Al Jazeera shocked by Malaysia authorities reaction to documentary

9 July 2020

Al Jazeera shocked by Malaysia authorities reaction to documentary

Al Jazeera shocked by the response from Malaysian authorities to its documentary ‘Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown’ and worried about the safety of its staff

Al Jazeera has serious concerns about developments that have occurred in Malaysia since the broadcast of its 101 East investigative documentary, “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown” on 3 July 2020. The documentary looked at why Malaysia’s illegal foreign migrant workers are at risk in the time of COVID-19.

Malaysian officials have criticised the documentary as being inaccurate, misleading and unfair.

Al Jazeera strongly refutes these charges and stands by the professionalism, quality and impartiality of its journalism.

The 101 East documentary strand, a weekly programme from across the Asia Pacific region, has a reputation for producing in-depth journalism of the highest quality. Many of its programmes have been internationally recognised with prestigious awards from across the globe, including the AIBs.

The episode “Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown” contains the views and experiences of a wide range of people from different backgrounds, including a well-respected Malaysian doctor and Malaysian relief worker on the frontlines. As stated clearly in the film, Al Jazeera acknowledges that Malaysia’s Covid-19 response has successfully contained the spread of the virus. The programme also clearly shows the humanitarian efforts made by Malaysian organisations which provide direct assistance to migrants in need. The episode does not contain the personal opinions of any Al Jazeera staff.

Al Jazeera repeatedly sought to obtain the government’s view, by requesting interviews with a number of senior government ministers and officials. Repeated requests for interviews were not accepted. Al Jazeera also sought to attend the Defence Minister’s press conferences, but was told only state media could attend. Despite the government’s refusal to be interviewed, Al Jazeera still produced a balanced film by including comments made by the Defence Minister at two press conferences.

The documentary captured events, including immigration raids, as they unfolded in real-time in Malaysia. These events were also widely reported by many other media outlets, both domestically and internationally.

Al Jazeera is deeply concerned that its staff are now subject to a police investigation. Charging journalists for doing their jobs is not the action of a democracy that values free speech. Journalism is not a crime. Al Jazeera also has grave concerns about the sustained online harassment its staff are facing. Reporters have been targeted with abusive messages and death threats. The personal details of current and former staff have been published online, in a serious breach of privacy which could potentially expose them to great risk both now and in the future.

Al Jazeera is also concerned for the safety of those interviewed in the documentary who have also been subjected to abusive online harassment and hate speech. People should feel free to speak with the media and express their views without the fear that they could be targeted. In a world in which the media face increasing threats, Al Jazeera calls for media freedom and the right to report freely without intimidation.

Al Jazeera calls upon the Malaysian authorities to desist from initiating any criminal investigation into its professional, impartial journalism.

Al Jazeera English is prepared to host a representative of the Malaysian government to respond to the matters raised in the documentary.

Edit 15 July 2020

The AIB has written to the Malaysian High Commissioner in London to protest the investigation launched against the team of Al Jazeera journalists who compiled the documentary. You can read the letter here.

TRT World Forum Digital Debates discuss Srebrenica Genocide on 25th anniversary

7 July 2020

TRT World Forum Digital Debates discuss Srebrenica Genocide on 25th anniversary

Marking the 25^th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide, as part of a week-long discussion series with the participation of special guests, Digital Debates discusses human rights, war crimes and the effectiveness and challenges of the implementation of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ principle in an effort to help prevent massacres and genocides.

The first session will take place today (Tuesday, July 7) at 5:00 pm GMT (8:00 pm local Turkey time) with the attendance of Dr. Waqar Azmi, Chairman of Remembering Srebrenica to discuss the ‘The Enduring Denial of Genocide’.

The session seeks to address the obstacles hampering reconciliation, the strategies used by genocide deniers, as well as questioning how Republika Srpska’s ongoing calls for secession affect reconciliation?

The other sessions are listed as follows:

July 8^th at 5:00 pm GMT: ‘Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Prosecution of War Criminals’ with Dr. Nevenka Tromp Vrkic, Lecturer in East European Studies at the University of Amsterdam.

July 9^th at 4:00 pm GMT: ‘The UN’s Responsibility to Protect Srebrenica’, Toby Cadman, Co-founder and Head of Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers.

