8 October 2012
The International News Safety Institute is to launch INSI Asia Pacific with a regional office based in Singapore to focus on one of the the most dangerous regions in the world for journalists and media workers.
This is an initiative of Australian and New Zealand journalists and media workers through their unions Media Safety and Solidarity Appeal together with the global unions for media workers, UNI Global Union and the International Federation of Journalists Asia Pacific.
Journalists and media personnel working in the Asia-Pacific region confront targeted attacks, threats and intimidation, work-related injury and the dangers of reporting in areas of conflict.
India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Afghanistan are often ranked in the top ten deadliest countries in the world for journalists with Nepal and Sri Lanka ranking amongst the worst countries for impunity. Next month will mark the third anniversary of the Maguindanao Massacre in the Philippines, when 32 journalists were among the 58 killed in 2009.
Already, more than 20 journalists have been killed in the Asia-Pacific region since January 2012.
The International News Safety Institute (INSI) was established 10 years ago by the IFJ and the International Press Institute with major news organisations to create a global safety network for journalists and other news gatherers. INSI operates on the premise that creating a culture of safety in journalism enhances the capacity of media to contribute to building prosperous and confident democracies.
To address these challenges in the Asia-Pacific, a regional INSI office will be established in Singapore to boost and coordinate efforts to improve safety and security for journalists and media personnel working throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
The office will serve a number of important functions including a single point of contact and rapid response to threats and attacks on journalists, standardised safety-related training materials and trainings and the on-going monitoring and reporting of conditions throughout the region.
“We are delighted to work with IFJ Asia-Pacific and UNI Global Union on this initiative,” said INSI Director Rodney Pinder. “This will enable us to develop safety measures in areas of great danger and provide practical help where it is most needed.”
For further information contact Rodney Pinder +44 7734709267
8 October 2012
Bloomberg Television, in partnership with The Trade & Development Bank of Mongolia (TDB), today announced the official launch of Bloomberg TV Mongolia. The launch of Bloomberg TV Mongolia signifies the introduction of the first international broadcast news organization in Mongolia, one of the fastest-growing stock markets and investing environments in Asia today.
Over the last year, Bloomberg has trained over 30 local journalists who are now working at BTV Mongolia, and built a state-of-the-art high definition television studio in the heart of downtown Ulan Bator. Bloomberg TV Mongolia will deliver international, market-moving business and financial news to the local community, and insightful coverage of Mongolia to the rest of the world, providing a unique edge for viewers.
“We are honored to be a part of this exciting launch, and to be able to offer our experience and expertise in broadcast journalism to an important region,” said Parry Ravindranathan, Head of Bloomberg Television for Asia-Pacific. “Our partnership with The Trade & Development Bank of Mongolia is part of our momentum in establishing strategic long-term partnerships in Asia which we believe will enhance market transparency in local markets.”
“With the economic growth of Mongolia, decision makers and business leaders here have an increasing need for market-moving, accurate and international business and financial news. Likewise, global audiences are becoming ever more intrigued by what is happening in Mongolia,” said Orkhon Onon, First Deputy CEO of TDB. “Bloomberg TV Mongolia will be a valuable and indispensable education source for the business community. As Mongolia’s first bank, TDB has a long-term interest in educating the local population about important business and economic news.”
With Executive Producer Todd Baer at the helm, Bloomberg TV Mongolia launches on October 8 with its flagship evening newscast ‘Money Flow,’ followed by its prime-time interview program ‘Talk to Bloomberg TV Mongolia.’ The weekly program includes five hours of locally produced content, combined with simultaneous and taped translated Bloomberg content. Weekend programming schedule includes 12 hours of taped translated Bloomberg programs, supplemented by Bloomberg TV’s pan-Asian feed. Bloomberg TV Mongolia will be available on all of Mongolia’s major cable providers.
About Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television, an award-winning, multi-platform 24-hour business and financial news network, provides continuous coverage of the people, companies and ideas that move global markets. Broadcasting from centers in New York, London, Singapore and Hong Kong and powered with an unparalleled news gathering team of 2,300 news professionals in 146 bureaus across 72 countries worldwide, Bloomberg Television delivers real-time business news to over 310 million households globally. In addition to major cable and satellite providers, Bloomberg.com and Bloomberg Mobile, the network is available on the Bloomberg Professional service, used by the most influential individuals, corporations, financial institutions, investors and the world’s central banks, commercial banks, government agencies, legal professionals and news organizations. With Asia being one of the most active growth regions in the world, Bloomberg Television is delivering more local content, and fast, accurate, unbiased, market-moving news from market makers in Asia. For more information on Bloomberg Television, please visit www.bloomberg.com/tv and follow us on Twitter (@BloombergTV) and Facebook.
5 October 2012
Based on a new partnership agreement between the BBC’s service for Francophone Africa, BBC Afrique, and a French radio network, Africa No.1 Paris, BBC Afrique programming is now rebroadcast by Africa No.1 Paris. BBC Afrique and Africa No.1 Paris have also announced the launch , from Saturday, 6 October, of a joint weekly current-affairs debate programme, Le Débat BBC Afrique-Africa No.1.
