Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Hussein released from jail in Egypt

8 February 2021

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Hussein released from jail in Egypt

After more than four years in detention without trial, Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein has been released by Egypt.

According to Al Jazeera, Hussein, an Egyptian national held under preventive detention since December 2016, was released from jail on 6 February 2021.

In a statement, Mostefa Souag, acting director-general of the Al Jazeera Media Network, said the release of Hussein was “a moment of truth and an inspiring milestone towards press freedom”.

“Al Jazeera Media Network welcomes the news of Mahmoud’s freedom and believes that no journalist should ever be subjected to what Mahmoud has suffered for the past four years for merely carrying out his profession.

“Today, we are pleased he is finally reunited with his family, after being robbed four years from his life and deprived of his fundamental rights. We wish Mahmoud a speedy recovery and hope he will be able to overcome this past ordeal and start a new chapter in his distinguished career.”

The 54-year-old was arrested in Cairo on December 23, 2016, while visiting his family for a holiday. He was interrogated for more than 15 hours without a lawyer present, before being released and then arrested again days later.

Egypt’s Ministry of Interior publicly accused him of “disseminating false news and receiving monetary funds from foreign authorities in order to defame the state’s reputation”, but no charges were ever formally brought against him. Hussein and Al Jazeera consistently denied the allegations.

Shortly after his arrest, Al Jazeera launched a worldwide media campaign calling for Hussein’s release. The AIB supported this campaign.

Egyptian authorities, however, extended Hussein’s detention more than a dozen times, far surpassing the country’s maximum period for pre-trial detention in violation of both Egyptian and international law.

During his time in jail, Hussein suffered physically and psychologically. He was held for long periods in solitary confinement and denied proper medical treatment when he broke his arm in 2017.

In January 2018, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that the conditions of Hussein’s imprisonment amounted to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”.

Media Freedom Coalition expresses concern over Belarus situation

6 February 2021

Media Freedom Coalition expresses concern over Belarus situation

The intergovernmental Media Freedom Coalition has issued a statement in which it expresses its deep concern about continued attacks on media freedom and the targeting of independent journalists in Belarus.

Media freedom is an important part of democratic societies and essential to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Since the contested presidential election was held on August 9, authorities in Belarus have restricted access to information and have led a brutal and sustained campaign to persecute and harass independent journalists and those from foreign media organizations and prevent them from performing the vital role of objectively reporting on events and holding authorities to account. Access to unfettered information is vital for citizens during protest. Independent journalists play a key role in informing citizens on the causes of unrest and state responses.

Some 400 journalists and media workers in Belarus have faced various forms of repression in the course of the election and its aftermath. On January 12, 2021, media consultant Andrei Aliaksandrau was arrested for allegedly providing financial support to protestors. On December 22, members of the Press Club Belarus were arrested and charged on tax evasion. On January 19, the Belarusian courts confirmed their rule of December 3 which rescinded the official media status of independent news website Tut.by, thereby stripping its journalists of the official protection they have the right to expect when doing their job. Tut.by journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich remains in custody under criminal charges of the alleged disclosure of medical secrets of the late Raman Bandarenka, who died after reportedly being beaten by security forces. On November 15, independent journalist Yekaterina Bakhvalova was arrested and had criminal charges brought against her after filming police officers firing stun grenades during a memorial for Raman Bandarenka. Authorities detained another 23 journalists who were covering this event.

It is deeply troubling that RFE/RL journalist Ihar Losik felt the need to go on hunger strike in order to bring attention to his unjust imprisonment. We are relieved Mr. Losik has halted his hunger strike but remain concerned about his ongoing detention. Sadly, this is only one example of the impact of the authorities’ blatant contempt for media freedom.

These are not isolated incidents but tragic examples of the authorities’ wider campaign to restrict the fundamental freedoms of opinion and expression, by violently suppressing peaceful political protests by opposition supporters and demonstrators. These actions have also been strongly condemned by UN human rights experts and the likeminded international community.

