Al Jazeera condemns destruction of its offices in Gaza

15 May 2021

Al Jazeera condemns destruction of its offices in Gaza

Al Jazeera issued the following press release:

Al Jazeera condemns in the strongest terms bombing and destruction of its offices by the Israeli military in Gaza, and views this as a clear act to stop journalists from conducting their duty to inform the world and report events on the ground. Al Jazeera vows to pursue every available route to hold the Israeli government responsible for its actions.

Residents and occupants of Al Jalaa building, which houses Al Jazeera’s offices along with major international media outlets, such as AP, and Middle East Eye, were informed by the Israeli army via a phone call that they had less than one hour to vacate the building.

Al Jazeera calls on all media and human right institutions to join forces in denouncing this ruthless bombing and to hold the government of Israel accountable for deliberately targeting journalists and media institutions.

Commenting on the bombing of Al Jalaa building, Dr Mostefa Souag, Acting Director General of Al Jazeera Media Network said, “We call on the international community to condemn such barbaric actions and targeting of journalists and we demand an immediate international action to hold Israel accountable for its deliberate targeting of journalists and the media institutions.”

Dr Souag continued, “The aim of this heinous crime is to silence the media and to hide the untold carnage and suffering of the people of Gaza.”

“The destruction of Al Jazeera offices and that of other media organisations in Al Jalaa tower in Gaza is a blatant violation of human rights and is internationally considered a war crime. We call on all media and human rights institutions in denouncing this heinous crime, and to stand with Al Jazeera and other media organisations targeted by the Israeli army, despite knowing their use of the building as their headquarters for many years.”

Al Jazeera promises its audience to continue its coverage and to uncover the truth of what is happening in Gaza, the Palestinian Territories and in Israel, regardless of the attempts to suppress it. The assault on the building hosting international media institutions aims to silence the truth by killing the messenger.

Journalism is not a crime.

[Source: Al Jazeera press release]

[Photo by Nidal Alwaheidi / SOPA Images/Sipa USA via Alamy]

AIB launches search for outstanding coverage of media freedom

6 May 2021

AIB launches search for outstanding coverage of media freedom

New award category for the best media freedom coverage added to the AIBs

The Association for International Broadcasting has launched a new award category for its 17^th annual competition for journalism and factual productions, the AIBs. The AIB Media Freedom Award complements the Association’s media freedom initiatives that supports its members around the world.

The ground-breaking award will recognise the TV or radio broadcaster or digital media house that has actively covered, promoted and protected media freedom. The prize may go to the organisation that has developed a special strand of programming around media freedom, or it could be awarded to a company that has stood up to attacks against it through intimidation of staff or by means of illegal “judicial dragnets”, for example.

“This Media Freedom Award is an important development in the work of the Association for International Broadcasting in this vital subject,” says Tom Wragg who represents the AIB on the consultative network to the inter-governmental Media Freedom Coalition. “The AIB is committed to helping its members, as well as all journalists at risk, raise awareness of issues around media freedom. The AIB supports them in engaging audiences and helping them to understand the vital need for media freedom in all parts of the world. This award will celebrate the organisation that’s making a substantial mark in this area and encouraging others to add to their coverage of media freedom issues.”

The constant and growing number of attacks on news organisations that seek to hold power to account are designed to have a chilling effect on journalism. This new award provides a focus on those telling stories about upholding media freedom across the world.

The AIB Media Freedom Award is one of 21 categories in the AIBs 2021 that reward journalism and factual productions across TV, radio and digital platforms. The AIBs are open to work in any language and produced anywhere in the world. The judging panel is made up of experts from across the media industry worldwide, from Oceania, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.

Past winners of the AIBs include ABS-CBN, CNN, Al Jazeera, RTHK, BBC World Service, VoA, RFA, RFE/RL, ABC, DW, STV, CBC, Mediacorp, eTV and many other broadcasters and production companies. Full information about the AIBs 2021 is online at www.theaibs.tv. The winners of all the AIBs 2021 will be announced in November.

Signiant recruits Dan Marshall to Chief Revenue Officer post

5 May 2021

Signiant recruits Dan Marshall to Chief Revenue Officer post

Signiant has announced that Dan Marshall has been appointed to the newly created role of Chief Revenue Officer. Reporting directly to CEO Margaret Craig, Marshall is now responsible for driving all of the company’s global sales activities. He assumed the role on May 3, 2021.

“Dan’s knowledge of the industry and his relationships with key customers are second to none,” said Craig. “I’m thrilled to welcome him to the leadership team and the timing is perfect. Signiant’s market momentum continues to accelerate, driven by SaaS products that solve mission-critical problems today while laying the groundwork for a much broader platform vision going forward. As a trusted advisor to media executives around the world, Dan will jumpstart our ability to deliver the Signiant message and engage with the industry at a strategic level.”

Marshall brings many years of experience building and driving high-performance, customer-centric sales organisations in the media technology sector. He joins Signiant from Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he led several large teams involved in implementing media workflows in the cloud. Marshall joined AWS in 2015 via its acquisition of Elemental Technologies, a pioneer in multi-screen video streaming technologies, where he led the sales organisation from the start-up phase through to market leadership. Prior to Elemental he managed sales and other customer-facing functions for Omneon, where he played a pivotal role in growing a global business that transformed the video server and storage market.

