1 October 2018
First regional awards event recognises key programmes about challenges facing Asia and the Pacific
The inaugural Association for International Broadcasting Asia-Pacific Sustainability Awards have been presented to the winners at a ceremony held in Taipei.
These new awards – sponsored by
Radio Taiwan International – recognise the best coverage of sustainability issues in the region on television and radio. This is the first year that the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) has organised a regional element of its annual awards for factual productions across television, radio and online. Known as the AIBs, these awards are now in their fourteenth year and are highly regarded in the global broadcasting industry.
The shortlist for the Asia-Pacific Sustainability Awards included programmes from DW TV, Al Jazeera, Red FM, Mediacorp and Radio New Zealand. Each production investigated issues around sustainability in an area that’s home to two-thirds of the world’s population. Climate change, equality, poverty, waste and other issues around sustainability are real and tangible challenges on a daily basis for many of the citizens of the Asia-Pacific region.
“As the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals mark their third anniversary, the AIB wanted to demonstrate the importance of the media in ensuring that facts and events relating to these challenges reach global audiences,” said Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the Association for International Broadcasting. “We were delighted to see a wide range of entries from broadcasters within and outside the region, showing that relevant stories about the Asia-Pacific region and the challenges it faces are receiving the attention they deserve.”
Philippa Tolley, Executive Producer of RNZ’s “Insight” receives her award from John Maguire, Director of International Relations, France Médias Monde, and AIB CEO Simon Spanswick
The winner of the radio award was Radio New Zealand for its programme Insight: Climate Change – Politics and Actions. The judges noted the depth of investigation and incisive story-telling in this episode that focused on the archipelago of Hawaii. It reported on how the islands are reacting to the effects of global warming particularly in light of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
The television award went to Mediacorp’s Channel 5 for an edition of Talking Point – Can We Ban the Bag? The judges were impressed by the way the programme involved Singaporeans in better understanding their voracious appetite for single-use plastic bags. They noted the clever involvement of the public and the way that context was provided to viewers.
Sharon Roobol, Executive Producer, Al Jazeera English, receives the highly commended certificate for “Earthrise: Eco-cremation”
A high commendation went to Al Jazeera English for Earthrise – Eco-cremation. This dealt with the challenge of adjusting custom and practice around the difficult subject of death, examining the fact that 8.5 million Hindu[s] deaths mean more than 50 million trees are being cut down each year to provide wood for funeral pyres. The judges praised the way the programme makers dealt sensitively with the subject.
The awards were presented in Taipei at a gala dinner that also marked the 90th anniversary of AIB Member Radio Taiwan International. AIB Executive Committee deputy chair John Maguire (director of international relations at France Médias Monde) joined AIB CEO Simon Spanswick on stage to present the winners with their awards.
The rest of this year’s AIBs – across 20 categories ranging from daily journalism to children’s factual – will be presented at the annual awards dinner in London on 7 November hosted by Bloomberg Television’s Mark Barton. The sell-out event is attended by journalists, editors, producers and senior executives from media companies throughout the world and marks a high point for programme markers on the international calendar. This year, the event partner is Al Jazeera Media Network, while Celebro Studios and Signiant are sponsors.
17 September 2018
At the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) held every year in Amsterdam, news was the focus of some of the conferences at a time when news media organisations, broadcasters in particular, face a number of challenges from new players, social media platforms and questions about their perceived lack of credibility and balance in some countries.
AIB leads debate with industry senior representatives
The AIB was at the centre of one of these conferences with its CEO, Simon Spanswick, chairing a session, entitled “Controlled chaos: Embracing change in the news media business”.
In this meeting, senior representatives from well-established broadcast organisations as well as from relatively new players, discussed the issues they faced and how they worked to best deal with these.
Panellists explained how their respective organisations were embracing media changes, both as regards the use of technological innovations, and the need to meet audience expectations.
The panellists, Leena Duwadi, Editor in Chief, WittyFeed, Ruba Ibrahim, Director of Operations, Al-Arabiya News Channel, Tommy Evans, VP CNN International and Matt Tabaccos, Chief Commercial Officer, of the Ruptly video news agency, described how their organisations addressed the various issues.