July 10^th at 5:00 pm GMT: ‘How International Justice Failed in Srebrenica’, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, Lead Prosecutor in the Slobodan Milosevic trial at the UN-run International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

July 11^th at 5:00 pm GMT: ‘The Humanitarian Scale of the Bosnian War and the Srebrenica Genocide’, Kathryne Bomberger, Director General of the International Commission on Missing Persons.

Everyone can join the sessions:

The sessions will be broadcast online on TRT World Forum’s social media accounts. Attendees are encouraged to address their questions during the live Q&A sessions.

YouTube: @TRTWorldForum

Facebook: @TRTWorldForum

Twitter: @ TRTWorldForum

What happened in Srebrenica:

In July 1995, half a century after the Holocaust, Europe witnessed another genocide. In the wake of Yugoslavia’s dissolution, thousands of civilians escaped to Srebrenica, a UN-designated safe area. However, under the watch of Dutch UN protection forces, the Bosnian Serb forces systematically massacred more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica. The ramifications of the massacre continue to haunt the victims’ families and the international community’s conscience.

About TRT

TRT, a European Broadcasting Union founding member, stands out as a reliable source of information with its reporting at home and from abroad, developing a rich tradition of journalistic integrity and offering viewers a rich bouquet of programmes. With over half a century of broadcasting experience, today TRT’s network extends to 14 television channels, 18 radio stations in 41 languages and dialects.In order to fulfill the demands of global audience for an easier access to its content on different platforms, TRT launched its English channel TRT World- a platform of news outlets aimed to inspire change in the world by delivering diverse reporting.

http://www.trt.net.tr/

https://www.facebook.com/TRT/

https://www.instagram.com/trt/

https://www.youtube.com/user/TRTTelevizyon

https://twitter.com/trt

About TRT World

TRT World, Turkey’s first English broadcasting international news platform was launched in 2015 and headquartered in Istanbul, with four newsrooms and an extensive global bureau network covering major regions and hot spots. Strategically designed to maximize its global reach, it is broadly available in all major English-speaking countries and can be accessed via traditional media, including free-to-air, cable and satellite, and other digital platforms, including mobiles, desktops and social media. A distinctive voice to the global news landscape, this is TRT World.

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youtube.com/c/trt.world

AIB history brief – jamming

30 June 2020

AIB history brief – jamming

They spent more on jamming than the broadcasts cost to produce. That’s the theory around the jamming of western radio broadcasters by the Soviet Bloc during the Cold War years.

Leaders of the communist states were determined to keep control of the information flow to their citizens, fearing that news from abroad would lead to the undermining of their totalitarian regimes.

Immense shortwave transmitting stations were constructed across eastern Europe, from the Baltics to the Balkans, not to serve audiences but to hinder them. They were not listed in the International Telecommunication Union’s registers of transmitters in the “white book”, the hugely detailed dataset of the world’s shortwave broadcasting. They were, essentially, transmitters that everyone knew existed yet were maintained “off the books” as state secrets.

As jamming became ever more prevalent – aimed principally at the BBC External Services [now BBC World Service]; Deutsche Welle; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; Voice of America – western broadcasters had to invest more in building ever greater numbers of high powered shortwave transmitters to ensure that their signals reached their listeners across eastern Europe.

If you tuned across the shortwave radio bands in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, you would have heard a cacophony of sound. Over-modulated speech, distorted music – anything that could have the effect of making the original programme all but impossible to hear was used to stop reception.

To understand the scale of the operation, it’s worth watching a video produced by RFE/RL about the Padorska jamming station (2012 aerial shot from Google Earth pictured) in central Bulgaria. The immense site is now in ruins, with the antennas removed in the last few years (although Google Maps has a Street View image from 2012 in which the site’s antennas are visible in the distance). One of the technicians who started working at the site in the late 1980s, shortly before the Iron Curtain was lifted, explains how the station operated.

There are a good number of anecdotes concerning jamming. One from 1985 when many BBC employees went on strike and programmes were replaced with music on World Service English and most of the language services. The Soviet jammers had a day off – at least until someone in Bush House, then the home to BBC World Service, decided to play “Back in the USSR” by the Beatles. Within minutes the jammers leapt into life, simply to drown out what was clearly thought to be decadent anti-Soviet music.

The end of the Cold War did not mark the cessation of jamming. It’s continued on shortwave over the past 30 years. At the time of the first Gulf War, Iraq jammed the BBC’s services in the Middle East and more recently North Korea has jammed the signals of Radio Free Asia.

