21 February 2011
Following the well-reported attack on CBS News
reporter Lara Logan (pictured), INSI – the International News Safety Institute – has
published a safety advisory for women:
If travelling alone, choose a
good standard hotel where security is of a higher standard than you might stay
in if travelling with male colleagues.
Try not to attract unwanted attention by striking up conversations or making eye
contact with strangers. It can sometimes be misinterpreted as flirting.
Unless you want to be the centre of attention, do not wear tight fitting or
revealing clothes
If youre alone and facing unwanted attention, have a cover story prepared I
am waiting for my husband/boyfriend/colleague to arrive. If the pestering
continues, try and join a large group of people preferably mixed sex
Dont wear expensive jewellery, but do consider wearing a cheap ring on your
wedding finger, even if youre not married.
Always remain alert.
Consider taking a male colleague with you into potentially volatile situations.
Do not wear a pony tail or necklace which can be easily grabbed.
Wear a sturdy belt.
Do not drink alcohol alone with men, particularly in the Middle East.
Keep a copy of your passport and documents with you at all times and store the
originals in a safe place.
Carry a mobile phone with local emergency numbers saved. Do not keep this in
your handbag, in case it is snatched.
Be aware of discussing details of your work with people you do not know. It may
sometimes be better to pretend to work in an alternative profession ie.
teaching.
TRAVELLING
If travelling alone, always tell someone where you are going, how you plan on
getting there and when you expect to be back. If you are meeting someone, leave
a name and number for them with someone you trust.
BY FOOT
Avoid walking alone by yourself, especially in poorly lit areas, quiet streets
and alleyways
If possible, try to walk close to groups of people. Be aware of who is around
you.
Walk confidently, with your head up, and as though you look like you know where
youre going.
Arrange to meet people in well-lit and busy areas.
Where possible avoid carrying handbags; but if it is necessary wear them across
your body.
If you suspect you are being followed, try to find a busy place: hotel, shop
etc.
TAXIS
Always use a reputable company avoid unlicensed cars.
Agree the cost before you leave if the taxi does not have a meter.
If alone, try not to sit in the front of the taxi. If you are in the back and
being troubled by the driver, you have two doors from which to exit – but
remember some cabs have automatic locking when the car is moving.
BUSES
Sit near the driver.
Sit near a group of people.
Avoid sitting upstairs.
Sit in an aisle seat.
If in trouble, sound the bell ring continuously.
TRAINS/METRO/TUBE
Avoid darkly-lit stations.
Avoid empty carriages.
Keep your belongings with you all the time.
HOTELS/ACCOMMODATION
Try to follow the advice above about choosing a good standard hotel if
travelling alone, but if this is not possible, consider the following:
Security are there security guards at the reception/front gate?
Check the security in your room do the doors/windows lock?
If there is a chain lock on the main door, use it.
Move furniture in front of doors.
If there is an adjoining door, make sure you lock it from your side.
Lock all doors and windows from the inside when youre in the room and the
outside when you leave even if it is only for a couple of minutes.
If on the ground floor, check to see if there are bars over the window. But be
certain to locate an alternative escape route in the event of fire.
Dont take hotel rooms with easily accessible windows or balconies.
PERSONAL ATTACK
Consider carrying a personal attack alarm. If using one when outside, carry it
in your hand for quick use not in your bag. But do not just rely on the alarm,
shout too.
Consider a rape whistle.
Buy a door alarm for use in hotels.
Keep a can of hairspray or deodorant with you to spray in the face of an
attacker if needed in your bag or by your bed.
If attacked, try to vomit, defecate or urinate on yourself.
Tell the attacker you are menstruating, are HIV positive or pregnant.
16 February 2011
AIB is active at this year’s meeting of the global mobile phone industry, Mobile World Congress, taking place in Barcelona.
Our print magazine, The Channel, is available in the Congress Networking areas in halls 2 and 7, and we are on the prowl, hunting out information and intelligence for our global members.
AIB is also hosting a special netowkring dinn for its members and key mobile industry executives to ensure that there’s dialogue on making top-quality broadcast content available to mobile subscribers globally.
10 February 2011
RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd., a leading provider of comprehensive content management and global distribution services to the television and radio broadcasting industries announced that it has begun working with Ananey Communications to provide playout and distribution services for the localized MTV Israel channel. This service is in addition to the already existing playout and distribution services provided to Ananey Communications, which operates localized Comedy Central and Nickelodeon services in Israel under license on behalf of MTV Networks International.
RRsat is responsible for the playout of MTV Israel, uplink to the YES direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV platform with 1.5 million viewers and for the fiber delivery to the Israeli cable provider HOT with 900,000 viewers. The new channel will provide its target youth audience with international music and entertainment series such as Jersey Shore, The Hard Times of RJ Berger, Punkd and Pimp My Ride.
