The first ever BBC Horn of Africa roadshow

4 March 2019

The first ever BBC Horn of Africa roadshow

Just launched, and running from the 4^th – 16^th March, BBC News Amharic, BBC News Afaan Oromo, and BBC News Tigrinya will be travelling around different regions of Ethiopia to meet and engage directly with their audiences in their hometowns. In the first of its kind for the BBC, this unique roadshow will include debates and discussions for the public to be part of and bring new content every day for audiences around the region.

These three BBC language services launched in September 2017, and have since covered and recorded numerous historic events in the region.

The roadshow coincides with the almost one year anniversary since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power and will be an opportunity to assess his achievements and also analyse the challenges he currently faces. There will also be big interviews with some of Ethiopia’s trail blazers; including the country’s first female President of the Federal Supreme Court, Meaza Ashenafi, and the first female chair of the electoral commission, Birtukan Mideksa – who is also a former opposition activist. Plus a number of other leaders. Throughout the 11 days there will be a series of events covering the issues that are key to the local audience in different parts of the country. Original content will be available on radio, social media and BBC News Amharic, BBC News Afaan Oromo, and BBC News Tigrinya

The finale of the roadshow will be a joint debate on the issue of fake news on Saturday 16^th March in Addis Ababa.

Rachael Akidi, BBC Head of East Africa says: “We want to introduce our journalism to audiences across Ethiopia. It’s Africa’s second most populous nation with a young and dynamic demographic. We hope the roadshow will be able to capture the momentous transformation the country has undergone over the last year, and also examine some of the challenges it still faces. It’s an opportunity for our audiences to hear the full story of Ethiopia.”

Hashtags: #BBCHOAOnTheRoad

#BBCNewsTigrinya / #BBCNewsAmharic/ #BBCNewsAfaanOromo

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BBC News Amharic / BBC News Afaan Oromo/ BBC News Tigrinya

Media freedom to Brexit to tenders – all covered in latest AIB Member briefing

27 February 2019

As part of its regular work for Member companies, the AIB has released its latest market intelligence briefing. This new edition covers a range of subjects from media freedom – including an examination of the challenges facing broadcasters covering stories in Europe, until recently a bastion of media freedom – to the most up-to-date information on TV channel licensing post-Brexit. There’s also a summary of tenders related to the broadcasting industry internationally, allowing AIB Members to see what competitors are renewing and to allow commercial companies to assess where there are business opportunities.

AIB market intelligence is one of a range of services that the Association’s Members receive throughout the year. For information on how to take advantage of the AIB membership package, talk to us at the AIB Secretariat on +44 20 7993 2557.

Viz University gets over 300 enrollments within the first few hours of announcing their new range of free courses for graphic designers

22 February 2019

Viz University, the training arm of Vizrt – the world’s leading provider of visual storytelling tools for media content creators -, has made a range of courses for graphics designers completely free. The announcement last week resulted in at one point 100 people per hour enrolling for the courses.

The Viz Artist free series contains an introduction to the free Viz Artist tool, with further courses in scripting, design and their most popular course, Transition Logic, one of the key techniques for the Viz Artist design toolbox.

“Viz Artist designers are a sought after commodity in the media industry. We’re making it easy for the designers to expand their career with our tools. Now everything they need to start a career as a Viz Artist designer is available for free on Viz University. Creating stunning, unforgettable graphics has never been easier.”
– Gro Beret Heggernes, Head of Viz University.

There is a growing global community of Vizrt certified graphic designers. Recently Singapore-based broadcaster Mediacorp invested the time of their graphic designers in the Viz Artist Designer Certification course, with eight of them passing and now being fully accredited Viz Artist Designers.

The Viz Artist Designers Facebook page has nearly 2000 followers, with designers from all over the world share content, share knowledge and support each other with answers.

Visit Viz University

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Globosat uses suite of Vizrt tools in it’s new production eco-system

13 February 2019

At the end of last year some of the team popped over to Rio to find out how the Brazilian broadcaster Globosat uses Vizrt solutions.

Globosat aim was to produce an efficient and effective production eco-system, of which Vizrt tools are a big part.

See the video and read more about the case study here.

Trump State of the Union 2019 – DC studios available

1 February 2019

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has invited President Donald Trump to deliver the State of the Union address on 5 February. If you’re a broadcaster and need a Washington DC studio, including a rooftop stand-up position or multicam studio overlooking the White House, AIB Member Celebro could have the answer for you.

Celebro’s facility at 1620 I Street NW is a little over 300 metres from the White House, and has been used by broadcasters around the world to anchor coverage of major US political events (of which there have been one or two over recent months…). If you need a Washington DC studio, talk to Celebro to see what they can offer including studios, stand-ups and connectivity.

Main image Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen

Major broadcaster uses digital storytelling tool Viz Story for Facebook video content

30 January 2019

Viz Story is a browser-based video editing tool that was launched in 2018. It lets journalists tell world-class stories without any delay or specialist design skill, enabling them to report, create and edit in the field.

Viz Story allows all journalists the freedom to create, manage and publish content fast on multiple digital platforms.

The tool creates efficiencies within digital teams of broadcasters, cutting out the number of people needed to place content onto various platforms, allowing resource to focus on the story and on getting that story to the audience.

The tool is being used for the Welsh-language output on BBC Cymru Wales’s social media channels, predominantly Facebook. So far it has been used to create short videos with BBC branded graphics and Welsh subtitles.

Mark Pizzey, Vizrt UK Sales manager; “I’m really pleased BBC Wales have taken the initiative to use Viz Story for their daily digital publishing, I’m sure they’ll increase their number of social media stories in 2019 and make good use of the branded graphics capability and fast upload feature.”

Read the full story here.