Jamming continues from time to time today. As shortwave broadcasting has slowly faded away, satellites have become the target. Ethiopia has jammed satellites carrying opposition TV channels and Iran regularly jams satellites with Persian-language programmes from abroad. There are no longer immense jamming stations seeking to interfere with programmes from around the world; today’s satellite jammers can use commercially available uplink equipment to try and take out transponders on satellites. The satellite industry has responded, and now far greater levels of security exist that prevent almost all attempts to stop TV and radio signals from reaching their intended audiences.

This does not mean that the free flow of information across borders is guaranteed today. Some governments continue to try to restrict the work of international broadcasters, using tactics instead of wholesale jamming of the airwaves. It’s why the AIB continues to work on media freedom to try to ensure that everyone can access the information they want or need.

Additional resources:

http://www.antentop.org/008/files/jamm008.pdf

https://criticaldistance.blogspot.com/2012/04/jamming-hell-out-of-west.html

ABC sets out five year plan

30 June 2020

ABC sets out five year plan

ABC Managing Director David Anderson has launched the ABC’s five-year strategy and outlined proposals to address budget cuts while protecting the Corporation’s independence and Charter responsibilities for all Australians.

“The ABC Five-Year Plan 2020-2025 will guide us as we continue to transform from a traditional broadcaster to the nation’s most trusted and valued digital content provider across all platforms,” Mr Anderson told ABC employees.

“This strategy lays out the next steps in the ABC’s proud 88-year history, ensuring that now and into the future we remain the home of Australian stories, trusted information and conversations that connect us all.”

Mr Anderson said proposed savings initiatives aligned with the five-year plan, ensuring the ABC is more relevant to more Australians with a greater focus on accessibility and the on-demand digital services audiences now expect.

Mr Anderson said the Federal Government’s indexation pause, which cut the ABC’s budget by $84m over three years with an ongoing reduction of $41m a year from 2022, coming on top of the $64m in ongoing cuts imposed in 2014, made difficult decisions affecting jobs and services inevitable.

“The proposals announced today ensure the ABC can enhance its value to all Australians now and into the future,” he said. “However, we anticipate we will farewell as many as 250 people through this process, valued colleagues who have made tremendous contributions to the ABC and to our audiences.

“This is a difficult time for us, as it is for the broader economy and community as we all struggle with the events of this year.”

ABC Chair Ita Buttrose said “the ABC Five-Year Plan is a robust blueprint for the future of the ABC that emphasises the important role the ABC plays in the Australian way of life.”

The proposed savings initiatives include:

 Giving ABC Life a new editorial direction and name, ABC Local, sourcing content from across the ABC, including outer suburban and regional areas.

 A greater focus on digital and on-demand news services, including discontinuing the 7.45am broadcast-only radio news bulletin and shifting focus to provide news across all our audio platforms.

 Rebranding ABC Comedy to create a home for a range of genres, such as Arts, Science, Education and Religion. Comedy will continue to be commissioned for ABC main channel and a destination on iview.

 Reducing independent production by approximately $5m p.a., predominately from the factual and entertainment slate, with the ABC prioritising investment in Drama and Children’s programming.

The proposed initiatives are in addition to reduced numbers in management and support teams and identified savings greater than 2% through current vacancies, redundancies and reducing operating costs.

The ABC has also reduced travel budgets by 25%, with a greater reliance on technology to connect the workforce.

A review of the ABC’s property portfolio will consider options to either improve our accommodation, lease vacant space or relocate if it is more beneficial. Assessing spare capacity for leasing in ABC Ultimo could potentially create a $4 million p.a. saving. A portion of this could be reinvested in services.

Increased investment in regional centres reflects another important commitment in the Five-Year Plan and will see 75% of content-makers working outside the Ultimo headquarters by 2025, ensuring greater engagement with local communities.

Mr Anderson told employees both he and the ABC Chair Ita Buttrose would continue to seek the Government’s endorsement for a five-year funding period to give the ABC certainty in delivering this plan for all Australians.

“The ABC Five-Year Plan 2020-2025 is just the start of this next stage in the ABC’s history,” Mr Anderson said. “We will uphold the highest editorial values, remaining Australia’s best and most trusted source of news and information and continuing to deliver the best public interest journalism that strengthens our democracy.”