The playout services being provided by RRsat include archiving and backup, audio and video editing, re-encoding, dubbing, subtitle insertion, graphic overlay, QC. .
We are thrilled to be involved with granting Israelis access to the MTVs exciting content, said Lior Rival, Vice President, Sales and Marketing of RRsat. MTV Israel joins the more than 130 TV channels being played out from RRsat Playout Centers state-of-the-art automated, high capacity, 24/7 facility including Fashion TV, KidsCo, BollywoodHD, BABY TV, BABY First TV, and more.
10 February 2011
Discuss intelligence issues with VOAs Security Briefing. Find out what international students think about life in the United States at The Student Union. Click on Jazz Beat and find out what music has inspired protesters in Egypt. Now you can do all this and more thanks to Voice of Americas new blog network.
All of VOAs English language blogs are now conveniently listed on one webpage, including The Sonny Side of Sports, African Music Treasures, Russia Watch, and Digital Frontiers, our dynamic online discussion of privacy, identity and freedom in the digital age.
In addition to a single page that brings together links to all of VOAs blog sites, you can see what others are saying about key issues, and what topics are generating the most interest. You can also interact with VOA journalists, see what story tags are being used the most, and find quick links to important resources.
Staying in touch with the latest U.S. and international developments is easy with VOA Breaking News, a survey of the top stories from each region with full access to news and analysis by VOA journalists around the world.
VOA Director Danforth W. Austin says, The new blog network has already generated significant audience gains because its easy to find original VOA content written for the web. Each blog is like a story beat, and all forms of media are pulled into one central place. Austin says, It also offers our audience an easy way to have a dialogue with our reporters on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
7 February 2011
India’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry yesterday set the deadline to shift from analogue to digital systems as 31 March 2015, The Times of India reported.
The proposal has been sent to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and will subsequently be put before the Union Cabinet for approval.
Digitisation, where the feed will be received through set-top boxes, is expected to be executed in phases and the four metropolitan areas of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai have to shift to digital addressability by 31 March 2012.
Phase II will include 35 cities with population of more than one million, such as Patna, Chandigarh, Pune and Bangalore by 31 March 2013. All urban areas are expected to digitise by 30 November 2014 and the remaining areas, by 31 March 2015.
“Digitisation will help industry grow at an accelerated speed. It is the key to (resolving) problems like distribution bottlenecks and under-declaration, leading to loss of subscription revenue that broadcasters face today,” said Zee News CEO Barun Das.
Broadcast regulator TRAI had recommended that phase I be digitised by March this year. The ministry had postponed this deadline by a year.
Industry insiders said digitisation would bring prices down, not just that of set-top boxes, but also carriage fees, by as much as half. (Source: ABU website)
7 February 2011
The Broadcasting Board of Governors strongly condemns the recent threats of violence leveled against journalists reporting for Alhurra Television in Egypt. Unidentified individuals entered Alhurras Cairo news bureau earlier today and threatened to kill Alhurras two on-air journalists Akram Khuzam and Tarek El Shamy if they didnt leave the building. The bureau was immediately closed. Similar threats were made at the production facility for Alhurras flagship program Al Youm. The staff had not yet arrived for the show and the unidentified individuals eventually left the building.
In addition, a pamphlet circulating currently throughout Cairo calls for government supporters to attack Alhurra and Al-Jazeera journalists. Just yesterday, one of Alhurra’s correspondents was harassed by pro-Mubarak protesters before leaving him in the streets of Cairo.
We recognize that many media organizations face similar threats and acts of violence and call upon the Egyptian government and security forces to permit journalists to report on events without fear of reprisal, said Walter Isaacson, chair of the Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees all U.S. international broadcasting including Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa. Alhurra and Radio Sawa are crucial sources of information about the unfolding events in Egypt. The freedom for our team, along with other news outlets, to report the news is essential to restoring order in a tumultuous environment.
While regular bureau activities have been relocated, Alhurra continues to have exclusive live shots of Tahrir square and reports via telephone from eyewitnesses in the square and elsewhere in downtown Cairo. The situation in Cairo is chaotic and it is hard to tell who is behind the attacks against journalists. After its overt suppression of access to the Internet and other social media in the early days of citizen protest, the Egyptian Ministry of Information has begun to interfere with journalists covering the events, limiting access to satellite uplinks, or even terminating satellite signals outright.
Despite these obstacles, Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa are providing critical live coverage of events from Cairo and Alexandria. As Egypt enters its 10th day of protests, Alhurra is broadcasting live continuous coverage, and continues to increase the use of social media to connect audiences across the Arabic-speaking world.
