets are eager to discover a new tone in international news and we make every effort to ensure that all countries of the continent can get FRANCE 24 as quickly and as simply as possible, in English, but also in French.”
26 April 2011
CNN now has a free application for Android phones. The CNN App offers intuitive navigation with the news experience, giving users direct access to CNN’s global resources – from live field reporting to user-generated content and a variety of enterprise interviews and podcasts.
“We are excited to offer the millions of Android phone users around the world access to CNN’s global reporting,” said Louis Gump, Vice President of Mobile at CNN.
The CNN App showcases news of the day through text, audio and photos, live and on-demand video, and a direct gateway to CNN iReport, the network’s participatory news community. By clicking on the menu button, users can toggle between US and International editions.
Drawing on the resources of CNN Radio, the CNN App also features a section devoted to audio content. The Radio section of the App includes hourly news updates, original reports from CNN Radio correspondents, audio of interviews from CNN television, and podcast series about politics, entertainment, tech and food. Users can also personalise their radio experience while they’re on the go.
Users can track local news and weather based on location and view stories they’ve saved even when they’re offline. Text stories and images can also be shared directly from the App via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.
The CNN App features push-notification breaking news alerts, and a widget that allows a user to view the latest headlines from a variety of categories directly from the phone’s home screen, without even launching the app.