Shifting content, audience expectations
WittyFeed understood that the whole concept of content on the Internet was shifting, and WittyFeed idea from its creation in 2014, was to offer “content for the Millenials, produced by Millenials,” Duwadi said. From its beginning, WittyFeed proposed “vivid formats, ranging from stories to videos which differentiate it from other large Indian media companies that have hundreds of millions of users, listeners and viewers.”
Reaching a diverse Arab world audience
Ruba Ibrahim, director of operations of the Dubai-based Saudi-owned 24/7 free-to-air Al-Arabiya pan Arab News Channel launched in 2003, described the main channel and its younger “sister”, Al-Hadath, launched in 2012, which offers more in-depth, extensive coverage of political news.
Al-Arabiya has an English website also and is present and very active on digital platforms and social media.
Ibrahim explained how different content was tailored in content and length to meet the diverse requirements of the multiple platforms, showing examples of reports for online and mobile devices.
Spanswick asked how the channels were tackling the issue of addressing audiences across the entire Arab world. Ibrahim said that Al-Arabiya was primarily targeting audiences in the Gulf area, where audiences share the same language, issues and challenges, covering news, business and sports, and offering documentaries. Following the “Arab Spring”, Al-Arabiya’s extensive, but still limited resources didn’t allow it to cover all the news across the entire Arab world, so Al-Hadath was tasked with covering more specifically news and issues about Yemen, Iraq, the Levant and North Africa.
CNN: Golden age of news, healthy mix of news needed
Tommy Evans, VP of CNN International and CNN London bureau chief, said that “it was the golden age of news. US President Trump makes a lot of news and news is good for CNN and other news organisations.”
The key to success, he added, was “good content”, but he also advised for a varied and balanced mix between hard and soft news. “You can’t expect the audience to be brutalised by bad news constantly. You have to have a healthy mix of stories,” Evans warned.
CNN was established as a cable news network in 1980, but gained international recognition when it was the only channel broadcasting from inside Iraq from the beginning of the first Gulf War in January 1991. CNN launched its website, CNN.com in August 1995. It is now one of the most popular news websites in the world.
CNN has a wide offer of different programmes and online services that cover travel, style (arts, design fashion, architecture), health (food, health, wellness, fitness, etc.), features (freedom project, Impact your world, Inside Africa, climate / environment issues, etc) and even a virtual reality (VR) service, CNNVR.
Ruptly introduced flexible model, imaginative approach
Matt Tabaccos, Chief Commercial Officer, of the Berlin-based Ruptly video news agency, created in 2013 and owned by Russia’s RT television network, detailed the services offered by Ruptly.
These include an offer of real-time and archive visual news content to all media, from broadcast networks large and small to online content providers, including broadcast, digital and mobile platforms.
Ruptly value proposition, Tabaccos said, was “to try to be first, to pioneer new ways of telling stories.” Ruptly was one of the first news organisations to fly drones over war zones, which was the kind of content that resonated over the different platforms, online and broadcast, he said.
“Technology has been one of our main selling points,” Tabaccos added pointing out that Ruptly now gets some 500 million views across platforms every month. The idea is to service broadcasting organisations, start-ups and ordinary users, through flexible models, he said.
Tabaccos announced that Ruptly had just expanded its offer with Ruptly Pass, a “disrupting” subscription-based model “for individuals and growing media entities”, which gives users unlimited access to video and live events on the service for €12.50 a month.
The “Controlled chaos” conference provided a comprehensive overview of the diverse and imaginative approaches adopted by just four media organisations with different audiences to address some of the many challenges faced by the whole broadcast news media industry today.
7 September 2018
IBC, the International Broadcasting Convention, held each September in Amsterdam, opens its doors on 13 September for its series of renowned conferences, with the exhibition opening the following day.
More than 57,000 visitors are expected to come to experience products and services offered by more than 1,700 exhibitors. IBC offers also a unique opportunity for broadcast professionals to network.
Many AIB members, among them broadcasters, content providers or leading technology companies will be present at IBC.
More than 400 speakers including business leaders, global game-changers and disruptors in the media, entertainment and technology industries will address some 1,700 delegates attending the conferences.
As in previous years, and in view of growing concern about so-called fake news and misinformation, news production and delivery will be the focus of several sessions.