We reaffirm our unequivocal condemnation of the targeting, harassment and detention of journalists and media workers. We call on Belarus to protect media freedom, desist from shutting down Internet access, and respect international human rights law. We strongly urge Belarus to implement OSCE Moscow Mechanism report recommendations on freedom of expression and the media. Political prisoners must be immediately released. We call on Belarus to release journalists and other media workers who have been arbitrarily detained and hold accountable those responsible for attacks on journalists and media workers.

Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

UK media regulator revokes CGTN broadcasting licence

4 February 2021

UK media regulator revokes CGTN broadcasting licence

UK media regulator Ofcom announced on 4 February that it has withdrawn the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the UK. The regulator gave details of its decision, stating that “…after its investigation concluded that the licence is wrongfully held by Star China Media Limited.”

Ofcom’s statement on the affair said:

“China Global Television Network (CGTN) is an international English-language satellite news channel.

In the UK, broadcasting laws made by Parliament state that broadcast licensees must have control over the licensed service – including editorial oversight over the programmes they show. In addition, under these laws, licence holders cannot be controlled by political bodies.^[1]

Our investigation concluded that Star China Media Limited (SCML), the licence-holder for the CGTN service, did not have editorial responsibility for CGTN’s output. As such, SCML does not meet the legal requirement of having control over the licensed service, and so is not a lawful broadcast licensee.

In addition, we have been unable to grant an application to transfer the licence to an entity called China Global Television Network Corporation (CGTNC). This is because crucial information was missing from the application, and because we consider that CGTNC would be disqualified from holding a licence, as it is controlled by a body which is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

We have given CGTN significant time to come into compliance with the statutory rules. Those efforts have now been exhausted.

Following careful consideration, taking account of all the facts and the broadcaster’s and audience’s rights to freedom of expression, we have decided it is appropriate to revoke the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the UK.

We expect to conclude separate sanctions proceedings against CGTN for due impartiality and fairness and privacy breaches shortly.

Ofcom’s investigation

Our investigation found that SCML does not have editorial responsibility for selecting or compiling CGTN’s programme schedule. It is the distributor of the CGTN service in the UK, rather than “the provider” of the service.^[2]

In addition, none of the employees involved in CGTN’s decision-making, or day-to-day running of the channel, appear to be employed by SCML. CGTNC confirmed that its Global Editorial Board is the ultimate decision maker over the selection and organisation of programmes for the CGTN service and exercises editorial control.

CGTN’s licence transfer application

In response to our enquiries, CGTN accepted that SCML did not control the channel and should no longer hold the licence. But it confirmed its intention to restructure to separate the CGTN division from China Central Television (CCTV) – which is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and so disqualified from holding a UK broadcast licence^[3] – and apply to transfer the licence to an entity which did control the channel.

Given the revocation of a broadcast licence is a significant interference with a broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression, we considered it appropriate to allow CGTN a reasonable period of time to come into compliance.

An application to transfer the licence to CGTNC was submitted in September 2020. However, we were unable to properly assess it. Crucial information was missing from the application, while the restructure that CGTN had signalled had not, and still has not, taken place.

CGTN has since repeatedly failed to respond to important questions necessary to our assessment of its application to transfer the licence, or to offer any update on progress with its restructure.

Links between CGTNC and CCTV

Having considered the available evidence, we have decided we are unable to grant the application to transfer the licence from SCML to CGTNC.

Correspondence from CGTN submitted during the course of our investigation makes clear that CGTNC is controlled by CCTV, which is also the sole shareholder of CGTNC.

Given CGTNC is controlled by CCTV – which, as part of the China Media Group, is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and therefore disqualified from holding a broadcast licence under UK broadcasting laws – we consider that CGTNC would be disqualified from holding a licence.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Our investigation showed that the licence for China Global Television Network is held by an entity which has no editorial control over its programmes. We are unable to approve the application to transfer the licence to China Global Television Network Corporation because it is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is not permitted under UK broadcasting law.

“We’ve provided CGTN with numerous opportunities to come into compliance, but it has not done so. We now consider it appropriate to withdraw the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the UK.”

Other CGTN cases

In 2020 we found CGTN in breach of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code for failing to preserve due impartiality in its coverage of the Hong Kong protests, and also found a serious breach of our fairness and privacy rules.^[4]

Due to the seriousness of these breaches, we told CGTN that we would consider imposing sanctions.

