3 May 2017
Newly-launched international news channel set to work with colleagues globally through industry trade association
London, 3 May 2017
The Association for International Broadcasting, the trade association for television, radio and online, is pleased to announce that TRT World has become its newest member. TRT World is also the first broadcaster in Turkey to join the Association.
TRT World launched in October 2015 as Turkey’s first English-language international television and digital news service. Operated by the country’s public broadcaster, TRT [Turkish Radio and Television Corporation], TRT World broadcasts from its main studio complex in Istanbul and from studios that the channel has established in London and Washington DC.
“We are pleased to welcome TRT World, the newest international news channel, as a Member of the Association for International Broadcasting,” said Simon Spanswick, AIB chief executive. “The AIB’s Members across the world look forward to working with TRT World, its executives and its journalists as the channel develops its global reach. As part of the AIB ‘family’, TRT World will benefit from the expertise and knowledge that the Association has developed over the past quarter century.”
“Becoming a Member of the Association for International Broadcasting is a step on our journey to be among the world’s top international news channels,” commented Ibrahim Eren, deputy director general of TRT and CEO of TRT World. “It is important for us to collaborate with colleagues from across the international media industry and to share ideas and experiences. The AIB provides the perfect platform to help us share and learn as we develop the channel. We are looking forward to working closely with the AIB and its members across the world.”
TRT World’s membership of the Association for international Broadcasting provides access to the full range of the AIB’s work. This includes regular market intelligence briefings and participation in working groups that focus on important areas including cyber security, sustainability, emerging technology and audience measurement. The AIB also supports its Members on key issues that affect their business through the Association’s international lobbying work.
The Association for International Broadcasting is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation that works for the benefit of its Members and of the wider media industry. Governance rests with an elected six-person Executive Committee that includes executives from Bloomberg, the BBC, DW, France Médias Monde, Radio Taiwan International and RT.
27 April 2017
(WASHINGTON – April 26, 2017) Two RFE/RL video documentaries have won Silver Awards at the 2017 New York Festivals International Television and Film Awards ceremony in Las Vegas on Tuesday, April 25.
RFE/RL’s Russian Service’s “She Was Called Tatiana” profiles Russian singer and actress Miriam Sekhon, who was born in the final years of the Soviet Union and now fronts the band Tatiana, which performs songs by Russian singers from the 1930s. The Kyrgyz Service’s short video feature “A Snowy Trek On Horseback To Teach School” tells the story of Kenesh Shorukov, a dedicated schoolteacher who rises before dawn every day to ride 10 kilometers on horseback across northern Kyrgyzstan’s rugged and snowy terrain to get to class on time. Both videos were recognized in the “Human Interest” category.
RFE/RL President Thomas Kent welcomed the awards as “recognition of our strength in visual formats,” and said “they testify to our journalists’ deep connection to the people and places they report, and their ability to identify great stories and tell them powerfully.”
The award-winning videos were among five RFE/RL documentaries that were shortlisted in the competition, which honors programming in all lengths and formats from over 50 countries. The other finalists were “Poisoned Truth,” the first serious journalistic investigation into the mysterious fainting of schoolchildren in the Kazakh village of Berezovka (RFE/RL Kazakh Service); “Generation Emigration,” an exploration of the issues driving mass out-migration among Moldova’s youth (RFE/RL Moldovan Service); and “Frozen In Time: Russia’s Norwegian Colony,” a report from the Russian coal-mining colony that endures on Norway’s Spitsbergen island (RFE/RL Russian Service).
This is the second consecutive year that RFE/RL videos have won recognition at the New York Festivals. The video documentary “Desperate Honeymoon,” a chronicle of one Syrian couple’s months-long migration to Europe, won Silver and Bronze awards in 2016.
The New York Festivals International Television and Film Awards, first presented in 1957, celebrate the exceptional and innovative programs being created today on all continents by the television and film industries.
About RFE/RL
RFE/RL is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, internet, television, and mobile — reach 27 million people in 26 languages and 23 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus, and the Baltic states. It is funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).
22 March 2017
Radio Sawa, the Arabic-language radio network that has changed the media landscape in the Middle East and North Africa, is celebrating its 15th anniversary on 22 March 2017.
Since its launch in 2002, the pan-Arab radio network has been known for offering an innovative format combining accurate and objective news with popular Arabic and English music. With more than 12 million listeners each week across the MENA region, Radio Sawa provides breaking news through up-to-the-minute reports on unfolding events in the Middle East as well as in-depth coverage of topics often unaddressed in the Arab media, such as freedom of speech, religious freedom, countering extremism, women’s rights, and political pluralism. The station has attracted the admiration of Arab audience and forged a reputation that has inspired imitators throughout the region.
“Over its first 15 years, Radio Sawa has successfully broadened the perspective of our audience on issues of importance in the Middle East and around the world,” said Brian Conniff, President of Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), pictured right, which manages and operates Radio Sawa. “Robust access to balanced, unbiased, and accurate journalism makes Radio Sawa an indispensable resource in the Arab media landscape.”
Today, Radio Sawa is expanding its reach by providing news and information to Arab audience through different media platforms, including mobile devices and the Internet. Radio Sawa maintains an active all-news website (www.radiosawa.com) which provides both up to the minute news and information as well as live streaming audio, making the network one of the most trusted sources of news and insights on social and political life in the Middle East and North Africa. The Radio Sawa Android and iOS mobile apps offer a mobile-first experience for engaging with millennial audiences to solicit their voices and opinions. The apps stream eight Arabic channels, feature Sawa Chat interactive conversations, newscasts and the top tech, entertainment and culture news of the day. In addition, Radio Sawa shares compelling stories, audio and photos with millions of social media users on Facebook and Twitter.
Innovative use of technology and high quality journalism earned Radio Sawa several high profile awards, including New York Festivals, AIB Awards, GSMA Global Mobile Awards, and Appy Awards.
Radio Sawa is operated by the non-profit corporation “The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.” (MBN). MBN is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency. The BBG serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters.
Jonathan Munro (right), the BBC’s Head of Newsgathering, said: “We are delighted to be working even more closely with AFP in the years ahead. The BBC’s coverage of the world will benefit enormously from the growing firepower of AFP including its strengths in regions which are underserved by the mainstream media. We hope that the BBC’s new relationship with AFP will prove enduring and positive for both organisations.”
Emmanuel Hoog (pictured), chairman and chief executive of AFP, described the partnership as “an emblematic recognition of everyone’s efforts to make video a top priority”. He added: “It encourages us in our long-term investment strategy to extend and consolidate AFPTV’s unique positioning in Europe and worldwide.”