April 2024 AIB global media briefing published

25 April 2024

April 2024 AIB global media briefing published

The AIB has published its latest global media briefing.

In this edition:

Read the full briefing online here: https://conta.cc/44ha7Xa and sign up to receive this regular briefing to you inbox at https://aib.org.uk/sign-up-to-the-aib-industry-briefing/.

Rti Forum heads to berlin

24 April 2024

Rti Forum heads to berlin

Radio Taiwan International (Rti) is a public broadcaster that ensures stories and perspectives from Taiwan are heard globally, providing the timeliest and the most trustworthy information about the country in 20 different languages. Since 2022, Rti has been staging the Taiwan Forum where the core spirit of discussions has been the concept of: “We Share the Same Responsibilities.” The forum has travelled to London and Bangkok in the previous years. On May 7, 2024, Rti is taking Taiwan Forum to Berlin, Germany, with a focus on “Taiwan Strategies at a Time of Global Upheaval.”

In 2024, more than 70 countries around the world will hold general elections following the conclusion of Taiwan’s presidential and legislative elections in January, with the new government set to take office in May. Elections for the European Parliament take place in June 2024, the US Presidential election in November, while the reelection of Russian President Vladimir Putin could lead to changes or developments in the Russia-Ukraine war launched by Moscow in February 2022. How the outcomes of these elections impact geopolitics and the global economy will attract much attention?

On this occasion, the Rti forum not only invites experts who are familiar with Taiwan’s international relations and economic development to discuss the hard issues: 1) Turning the Page: 2024 a Year of General Elections and a New International Environment, with a focus on how the strategies of Taiwan’s government are responding to global changes and how the international community is accommodating Taiwan in its global agenda. In addition, our second session looks at how soft power has become a major alternative for the country as it seeks to connect with other societies and foster understanding between diverse communities around the world. 2) Aural Power: Amplifying Taiwan on the International Stage will take you on a journey of sound and music to explore how the diversity and vitality of modern Taiwan are delivered to people around the world.

Register for this half-day event at https://forms.gle/rmAQKaAYF1j359gB7

More information at https://berlinforum.rti.org.tw/en/

CNA debuts on Freeview UK

24 April 2024

CNA debuts on Freeview UK

Singapore-based news and current affairs channel CNA is now available in the United Kingdom on Freeview UK, the country’s largest TV platform.

The CNA free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel offers viewers not just the latest news from Asia, but also award-winning documentaries and current affairs programmes with an Asian perspective. Some of the content viewers can look forward to include:

Daily news updates from the Asian region on Asia Tonight and an in-depth look into developments from Greater China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula on East Asia Tonight
Acclaimed investigative documentary series uncovering hard truths from Asia Undercover Asia;
Four-part series The New Silk Road, recognised at the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards, examiningChina’s ambitious plan to create new trading routes; and
Historical travelogue, and Gold winner at the World Media Festivals, Mark of Empire, which looks into how four Southeast Asian empires – Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia, have made their mark on the world.

Mediacorp Editor-in-Chief Walter Fernandez said, “CNA has been reporting on global developments through an Asian lens since it was launched 25 years ago. With its extensive network of correspondents, CNA has evolved from a regional news brand to a global brand. Today, CNA is one of the most sought out sources of news as well as high-quality documentaries about Asia. In fact, in the past decade, CNA has won more than 500 international awards, largely for its engaging documentaries. We are pleased to introduce the CNA brand and our in-depth coverage of Asia to viewers across the United Kingdom, as part of our concerted efforts to grow our global audience.”

“I am delighted to introduce CNA to our audience,” expressed Tanya Kronfli, Channelbox‘s Head of Business Development. “Our mission extends beyond mere entertainment; it is about fostering a deeper understanding of Asia through authentic narratives and firsthand perspectives. Through this alliance, we aspire to enhance our viewers’ appreciation and comprehension of Asia’s complexities.”

Michael Abramowitz named new director of VOA

19 April 2024

Michael Abramowitz named new director of VOA

The U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) has named Michael Abramowitz as the new director of Voice of America (VOA). Abramowitz is currently president of Freedom House – a nonpartisan organization that works to create a world where all are free – and will succeed VOA Acting Director John Lippman later this year.

“Michael is an esteemed journalist and a champion for human rights, and much of his work at Freedom House has informed our own efforts to counter disinformation and authoritarianism around the world,” said USAGM CEO Amanda Bennett. “I’m excited for his leadership, and eager to work alongside him to bring objective news and information to the world’s most restrictive media environments – especially at such a critical point in our global history.”

Abramowitz is an experienced, skilled, and respected journalist who most recently comes from Freedom House where, as president, he oversees analysis, advocacy, and direct support to frontline defenders of freedom. He previously directed the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Levine Institute for Holocaust Education, and led the museum’s genocide prevention efforts. He spent the first 24 years of his career at the Washington Post, where he rose to become national editor – one of the Post’s top leadership positions – and then White House correspondent. At the Post, he led a team which won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for its coverage of post-2001 efforts to capture Osama bin Laden.

“I am deeply inspired by the mission of Voice of America to provide accurate, comprehensive, and objective news and to tell America’s story to people around the world, many of whom have no alternative source of information. The mission is especially vital at a time when authoritarian governments are flooding the airwaves and social media platforms with propaganda and disinformation,” said Michael Abramowitz. “VOA is a bulwark for truth and press freedom, and I am excited to take the helm of this organization and work alongside its talented journalists and staff. Together, we will win the information war.”