BBC Afrique content on radio and online on bbcafrique.com is produced in London and Dakar as well as in the BBC’s bureaux in Abidjan, Bujumbura, Kigali and Kinshasa, delivering the BBC’s regional and global news coverage to Francophone audiences in Africa and around the world.
Africa No.1 Paris is broadcast in France on 107.5 in Paris, 87.6 in Mantes la Jolie, and 92.3 in Melun. Based on the partnership agreement with the BBC, the network’s France-based stations now rebroadcast the BBC Afrique daily news and current-affairs programmes, BBC Matin, BBC Midi, BBC Infos, BBC Soir and L’Invité as well as La Page des Sports. On Saturdays, Africa No.1 audiences can also tune in to BBC Afrique’s weekly programme, L’interview.
CEO of Africa No.1 Paris, Dominique Guihot, says: “With the growing importance of African news – not just in the Francophone world – Africa No.1 Paris has sought to strengthen its operations on the African continent. With BBC Afrique, we get access to the BBC’s global news reporting and analysis, expanding the scope of our news coverage far beyond the Francophone sphere.”
The new weekly debate programme Le Débat BBC Afrique-Africa No.1 at 10.00 GMT every Saturday, will connect the BBC Afrique presenter, Lilianne Nyatcha in Dakar and Africa No. 1’s Francis Laloupo in Paris, engaging audiences in a debate on the key issue of the week. Each programme will feature a high-profile African personality to discuss key issues on the week’s news agenda, be it politics, economy, culture or sports. Le Débat BBC Afrique-Africa No.1 will be broadcast by both BBC Afrique and Africa No.1.
BBC Afrique Editor, Ibrahima Diane, comments: “In addition to giving BBC Afrique programmes excellent exposure to African diaspora audiences in France, this new partnership also offers us exciting editorial opportunities. We hope very much that our new weekly debate programme, Le Débat BBC Afrique-Africa No.1, will further reinforce the connection between African diaspora communities and our audiences in Francophone Africa. It will be an important and exciting addition to our weekly schedule.”
BBC Africa Editor, Solomon Mugera, adds: “As we are witnessing a major expansion of African diaspora, it’s really important for the BBC to maintain connection with its audiences, wherever they are. It’s really great that, thanks to partnership with Africa No.1, BBC Afrique can reach listeners in France who want to be kept up to date with the BBC’s global and African news.”
Le Débat BBC Afrique-Africa No.1 also will be available for listening online, via bbcafrique.com and africa1.com. The BBC and Africa No.1 Paris have also announced their plans to extend their editorial partnership to more co-productions, focusing on sport and culture.
4 October 2012
Iranian jamming of U.S. government-sponsored news and information programs disrupted broadcasts from Morocco to Eastern Europe to Indonesia, the Broadcasting Board of Governors has found.
Satellite operator Eutelsat confirmed that the intermittent jamming was coming from inside Iran. This most recent episode of interference with broadcasts began on Oct. 3 and is in clear violation of international agreements.
In addition to Voice of America’s (VOA) Persian Service and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Radio Farda, both of which offer programs for Iranian audiences, the jamming also has affected dozens of satellite broadcasts of BBG radio and TV programs.
One of the BBG’s Internet anti-censorship vendors is reporting that traffic from Iran using its software and servers has increased substantially since the jamming began. This suggests that Iranian listeners and viewers are shifting to the Internet to receive news and information.
Jamming is prohibited under rules of the International Telecommunications Union. The recent jamming affected not only U.S.-supported programming, but also the British Broadcasting Corporation.
International Broadcasting Bureau Director Richard M. Lobo called the most recent interference “an outrage (and) a deplorable violation of well-established international agreements” in a statement issued when the incident started.
The jamming coincided with reports of street demonstrations and mass arrests of Iranians protesting falling currency exchange rates. Both VOA and RFE/RL report that in some instances, interference starts just before newscasts, and ends just afterwards.
Three satellite transponders operated by Eutelsat and those most popular among Iranian viewers have been affected: HotBird 13B, Eutelsat 25A and Eutelsat 7A. Viewers said the signals reappear intermittently.
The interference has diminished or altogether blocked other U.S.-supported programs on the Eutelsat satellites, including Georgian, Armenian, Bosnian, Korean and many other language broadcasts.
VOA and RFE/RL programs continue to be broadcast on diverse media platforms, including digital audio and video streams on other satellite paths and on the Internet.
In February, the ITU called upon the world’s nations to take “necessary actions” to stop intentional interference with satellite transmissions. Earlier, the BBG and other international broadcasters called for action against jamming.
4 October 2012
Today ZEFR (formerly MOVIECLIPS), a premium content network with more than 900 million monthly views, announced it has opened its new London office, marking the Venice, CA based company’s first initiative outside of the U.S. To lead this international expansion ZEFR has appointed Daniel Adams as its Vice President of Business Development, International. Daniel has deep experience in online content partnership negotiation and management in the European territories. He comes to ZEFR from Dailymotion where he was Vice President of International Content.
