29 April 2015
Broadcasters responded rapidly to the devastating earthquake in Nepal that is believed to have killed more than 10,000 people and made hundreds of thousands homeless.
BBC World Service is now broadcasting additional programming on shortwave in both Nepalese and in English while BBC Media Action – the BBC’s international development charity – is working with the Nepali Service on BBC World Service (radio and online) and local partner radio stations to broadcast ‘Lifeline’ programming.
Liliane Landor, Controller of World Service Languages, says: “Information is vital and we are doing all we can to make sure that our audiences in the affected areas receive their local and regional news as well as ‘Lifeline’ programming designed to give practical information to help deal with the aftermath of the earthquake.”
The Nepali language programme is available on shortwave as follows:
Nepali dawn transmission (01:30-01:45 GMT) on 11995 kHz (25 metre band) and 15510 kHz (19 metre band)
Nepali evening transmission (15:00-16:00 GMT) on 9650 kHz (31 metre band) and 5895 kHz (49 metre band)
The availability of World Service English on short wave to Northern India and Nepal has been extended with the service now starting one hour earlier than normal at 23.00 GMT.
Additional frequencies for World Service in English (to S Asia) from 23:00 GMT to 24:00GMT: 5895 kHz (49 metre band) and 9540 kHz (31 metre band)
From 00:00GMT the broadcasts continue as normal on 12,095kHz, 9,410kHz and 5970kHz.
For broadcasters covering the disaster, Reuters-TIMA are operational from the Radisson Hotel, Kathmandu offering
- HD/SD live stand-up positions
- Multi format playout facilities
- Editorial support
- International point-to-point delivery via the Reuters-TIMA network
The External Services Division (ESD) of All India Radio reacted quickly to the situation.
As soon as the News of devastating Earthquake ravaging large part of Nepal started trickling in, as an immediate measure, SOS announcements advising people not to panic and take precautionary safety measures against the possible aftershocks were made. Thereafter, the service got in touch with the MEA officials and by 7 pm, the helpline numbers of MEA, the Indian Mission in Kathmandu were repeatedly announced. People were advised to take all precautionary measures, as per the guidelines provided by the NDMA. Appeal of ADG, NDMA was also recorded over telephone and broadcast.
Since all lines of communication had broken down, the Nepali Service being broadcast on short-wave remained the only available communication link to reach out to the distressed people in Kathmandu valley and the hinterland Nepal.
Normal programming of the whole evening transmission was changed and programmes relating to the Earthquake were broadcast continuously.
20 February 2015
Vizrt Ltd. announced today a deal worth USD 406,000 for services and BG software licenses with a European broadcaster. The system is to be used for news productions, particularly for large broadcast events. The products are further extensions to their existing setup and will largely be supplemental for particular events.
The broadcaster has been a customer for many years, and has chosen Vizrt due to a successful long-time relationship, a trust in Vizrt´s products and the reliable service and support.
About Vizrt:
Vizrt provides real-time 3D graphics, studio automation, sports analysis and asset management tools for the broadcast industry – interactive and virtual solutions, animations, maps, weather, video editing and compositing tools. Vizrt’s products are used by the world’s leading broadcasters, including: CNN, CBS, Fox, the BBC, BSkyB, Al Jazeera, ITN, ZDF, Star TV, Network 18, TV Today, CCTV, and NHK. Furthermore, many world-class production houses and corporate institutions such as the Stock Exchanges in New York and London use Vizrt systems.
22 December 2014
SES S.A.has announced that the ASTRA 2G satellite is ready for its scheduled launch on board an ILS Proton booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on December 28 at 03:37:49 Baikonur Time (December 27 at 22:37:49 CET and 16:37:49 EST).
Designed and manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space, ASTRA 2G is based on the highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform. It will have a launch mass of 6 tons, a wingspan of 40m once its solar arrays are deployed in orbit, and a spacecraft power of 13kW until the end of its 15-year design life.
ASTRA 2G will be deployed in geostationary orbit at the 28.2/28.5 degrees East neighbourhood to provide next generation broadcast and broadband services in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The spacecraft carries 62 Ku-band transponders and 4 Ka-band transponders.
ASTRA 2G will be the twenty-fourth SES satellite to be launched by ILS Proton, and the ninth Eurostar satellite in the SES fleet. Three more E3000s are currently in production for SES. The Proton booster itself will mark its 401st launch with ASTRA 2G.
A live broadcast of the launch in high definition quality will be available via Astra at the orbital position of 19.2 degrees East, channel 1.037, downlink frequency 11023.25 MHz, horizontal polarization, Symbol rate 22.0 MSym/s, FEC 5/6, service ID 5221, service name ASTRA 2G Launch.
A webcast will also be available via http://astra2g.imgondemand.com/. The video transmission of the launch of ASTRA 2G will begin approximately 30 minutes before liftoff. (Source: SES press release)
1 December 2014
Regional broadcaster Channel NewsAsia launches its first feature film, Little People Big Dreams. Shot in High Definition, the documentary is the first original production under the banner of ‘Channel NewsAsia Feature Films’. It goes behind the curtains of a controversial theme park, Dwarves Empire, in China’s Yunnan province. The multi-million dollar theme park simulates a fantasy land where dozens of little people are hired to perform for paying tourists. The controversy surrounding the theme park is an obvious one – does it provide the little people with a stable livelihood at the expense of their basic rights?
