30 January 2012
Two FRANCE 24 reporters, Adel Gastel and Karim Hakiki, entered Syria undercover. They made their way to Binnish, the northern town that is now under the control of the Free Syrian Army, resisting the regimes forces.
With the Syrian authorities harsh crackdown on a citizen uprising that began last March, foreign journalists have been mostly unable to work in the country. The death of French cameraman Gilles Jacquier in the restive city of Homs earlier this year came as a harsh reminder of the risks run by those who have tried to report on the conflict between President Bashar al-Assads government and protesters.
France 24 broadcasts its reports from 29 January onwards.
30 January 2012
Ten years after the launch of its Russian edition and in line with its international news ‘hub’ strategy, euronews is opening a permanent office in Moscow and has appointed Alexander Shashkov as news correspondent.
Continuing its expansion with the aim providing coverage from the world’s key news areas and following the opening of its offices in Brussels, London, Doha, Cairo and Paris, euronews has announced the opening of its Moscow office. The channel is set to open more offices over the coming weeks.
Euronews’ strategy in Russia is twofold: to improve its news service by being at the heart of Russian current affairs in a year that will be particularly eventful, and to provide unprecedented editorial content devoted to the challenges of the world’s geographically largest country and its 143 million inhabitants.
With these objectives in mind, Lucian Sârb, Director of News and Programmes, has entrusted this office to Alexander Shakov. With the imminent presidential elections in March 2012, Shashkov’s mission will be to follow political and economic affairs closely, paying particular attention to the events that have an impact on international news.
Lucian Sârb noted: “Since Alexander’s arrival in 2003, euronews has really benefitted from his experience and his contribution to the editorial team. I am delighted that he has agreed to open our Moscow office. Alexander will provide insight in the field, which is a great asset, combined with his understanding of European and international affairs related to Russia.”
Alexander Shashkov, trilingual journalist (Russian, English, French), was born in Moscow in 1957. He began his career in 1982 at Gostelradio (State television and radio station in the former USSR) in the French news department, and then in the international news department where he was special correspondent. In 1991, he helped to create RTR, Russia’s national television and radio station. In 1994, he joined the channel NTV, one of Russia’s first private channels, which was bought by Gazprom in 2001.
In 2003 he joined euronews as a journalist for the Russian edition. Alexander studied Journalism at the University of Moscow.
Alexander SHASHKOV, alexander.shashkov@euronews.net
26 January 2012
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26 January 2012
Eurosport, OASYS, RTG TV and Vizrt are the sponsors of
the AIB’s international media excellence awards in 2011.
The AIB’s Awards
gala took place on 9 November 2011 in London, with a presentation of AIB Media Awards in 19 categories. Over 165 senior executives, producers and journalists from media organisations around the world attended the AIB Awards gala in LSO St Luke’s to network, to be inspired, to exchange information, to celebrate success, to witness great programmes, great technology, and meet the human faces behind the finished product. The host for the evening was Annabel Croft, Eurosport presenter and former tennis champion, and the two special guests “in conversation” were Sarina Arnold, international model and ambassador for the children’s charity AWD, and Swiss film maker Helen Stehli Pfister.
People’s Choice
The AIBs Peoples Choice Award in 2011 was hosted on Yahoo! Maktoob, harnessing the sites enormous reach of more than 55m unique visitors across the MENA region.
This years topic for the Peoples Choice award was “Best Coverage of Democracy
Uprisings” highlighting the impact that traditional and social broadcasting has
had in enabling the movements for change.
A short list of the six best entries was selected which online users from
across the world could view and vote on via Yahoo! Maktoob.
25 January 2012
RT will launch an exclusive interview series by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange called “The World Tomorrow” in March 2012.
Host and show author, Julian Assange, will engage with ten key political players, thinkers and revolutionaries figures who in the authors opinion will be shaping the political agenda of tomorrow.
Julian Assange is filming the series from the location of his house arrest where he has been confined, with no charge, for 413 days. Filming commences a week before his Supreme Court hearing.
“Upheavals and revolutions in the Middle East have commenced an era of real political change that is still unfolding. Wikileaks, as the world’s boldest publisher, has been at the frontline of this global movement for change, and our project is designed to catalyze the global discussion about the world of tomorrow, – said Assange. – Are we heading towards utopia, or dystopia and how we can set our paths? Through this series I will explore the possibilities for our future in conversations with those who are shaping it.
RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said “We’re proud to host Julian Assange’s new project. RT has rallied a global audience of open-minded people who don’t take things around them for granted. Our viewers are open to the discussions that will be presented at Julian’s show on our channel.
25 January 2012
Lynne Weil has been named Director of Communications and External Affairs of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). Weil will act as the Boards primary strategist on communications and outreach activities, and as the Boards chief advisor for Congressional and external affairs.
Lynne Weil brings a wealth of knowledge of foreign affairs and journalistic experience as well as first-hand knowledge of how Congress works, said BBG Chairman Walter Isaacson. The Board will draw heavily on Lynnes expertise as we craft the proposed legislation to innovate U.S. international broadcasting for the 21st Century.
Weil will advise the Board on agency-wide external communications strategy and will coordinate communications operations of the BBGs media networks — Voice of America (VOA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), and Radio and TV Marti.
Weil has spent the past two years working for the U.S. State Department, first as the Press Director and Spokeswoman for the U.S. Agency for International Development and then as a Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Prior to this, she worked on Capitol Hill, serving as a legislative fellow for Senator Ted Kennedy, the Press Secretary for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Communications Director for the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Before entering public service, Weil was a journalist; she started on the police beat with United Press International in Los Angeles, was a reporter for the California Public Radio Network, and moved to Germany to be a reporter/editor for Radio Deutche Welle after the fall of the Berlin Wall. During nearly nine years in Europe she filed stories from 17 countries and freelanced for National Public Radio, Marketplace, and the Voice of America, among others. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications Studies from UCLA and a Masters in Public Policy from Princeton Universitys Woodrow Wilson School.
Weil will assume her duties on February 6.