“The ABC Five-Year Plan is a commitment to the ABC tradition of telling Australian stories that are accessible, bold and creative. Our message to the Australian people is clear. Now, more than ever, we are your ABC.”

Image: Flickr/Stilgherrian

UN launches Pause campaign to halt disinformation

30 June 2020

UN launches Pause campaign to halt disinformation

The United Nations has launched a new initiative to foster behaviour change and counter the growing threat of misinformation online. The campaign, called Pause, asks digital users to take the time to think about what they share before posting it online.

“Misinformation is spreading faster than the virus itself, and is seriously disrupting public health efforts by dangerously distorting sound scientific guidance. It is designed to exploit our emotions and biases at a time of heightened fear,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “But there are ways users can learn to recognize bad information and slow the spread. We are aiming to have the phrase, ‘Pause, take care before you share,’ become a new public norm.”

A range of media companies around the world, including AIB Members Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle and France Médias Monde, are distributing Pause content on TV channels, online and via SMS.

Major social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Google (YouTube) and TikTok, have also committed to promoting Pause, while indicating a willingness to scale up their ongoing efforts to suppress the circulation of misinformation.

“It is encouraging to see steps already taken by social media platforms, such as swiftly removing misinformation surrounding COVID-19, flagging harmful content, questioning sharing intentions and also promoting sound health advice, including from the World Health Organization (WHO),” said Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.

“Just as social distancing slows the spread of the virus, behaviour changes around sharing will go a long way to slow the spread of misinformation. But it can only be meaningfully halted if there is no place for misinformation on social media platforms.”

Pause draws on research from psychologists, neuroscientists and behavioural scientists whose studies indicate that pausing to reflect before sharing can significantly help reduce the spread of unverified and misleading information. The campaign will challenge people to break the habit of sharing shocking or emotive content impulsively and without questioning its accuracy.

The campaign, launched on World Social Media Day (30 June), is part of a larger UN initiative called Verified aimed at increasing the volume and reach of trusted, engaging and accurate information, including with the help of more than 10,000 information volunteers who have already signed on to the effort.

Following its launch in May, Verified has received strong support from governments. In mid-June, more than 130 UN Member States issued a statement on the need to address the “infodemic” related to COVID-19, while welcoming the UN’s pandemic response and the Verified initiative.

Verified is a collaboration between the UN Department of Global Communications and Purpose, one of the world’s leading social mobilisation organisations, in partnership with UN agencies and country teams as well as influencers, civil society and businesses.

Media Freedom Coalition speaks out on Yemen

29 June 2020

Media Freedom Coalition speaks out on Yemen

Six members of the Media Freedom Coalition’s Executive Group have expressed their growing concern about the Houthis’ attacks on media freedom in Yemen, where their continued detention of Yemeni journalists is troubling evidence of serious abuses of the right to freedom of expression.

In particular, the Group has condemned the Houthis’ decision to put four Yemeni journalists to death for their reporting, an alarming situation that constitutes a blatant disregard for human rights.

Attacks on media freedom are attacks on human rights, and the protection of journalists and other media workers is critical to the success of any peace-building efforts undertaken in Yemen.

The Executive Group calls on all parties to guarantee the safety of journalists and to respect human rights and international humanitarian law, so that they can carry out their work without fear of detention, reprisals or restrictions inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression.

The Executive Group also call on the Houthis, to:

immediately disavow their decision to put to death the journalists Abdulkhaleq Ahmed Amran, Akram Saleh Al-Walidi, Al-Hareth Saleh Hamid and Tawfiq Mohammed Al-Mansouri and release them
immediately release journalists Hisham Ahmed Tarmoom, Hisham Abdulmalik Al-Yousefi, Haitham Abdulrahman Al-Shihab, Essam Amin Balgheeth, and Hassan Abdullah Annab.
immediately free all other detained Yemeni journalists and disavow any intention to punish or harm them, and account for those journalists who are missing
Refrain from undermining the exercise of the right to freedom of expression by all Yemeni journalists and media workers t in the pursuit of their essential work—without being subjected to further punishment

The Media Freedom Coalition Executive Group members issuing this statement are: Canada, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

The Association for International Broadcasting is committed to the principle of media freedom and is a member of the Media Freedom Coalition Advisory Network, representing the interests of broadcasters and news organisations across the world.

Image: Felton Davis/Flickr