Little People Big Dreams will premiere in Asia at the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) held at the National Museum of Singapore, Gallery Theatre, on Sunday, 7 December 2014 at 7.15pm. Following the screening, a discussion with the audience will be held with the film’s Director, Mr Mak CK, and Channel NewsAsia’s Vice President of Network Programming and Promotions, and Commissioning Editor of Little People Big Dreams, Ms Mok Choy Lin. This Asian premiere comes at the heels of an immensely successful world premiere at the CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival. Little People Big Dreams was the first-ever Singapore-produced film to be featured at the Copenhagen festival. It saw two sold-out screenings on 11 and 14 November 2014. A third screening on 17 November was added following the overwhelming response.
Apart from the world premiere, Little People Big Dreams has also received numerous international accolades. In May this year, it was selected for the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program-CNEX workshop in Beijing. The documentary was also awarded ‘Best Project Pitch’ at the CNEX Chinese Doc Forum in Taipei in October. It is slated for various international festivals, including the International Festival of Audiovisual Programmes in France in January 2015.
Mr Mak says, “When I first read about the theme park online, I was immediately intrigued by the existence of such a bizarre attraction in this day and age. I have always been interested in microcosms of society and communities that are discriminated or gravely under-represented in the media. Through this film, I’ve had the privilege of learning about the lives of little people in the world’s most populous nation. The personal life stories featured in the film are both heartbreaking and inspiring. Over the course of making this film, I struggled with how I feel about the park. And I’ve come to realise that many a time, morality comes in different shades of grey.” Ms Mok comments, “This feature documentary marks a production milestone for the channel and has already attracted extraordinary interest from worldwide distributors. We are delighted to be one of the few broadcasters in Asia to support feature-length documentaries and encourage filmmakers in the region to send us their incredible stories.”
Little People Big Dreams will air on Channel NewsAsia in early 2015. (Source: Channel NewsAsia press release)
19 November 2014
The brutality of the militant group Islamic State (IS) was on horrific display over the weekend of 15/16 November with the release of a video showing the beheading of American aid worker Peter Kassig and a dozen or more Syrian pilots and military officers. As the violence continues, questions are mounting about who controls the group, whether it functions under a unified command, and whether its leading personalities are indeed the masterminds they appear to be.
The latest edition of RFE/RLive will explore just who and what Islamic State is. The discussion will feature Joanna Paraszczuk, author of RFE/RL’s Under The Black Flag blog, which provides daily news and analysis about IS in Iraq and Syria, and examines the response to the group in the Arab world, Iran, and across the former Soviet Union. Ms. Paraszczuk will be joined by RFE/RL Regional Broadcasting Director for Iran and Iraq, Mardo Soghom.
RFE/RLive: Who Is Islamic State?
Join us live at YouTubeand Google+
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at 1600GMT
Questions can be posted in advance, and you can follow updates for live links to the Google+ Hangout on Facebook and Twitter using #RFERLive.
Joanna Paraszczuk is a British blogger and journalist who has lived and worked in Russia and the Middle East. Her research and reporting focuses on Russian-speaking militants in Syria and Iraq. Ms. Paraszczuk writes and curates Under The Black Flag, RFE/RL’s new blog tracking Islamic State, and also runs the Chechens in Syria blog.
Mardo Soghom is RFE/RL Regional Broadcasting Director for Iran and Iraq. Mr. Soghom joined RFE/RL in 1989 as a special correspondent in New York, later becoming the Director of RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. In 2002, he helped launch Radio Farda, RFE/RL’s Persian- language service. Mr. Soghom was born in Iran, completed his undergraduate studies in Lebanon, and has an M.A. and M.Phil in Political Science from Columbia University.
14 October 2014
In another disturbing move against freedom of speech and independent journalism in Egypt, one of Al Jazeera Arabic channel’s presenters, Ahmed Mansour, has been sentenced in absentia to fifteen years imprisonment by Cairo’s criminal court on the absurd charge of torturing a lawyer in Tahrir Square during the January 25 revolution in 2011.
This is yet another bizarre and unjust targeting of Al Jazeera journalists after the sentencing of other Al Jazeera journalists this past year, from seven to ten years imprisonment. Baher Mohamed, Peter Greste, and Mohamed Fahmy remain in prison, while others were tried in absentia.
An Al Jazeera spokesman stated:
“This unjust ruling along with false accusations and criminal charges is further evidence of the attempt to silence journalists, tarnish their reputations and disrupt their work. Ahmad Mansour himself has been targeted with more than 150 false accusations and complaints against him by the Egyptian authorities, this verdict being just one of them.
“This case is another illustration of how Al Jazeera Media Network is paying the price for its professionalism, after the imprisonment of its journalists from Al Jazeera English, and Abdullah Elshamy, and the shooting of Mohammad Al-Zaki during the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in. It is a price not only paid by Al Jazeera, but also other journalists from global and Egyptian media. Scores have faced harassment, been arrested, and even lost their lives for the sake of getting the truth to viewers and readers.
“The verdict against Ahmad Mansour – who is followed by millions and has interviewed world and thought leaders – reveals how the Egyptian judicial system is politicised and continues to use its authority to intimidate journalists.
“Al Jazeera remains dedicated and committed to its editorial and professional standards and maintains full confidence in its staff. Despite this baseless ruling, Ahmad Mansour remains one of the most respected journalists in the Arab world.
“Al Jazeera Media Network calls on the Egyptian authorities to refrain from character assassinations against journalists in their attempts to unfairly tarnish reputations. The network renews its demand for all jailed journalists to be released and stands firmly by its colleagues.”
Notes:
Ahmed Mansour is currently filming his show and will be available for interviews later this week. To register your interest, please email pressoffice@aljazeera.net