One of these, Controlled chaos: Embracing change in the news media business, is dedicated to change in the news media business. It will be chaired by AIB CEO Simon Spanswick. Panellists will include the VP of CNN International, the director of operations of Al-Arabiya News Channel, the Chief Commercial Officer of Berlin-based Ruptly news agency and the editor-in-chief of WittyFeed, one of the fastest growing online content platforms in India. They will explain how they have embraced a constantly changing news media market, from content creation that appeals across diverse audiences, to platform and technical innovation, to scalable models and monetisation.
Reflecting technological advances, and as forecast last year, topics discussed in the conferences will include, among many others, the impact of AI, of voice-activated devices and services, of blockchain.
Changing the “face of content” to reach a younger generation on a multitude of devices, will also be debated.
No less important will be the impact of these technological advances on the production and delivery of services on new platforms for connected audiences, and the fast-growing of fairly recent services, such as e-sports and online gaming.
As usual, very advanced technologies, such as 8K, will be demonstrated by leading set manufacturers and broadcasters; the challenges they represent in terms of content production and delivery will be addressed in technical papers and presentations.
The AIB will be present at IBC and report during, and after, the convention on the conferences as well as on a wide range of issues and new products and services unveiled this year.
7 September 2018
Platform-as-a-service solution from SatADSL will empower operators to deliver competitive broadband services – including voucher-based schemes
London, UK, and Brussels, Belgium, September 06, 2018 – A new partnership between professional VSAT services provider SatADSL, iSAT Africa, and APT Satellite will see affordable broadband via satellite offered across Africa.
Under the agreement, SatADSL will provide its innovative Cloud-based Service Delivery Platform (C-SDP). This will enable iSAT to offer a suite of new services, including voucher services, VNOFlex and congestion-based services.
“We are very excited to be part of this partnership with SatADSL and iSAT to deliver cost-effective broadband services to customers in Africa,” said Thomas Antony, APT Satellite’s Director of Sales for the region. “The APSTAR-7 Ku Africa beam provides an excellent platform for Satcom services across Africa, providing extensive coverage and high performance.”
APT Satellite will provide capacity via its APSTAR-7 satellite located at 76.5 East, covering Asia, Australia, The Middle East, Europe and Africa with C-band transponders and China, the Middle East and Africa with Ku-band transponders.
SatADSL’s C-SDP is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution which enables operators to deliver a full range of satellite-based connectivity services without investing in physical infrastructure. SatADSL expects to have worldwide coverage by the end of the year, further expanding the reach of its C-SDP.
iSAT is the latest service provider to connect to the platform, which is now being used by 77 Africa-based partners.
“Our C-SDP was created in direct response to market demand so the rapid take-up of it among operators is not surprising,” said Caroline De Vos, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at SatADSL. “As well as significantly reducing the amount of Capital expenditure normally involved in launching satellite services, it also allows operators to access new distribution channels and conversely provide their bandwidth to other service providers to monetize unused capacity.”
SatADSL will be available to discuss its C-SDP solution at IBC 2018 at booth 5.C31. For more information, please see: www.satadsl.net.
About SatADSL
SatADSL (www.satadsl.net) is a satellite Service Provider which designs and offers innovative satellite networking solutions to banks, microfinances, broadcasters, NGOs, Governments, ISPs, telecom operators and other companies in Africa and the Middle East in remote areas or where terrestrial infrastructure is not reliable.
Founded in 2011, SatADSL has already installed more than 3,000 VSAT networks in more than 45 countries. It specializes in providing tailor-made solutions based on customers’ specific requirements and flexible service plans that meet its clients’ budgets.
Through its carrier-grade Cloud-based Service Delivery Platform (C-SDP), which integrates the most advanced technologies, SatADSL provides custom-made networking solutions, tailor-made service plans and value-added services, including hierarchical service control and monitoring, traffic prioritization and online billing and payments, for any frequency band and any access technology.
About iSAT Africa
iSAT Africa is a UAE based company and a subsidiary of Wananchi Group Holdings, a fast growing fixed satellite solution service provider in Africa.
iSAT’s Satellite Solutions, backed by powerful Satellites, Teleport infrastructure and latest chosen technology solutions are unique in the industry, whether it’s for transmission of video, data or voice services.