A graduate of Harvard College, Michael is a board member of the National Security Archive, a member of the Advisory Council for the George W. Bush Institute, and a member of the Advisory Council of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was formerly a Marshall Memorial fellow at the German Marshall Fund and Berlin Prize Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin.

After wrapping up his current duties at Freedom House and fulfilling certain administrative requirements, Michael is expected to start his new position this summer.

[Source: USAGM press release]

BBC World Service Director to step down

19 April 2024

BBC World Service Director to step down

Liliane Landor, Senior Controller of BBC News International Services and BBC World Service Director, has decided to leave the BBC later this year.

BBC Director-General Tim Davie says: “The whole of the BBC owes Liliane a huge debt of gratitude. She is an exceptional journalist and editor. The BBC World Service is one of the jewels in the BBC’s crown, and has flourished under her leadership.

“Liliane has been a formidable champion of the BBC’s international services, and an inspirational leader to so many BBC News staff. I’m extremely sorry Liliane has decided to leave us, and wish her the very best for the future.”

BBC News CEO Deborah Turness says: “In a polarised world where truth is under attack, Liliane has led our BBC World Service teams with real courage. She has been a global ambassador for our powerful and important journalism, and has worked with great skill to modernise World Service output to reach digital audiences. Liliane is a person of great integrity and I will miss her wisdom very much. ”

Liliane Landor says: “Serving as Director of the BBC World Service has been an immense privilege. To have been entrusted with leading a global service relied upon by hundreds of millions worldwide is humbling and the greatest honour of my professional life.

“With media freedom under threat, the World Service is a force for good and the BBC needs to look after it.”

Liliane Landor rejoined the BBC in 2021, after a role as Head of Foreign News at Channel 4 News.

Liliane built a major part of her journalistic career at the BBC, where she began at the French Service.

She went on to manage, present, and edit key areas of the BBC World Service, including a role as head of News and Current Affairs in English, before becoming Controller of Languages, where she was editorially responsible for all non-English language services on radio, TV and online. She left this role in 2016.

Liliane also founded the BBC’s staff network, Global Women in News, which remains high-profile and active, and launched the popular 100 Women project in 2014, being named on the list herself in 2016.

Liliane will leave the BBC in July.

BBC World Service files urgent appeal to UN over abuse of national security and counter-terrorism laws against BBC News Persian journalists

16 April 2024

BBC World Service files urgent appeal to UN over abuse of national security and counter-terrorism laws against BBC News Persian journalists

The BBC World Service has submitted an updated complaint to its urgent appeal filed with the UN and requested urgent action.

The action follows recent developments, including the publication of documents in late February 2024 by a hacking group, which appear to reveal that a number of current and former BBC News Persian journalists were convicted in absentia by a court in Tehran in February 2022 for “propaganda against the Islamic Republic”. This comes after sanctions were imposed on Iranian officials by the UK and US in January this year for threats towards Iranian journalists in London.

The updated complaint was sent to five Special Procedures mandate-holders with whom it was first filed in December 2020 and updated in February 2022: the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression; the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran; the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions; the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, its Causes and Consequences; and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The new complaint was also addressed, for the first time, to the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism, citing “the relevance of historic and recent events” to this UN Special Rapporteur’s mandate, including the sanctioning of BBC News Persian by Iran, as well as the mass national security criminal investigation of BBC News Persian staff and the associated asset freeze.

In the appeal, submitted on behalf of the BBC by counsel for BBC News Persian, Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC and Jennifer Robinson, and presented by them as “extremely urgent”, the UN experts are requested to issue:

a new communication to Iran, raising both Iran’s inadequate response to their previous communication in 2022, and the recent developments; and
a public joint statement from UN experts condemning the ongoing targeting and harassment of BBC News Persian journalists.

Liliane Landor, Director, BBC World Service (pictured), says: “Recent developments have amplified the severe situation facing our BBC News Persian staff on a daily basis. They are being penalised for their journalism and professionalism.

“As we look to World Press Freedom Day next month, we are urging UN experts to robustly condemn the Iranian authorities’ harassment and to hold the regime to account.”

Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said: “Journalists must not be targeted for doing their job. Speaking truth to power and covering the news without fear or favour must be the cornerstones of journalism, but BBC News Persian and other Iranian journalists are today suffering for doing just that. We fully support this intervention from the BBC and encourage the UN to exercise its influence to bring safety and justice for Iranian journalists and their families who are targeted so heartlessly.”

Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC and Jennifer Robinson, said: “Iran’s abuse of national security and counter-terrorism laws against the BBC and the convictions in absentia for BBC News Persian journalists for ‘propaganda’ against the state for their independent reporting on Iran are designed to intimidate and silence the BBC’s journalism about Iran. It must stop. We call on the UN to denounce these unlawful actions in the strongest possible terms.”

These recent developments come in the context of comprehensive targeting and intimidation of BBC News Persian staff and the harassment of their families, which escalated dramatically from September 2022 in the aftermath of the mass protests and increased tension in Iran, which BBC News Persian has reported extensively on. This was the subject of the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran whose final report issued earlier in 2024 documented the continuing threats and harassment of BBC News Persian staff.

The ongoing harassment is also documented in a 2024 survey of BBC News Persian staff where half of the respondents said they had received online threats or been harassed online for working for the BBC. The work of the BBC journalists continues to cause harassment of their families or friends, with over 60% of the respondents having been harassed, threatened or questioned in Iran. Nearly 70% said that they hadn’t been able to say goodbye to one or both their parents before they passed away in Iran.

BBC News Persian is part of the BBC World Service.

[Source: BBC press release]