Today’s decision does not affect these sanctions proceedings against CGTN, and we expect to reach our decisions shortly.

We have three other fairness and privacy investigations about content on the CGTN service which also remain ongoing, pending further consideration.”

CGTN has been monitored still broadcasting to the UK via the Freesat platform at the headquarters of the AIB at 1530GMT on 4 February.

UPDATE: The service ceased on Freesat at 1638GMT.

NHK WORLD February programme highlights

3 February 2021

NHK WORLD February programme highlights

Art is trash without social impact

February 6

23:10 / 5:10 / 10:10 / 17:10

“I don’t have talent like Picasso,” says Matsuyama Tomokazu. Yet, he’s acquired quite a following since moving to the U.S. in his 20s. His work is in numerous collections, including that of Bill Gates. 2020 was supposed to bring a triumphant return to Japan, with projects at Meiji Shrine and Shinjuku station. However, the Olympics were postponed and other projects during his stay were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program tracks 300 turbulent days in which Matsuyama struggled to keep his team together.

Zeroing in: Carbon Neutral 2050

People are reducing their carbon footprint for a sustainable future. This series is produced in partnership with Northern California Public Media.

Episode 3: Climate Resilient Farming

How we tend the land has a great impact on our climate system. Instead of ploughing, some California farmers are working with soil microbes to grow food and retain carbon.

Episode 4: Living on Renewable Energy

California aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2045 while achieving economic growth. We look at how businesses in the state are turning to renewable energy to power their operations.

Miracle Body

Breaking Limits With Hyper-Adaptability

February 13th

15:10 / 21:10 / 3:10 / 9:10

Tatyana McFadden is a Paralympian who has won multiple gold medals competing in marathons and more. We see how her brain rewired itself to achieve such feats in a phenomenon called hyper-adaptability.

Side by Side

Wednesdays

1:30 / 7:30 / 10:30 / 19:30

Working together. Inspiring stories of Japanese people working with communities in developing countries to help solve issues and create opportunities.

AIB Annual Review 2020 published

28 January 2021

AIB Annual Review 2020 published

The Association for International Broadcasting has published its 2020 Annual Review

The Annual Review reports on the work of the AIB during 2020 and explains how the Association has worked to maintain its services to Members around the world during the pandemic. In spite of the restrictions imposed, the AIB continued to work on areas as diverse as media freedom, cyber security, regulatory affairs, spectrum management and celebrating success in journalism and factual productions with the annual AIBs.

“It has been important for the AIB to continue to support and serve its international Membership,” says AIB Chief Executive Simon Spanswick. “This Annual Review explains how we tackled the challenges that everyone faced in 2020 and how we continued to deliver measurable impact in a wide range of areas. It was really ‘business as usual’ for the AIB, although of course we were unable to stage live events and visit our Members. We found ways to continue to operate our full complement of activities and indeed expanded the range of work to include pandemic-specific work. It’s testament to the dedication and flexibility of all the AIB’s staff.”

You can read the Annual Review online here.

New leaders at US international broadcasters

24 January 2021

New leaders at US international broadcasters

The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) Acting Chief Executive Officer Kelu Chao has replaced the heads of the three U.S.-funded international broadcasting grantees. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA) and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) now have leadership that will promote democracy and other American values abroad.

“I have great faith in these leaders in ensuring the highest standards of independent, objective, and professional journalism,” said Acting CEO Chao.

In addition, Acting CEO Chao named new corporate board directors for the three grantees, replacing the board directors named by former CEO Michael Pack just days before he resigned at President Biden’s request on January 20. The new directors are Ambassador Karen Kornbluh (chair), Ambassador Ryan Crocker, and Michael Kempner.

“Now more than ever,” said Kornbluh, “U.S. international media must serve as an accurate, reliable source of news and information in places where illuminating truth is needed the most.”

The new leaders at the three grantees are now:

Daisy Sindelar as Acting RFE/RL President, replacing Ted Lipien; a permanent president will be named shortly.
Bay Fang returns to her post as RFA President, replacing Stephen Yates.
Kelley Sullivan as Acting MBN President, replacing Victoria Coates.

President Joseph R. Biden named Chao as Acting CEO on January 20, 2021.