Our customers include the leading media and network companies, multinationals, ISPs, Telcos and governmental agencies. We work closely with our partners and service providers to create the best solutions for Data, Voice and Video type requirements for our customers using our satellite and terrestrial infrastructure. Our mission is to transform the way Africa gets and stays connected with rest of the World through our carrier grade connectivity for voice, data and video applications increasing business opportunities in all kinds of diverse and challenging environments.
iSAT Africa, through its Satellite Teleport Services, is offering solutions that deliver efficient, reliable and affordable data, Internet, voice and video connectivity to enterprises, governments, carriers, media and broadcast, whilst providing value to its customers through comprehensive end-to-end solutions, turn-key projects, managed network services and network outsourcing. Through these services ISAT Africa is setting standards for transmission in rural and urban regions of East Africa.
About APT Satellite
Based in Hong Kong, APT Satellite COMPANY LIMITED (“APT Satellite”) is a satellite company operating a fleet of four satellites, namely APSTAR-5, APSTAR-6, APSTAR-6C, APSTAR-7, and APSTAR-9. APSTAR-5C is currently under construction, it will replace APSTAR-5 in Q3 2018. The footprints of the fleet cover Asia, Middle East, Oceania, and most part of Europe and Africa, extending services to over 75% of the world’s population. Currently distributing 600+ TV channels around the world including HBO, Disney, Sony Pictures, NBCU, EBU, GMA, TVBI, TVn, Celestial Tiger etc, APT Satellite is also supplying transponder capacity to a variety of DTH platforms, as well as to media networks for video contributions across the world.
6 September 2018
The Association for International Broadcasting is delighted to welcome three new Members to the organisation.
Public Television Service in Taiwan was established in 1998 as the country’s publicly-funded television service and is available nationwide on a free-to-air basis.
BlackRook Media is a UK-based media business covering broadcast, video production, training, strategy and events. It has developed TV shows in different territories and worked to establish networks operating internationally.
Schmitspartners is a newly-formed legal consulting firm based in Munich. It is led by Volker Schmits, an experienced media lawyer, and will work on licensing issues for channels and networks, including those associated with Brexit.
https://schmitspartners.com/
We look forward to working with all these new Members and supporting them with information, advocacy and contacts, and in helping it forge new relationships with other AIB Members.
3 September 2018
Journalists jailed for seven years for reporting on Rohingya mass killing
The Association for International Broadcasting is deeply troubled by the jailing of two Myanmar journalists for allegedly contravening the country’s Official Secrets Act.
Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, were found guilty by a district judge in Yangon and sentenced to seven years in jail. The reporters were arrested on 12 December 2017 while investigating the killings of ten Rohingya men and boys, and other abuses involving soldiers and police, in the Rakhine State village of Inn Din.
The reporters were found guilty of receiving classified documents in what a police witness at their trial admitted was a sting operation designed to block or punish them for reporting on a mass killing of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine, a clear case of entrapment. This follows the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar report published on 27 August that said Myanmar’s top military generals, including Commander-in-Chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State, as well as for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States,
“The Association for International Broadcasting deplores the jailing of the two Reuters reporters in Myanmar,” said Simon Spanswick, AIB Chief Executive. “Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were working for a major international news agency carrying out a legitimate investigation into killings in the country. This is a clear case of responsible journalism being silenced by the authorities who fear the uncovering of truths that could harm their legitimacy. This Association joins with other organisations and the diplomatic community in Myanmar in condemning these verdicts and their negative impact on journalism and freedom of expression in the country. We call on the authorities to overturn these sentences at the earliest opportunity and demonstrate to the world community that the country respects journalistic freedom.”
According to Reuters, US ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel said the “deeply troubling” verdict could undermine the confidence the Myanmar people had in the justice system.
The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar Knut Ostby said he was “disappointed”.
“Unbelievable! More and more, responsible journalism is found to be a crime in Myanmar!” Yanghee Lee, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said on Twitter.
British ambassador Dan Chugg, speaking on behalf of EU members, said the verdict had “dealt a hammer blow for the rule of law”.
The AIB is lodging complaints with the Myanmar Ambassador in London and in Washington DC.
Picture credit | Reuters journalist Wa Lone departs Insein court after his verdict announcement in Yangon, Myanmar, September 3, 2018. (REUTERS)
Download the AIB press release here.