Commenting on his move to Signiant, Marshall points to the highly differentiated nature of Signiant’s cloud-native SaaS platform. “During my time at AWS I was deeply involved in conceptualising and implementing the next-generation media supply chain, and I want to continue to play an active role in supporting customers on that journey. Building on a foundation of widely-deployed transport optimisation technology, Signiant is the only media tech company that is pursuing a true platform strategy. This approach allows us to deliver even greater value to our customers ⎯ we’re driving down TCO by delivering economies of scale, reduced complexity, and agile, efficient workflows. I know these are the things that matter to media enterprises in today’s challenging environment, and I’m excited to join an innovative, entrepreneurial software organisation that is already on a high-growth trajectory.”

Long established within the M&E industry for optimising the transfer of large files over IP networks, Signiant’s role in the media technology stack has expanded dramatically in recent years. In today’s hybrid cloud, multi-cloud world, the company’s Software-Defined Content Exchange (SDCX) platform provides the connective fabric between globally distributed content repositories ⎯ both within and between media companies of all sizes. In addition to providing fast, secure access to media assets regardless of storage type and location, this increasingly involves management of information about the assets. “The recently announced acquisition of Lesspain Software is an important milestone in the Signiant story,” adds Marshall. “By expanding the value proposition beyond file transfer into adjacent media-centric capabilities, we’re delivering on a unique and compelling vision of the future that aligns with emerging customer needs.”

NHK WORLD programme highlights May

30 April 2021

NHK WORLD programme highlights May

Until the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, Sato Shinichi made a living at his photo studio in Minamisanriku. When the disaster struck, he evacuated to high ground, carrying an SLR camera. That camera allowed him to document the horror as the tsunami swallowed the town and destroyed lives. Since then, Sato has taken more than 300,000 photos, showing despair, regret, turmoil, and resolve for recovery. Now, he’s focusing on hope for a better future.

Nakamura Tetsu, who devoted his life to assist Afghanistan, was shot to death in December 2019. As a medical doctor, he treated individual patients and built clinics to provide ongoing care to larger numbers of people. He later embarked on projects to enhance irrigation in the dry, war-ridden country. At his side, there were one hundred or so young Japanese who assisted the doctor’s efforts. Some came after suffering setbacks in Japan. Others arrived with a vision of making a difference in the world. In this program, they reflect on how their time with him changed their lives.

Trails to Oishii Tokyo

Wednesdays

14:30 / 20:30 / 3:30 / 9:30

Delicious food from Tokyo’s markets! Learn about the amazing ingredients which are sourced from across Japan and sold at Tokyo’s fresh food markets.

Cycle around Japan

Saturdays

2:10 / 9:10 / 17:10 / 21:10

Come ride with us! Bicycle through the scenery of Japan, stay with locals and discover hidden traditions in a Japan you didn’t know existed.

[Source: NHK WORLD press release]

Council of Europe calls for stronger political will to protect media freedom

29 April 2021

Council of Europe calls for stronger political will to protect media freedom

In a statement issued ahead of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić has urged European governments to show stronger political will to protect journalists and independent journalism in order to put a stop to the deterioration of media freedom in the continent.

“Media freedom is an essential pillar of our democracies which is too often taken for granted. Respect for freedom of the media is in decline in many countries. In the last years we have witnessed an increase in the number of cases of violence and intimidation against journalists.

“During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a strong rise in reports of violence against journalists as well as censorship and reprisals for questioning governments policies. At the same time, quality media face serious economic challenges and many journalists have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. These worrying trends are highlighted in my annual report to be published in the next days.

“It is time to recall that states have an obligation to ensure that journalists can carry out their work free from violence and intimidation and fulfil their role as public “watchdog”, which includes holding public authorities accountable for their decisions and action.”

The annual report of the Platform for the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists, released by 14 international media freedom organisations, lists 201 serious cases of threats to media freedom in the 47 Council of Europe member states in 2020, a 40% increase compared to 2019. A record number of alerts concerned physical attacks (52 cases) and harassment or intimidation (70 cases).

Image: Council of Europe

Russian regulator protests to Google on RT YouTube restrictions

29 April 2021

Russian regulator protests to Google on RT YouTube restrictions

Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor says that it has written to Google demanding all restrictions on the YouTube channel of RT to be lifted.

The regulator says that YouTube has blocked a range of items from the site, and restricted RT’s ability to upload new videos.

The letter from Roskomnadzor notes that such actions by the YouTube video hosting administration violate the key principles of free dissemination of information, unhindered access to it and are an act of censorship against the Russian media.

The Russian regulator has demanded that all all restrictions be removed “as soon as possible,” as well as providing an explanation for the reasons for their introduction.

In its statement on the issue, Roskomnadzor says that according to Russian law, if Internet companies ignore warnings “about violations of the rights of Russians on the Internet, including censorship of the Russian media,” it has the power to impose “administrative fines” of up to one million roubles (about US$13,640). The regulator goes on to say that repeated refusals to comply with its requirements will result in a multiple increase in fines – up to three million roubles.

The RT YouTube channel, checked by the AIB on 29 April, shows no uploads have been made since 24 April 2021.