In this new role, Daniel will oversee ZEFR’s partnerships with key media companies worldwide. As 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the U.S. there is a massive opportunity to partner with the key media properties internationally and ZEFR will utilize its physical presence in London to effectively reach these markets. The international expansion of ZEFR brings huge value to the company who recently rebranded itself from its former name, MOVIECLIPS to ZEFR, after completing the movie category on YouTube with partnerships with six major Hollywood studios. As ZEFR, the company will further its growth as it begins to include additional content categories in music, TV and sports.
Continuing its growth, ZEFR recently acquired two top engineers and a product manager who were formerly engineers at legacy Los Angeles tech company, BetterWorks. With the new engineering hires, ZEFR now boasts a team of 13 engineers, further strengthening its dedication to creating innovative technology in Venice.
4 October 2012
Two renowned international news channels, RT’s Rusiya Al-Yaum and Russia Today have joined the exclusive High Definition (HD) television bouquet offered by YahLive, the UAE-based direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television service provider.
The addition of Rusiya Al-Yaum and Russia Today channels, broadcasting in Arabic and English respectively, means that YahLive with over 40 HD channels is continuing to build the HD Hotspot for the Middle East and North Africa at 52.5 degrees East.
Available free-to-air (FTA), both Rusiya Al-Yaum and Russia Today broadcast 24/7 to more than 550 million people in over 100 countries around the world. The channels are based in Moscow with a network of bureaus all over the globe, including New York, London, Miami, Los Angeles, Paris, Dubai, Beirut, Baghdad, Cairo and Delhi, and another TV studio in Washington, DC. RT is the only Russian TV channel to be nominated twice for the International Emmy Award in the News category.
Russia Today is the flagship news channel of the RT network and covers major political, economic and cultural issues of our time, with supporting analysis and documentaries, for viewers wishing to question more…. Rusiya Al-Yaum, Russia’s first Arabic news channel, has a rolling 24-hour schedule of political, economic, cultural and sports stories supplemented with movies, documentaries and feature broadcasts.
Mohamed Youssif, YahLive’s CEO, said: “The addition of these two acclaimed channels further strengthens the position of YahLive as the hotspot for High Definition television in the region. We’re selecting channel partners based on the quality of their programming and the multi-cultural mix of our
audience across the region. For example, Russia Today is the second most-watched foreign news channel in the United States.
“High Definition is the future of television and, because we have the capacity and engineering infrastructure, YahLive can offer the future today. The range of channels available on the platform also means that there is something for everyone,” added Mr. Youssif.
Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor in chief, stated that: “We are delighted to extend our reach across the Middle East and North Africa with YahLive. RT’s viewers in the region are already dedicated and engaged, and we’re excited that now we can further enrich their viewing experience by delivering our best programming in HD, bringing the intensity of the frontline to their living rooms.”
YahLive has benefited from the shared knowledge and experience of the global satellite operator SES. Using SES’s extensive knowledge of HD TV, YahLive has developed a high-quality, robust and secure HD TV standard for its services in the region. SES operates 44 Direct-to-Home (DTH) platforms across the globe, carrying more than 5,200 TV channels, of which more than 1,300 are in HD.
YahLive is a joint venture company with Yahsat, the United Arab Emirates-based satellite communications company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, and the global satellite operator SES.
About YahLive
YahLive is a joint venture between Al Yah Satellite Communications Company, Yahsat, and SES, a global satellite operator. Launched in 2011, YahLive offers state of the art broadcasting, newsgathering, distribution and contribution feed capacities, bringing about a new era of high-definition (HD) and 3D TV services, from Y1A satellite positioned at 52.5 degrees East, covering the Middle East, Africa and West Asia.
YahLive offers broadcasters access to extensive satellite capacity to enable the latest innovations in the broadcast world, such as HD and interactive TV.
Through YahLive broadcasters can introduce new HD or interactive channels without worrying about capacity constraints, and also extend their audience reach to new regions with YahLive’s wide-reaching coverage.
About RT
RT is a global multilingual television news network, broadcasting around-the-clock from Moscow and Washington, DC to more than 100 countries on five continents in English, Arabic and Spanish. With a global reach of over 550 million people – or 25% of all paid cable networks’ subscribers – and 2.3 million hotel rooms worldwide, RT covers the major political, economic and cultural issues of the time, with supporting analysis, documentaries, sport news and cultural programs, for viewers wanting to question more.
The best news reports, stories and programmes can be found on RT’s YouTube channel, where the number of views has already exceeded 750 million, making RT the first TV news channel to break this record in YouTube’s history and also making the network the largest provider of news video footage on this world’s most popular video platform. According to official ratings by the UK’s Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board, RT is now the third most popular TV news channel in Great Britain after BBC News and Sky News, and scores higher viewership than other foreign news channels measured by BARB, including Al Jazeera English, Fox News and Euronews. Nielsen has found RT’s audience in key U.S. cities to be bigger than that of other major international news channels including Euronews, France 24, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera English, NHK World and CCTV News. RT is the only Russian TV channel to be nominated twice for the International Emmy Award in the News category – in 2010 and 2012.
