24 May 2010
Al Jazeera will lead a new initiative aimed at delivering freedom on the Internet. Launching the multifaceted strategy at the start of the fifth Al Jazeera Forum, the Networks Director-General Wadah Khanfar said: “Al Jazeera is proud to announce that we will bring our ground-breaking coverage to the widest audience possible, free of charge.”
Al Jazeera will provide its content free of charge across a range of digital platforms. This will include Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, as well as developing a new application for the iPad.
Secondly, Khanfar announced a programme supporting the rights of online journalists, bloggers and other individuals who write and report online.
There are too many cases of bloggers being persecuted for telling the truth or for voicing their opinions, said Khanfar. As part of the Al Jazeera Initiative for Internet Freedom, we will provide
assistance to those who face online censorship and other forms of media oppression.
In an attempt to bolster the Networks newsgathering efforts, Jazeera is to provide people in marginalised communities and remote parts of the world with cameras and mobile phones to allow them to document stories that can be used on the Arabic and English news channels.
Media tools are often only accessible by those who have the resources and skills to access new technology. By providing these tools
Al Jazeera will be engaging a new generation of journalists, said Khanfar.
The new initiatives were announced during the innovative Unplugged session at the Forum, with speakers from organisations like Twitter explaining to the invited international audience how new media are impacting on traditional media companies.
21 May 2010
The AIBs’ new People’s Choice category, focused this year on programmes dealing with climate change, is limited to television programmes. This is because, unfortunately, it is difficult to ask an international audience to judge radio programmes because of language barriers. At least with television we can (and will) provide subtitles in a range of languages for the programs to be chosen by popular vote, and the online viewers can see the original output and understand the way that the story is treated. With radio, in order to convey the quality of a programme, a translation has to be very precise and convey the original intonation and expression. We hope that AIB members and other colleagues working in radio will forgive us that we were not able to include radio this year.
This is a pity since there are many good examples of radio programmes dealing with climate change. Only this week it was possible to hear:
- Vatican Radio reporting on Pope Benedict XVI expressing serious concern for the plight of herders in Mongolia, where extreme weather conditions threaten the livelihood of hundreds of thousands. The Pope stated that “environmental issues, particularly those related to climate change, are global issues and need to be addressed on a global level”
- Vermont Public Radio (VPR) on the effects of climate change at Lake Champlain, which now often fails to freeze over in winter. This visible result brings home the reality of the changes to local people. While it causes problems, Curt Stager of Paul Smith’s College in the northern Adirondacks points out “It’s a mix of good news and bad news in a way. The bad news is that climate change is likely to amplify some of our existing environmental problems. And the good news is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to deal with that.”
- MetadelPlaneta, the first radio programme in Mexico about climate change, appealing for funds
- an online podcast about Project Survival Pacific, discussing the danger to low-lying islands in the Pacific of rising sea levels and how the islanders are reacting
However, there were claims that the 4th International Conference on Climate Change hosted by the Heartland Institute was not given coverage by the media. But you can catch up here to see video and audio of the conference as it is posted.
The programmes mentioned above show how radio broadcasts can bring to life personal stories of how climate affects individuals all over the world. But the continuing wide divergence of views about what change is happening, what causes it, how damaging it is and what we should do, still challenges the listeners ability to put facts into perspective and broadcasters ability to shed light.
20 May 2010
The Voice of America is expanding coverage of Sunday’s Ethiopian parliamentary elections with special daily radio programs in English, enhanced multi-media efforts, and additional live broadcast hours on election-day in Amharic, Tigrigna, and Afaan Oromoo.
A 10-minute daily English-language program, titled Ethiopian Elections in Focus, is now airing evenings with the latest on the issues and candidates as they prepare for the crucial May 23 vote. The program, which is part of VOA English to Africa’s extensive lineup, will continue all week after the election.
Analysis, interviews, special reports and features are available at www.voanews.com, and through a special newsletter that is being distributed by email in an effort to reach listeners who have been affected by the jamming of VOA’s popular broadcasts to Ethiopia.
VOA’s Horn of Africa service will broadcast live to Ethiopia election-day from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the evening, bringing uncensored coverage to its large audience through shortwave and on VOA 24, a new satellite service carried by Arabsat. The extended election coverage, in Afaan Oromoo, Amharic, and Tigrigna, will include on-the-scene reporting of election-day events, panel discussions of polling station turnout and interviews with Ethiopians around the world. VOA has also added a 30-minute morning program in Amharic that starts at 6 a.m.
Earlier this month, Voice of America Director Danforth W. Austin issued an open letter to Ethiopian listeners expressing deep concern about the jamming of VOA broadcasts and websites. He also assured listeners that VOA will continue to do all it can to bring Ethiopian listeners the news they have come to trust and rely on for almost 30 years.
18 May 2010
Baraem TV received a gold award for best on-air-channel identity and a silver award for best out-of-house station image promo at Promax/BDA Arabia 2010 held in Dubai last Sunday. Promax/BDA Arabia celebrates outstanding achievements in television promotion, marketing and design in the Arab world.
We are glad to receive these prestigious awards; such recognition to Baraems visual identity highlights the level of creativity and our understanding of the audiences needs, which we employed to create a distinctive and impactful brand, said Malika Alouane, Director of Channels Programming of at Al Jazeera Childrens Channel and Baraem TV. In less than 18 months, Baraem TV proved to be a fierce competitor among Arab channels and global television networks with regards to its unique image and in terms of content making.
Over the past six months, Baraem TV had earned 9 international awards and certificates of merit from prominent international festivals and events.
In 2008, Promax/BDA Arabia had also awarded Al Jazeera Childrens Channel for Best Holiday/Seasonal/ Special Event Promo for its documentary Children of Iraq.
18 May 2010
The AIB is upgrading its e-mail system which requires a change to its MX addresses.
As a result of this, some AIB e-mail addresses may be uncontactable for a short time as the changes percolate through the Internet.
If you send a message to the AIB that bounces, please wait a day and then resend it.
17 May 2010
Corus Entertainment Inc., one of Canada’s most successful integrated media and entertainment companies, has selected Pharos Mediator’s content management technology to operate Corus’ content workflow management engine in the company’s new Toronto headquarters, Corus Quay.
The Pharos Mediator program will integrate the company’s multiple broadcast systems – including Open Text Digital Asset Management, OmniBus iTX and Pilat IBMS – into a seamless and unified operation of activities at every stage of Corus’ ingest, archiving, transmission and content delivery process.
“We selected Pharos Mediator based on its proven track record for delivering highly integrated workflow programs with the flexibility to meet new and demanding broadcast environments,” said Scott Dyer, Chief Technology Officer, Corus Entertainment. “We were also impressed with the depth of knowledge and experience shown by the Pharos team and we look forward to implementing Mediator in the coming months.”
Pharos Mediator’s automated “content centric” workflow engine requires minimal manual intervention and will help Corus meet its commitment to providing viewers with unprecedented access to its programming on multiple platforms including high definition, on-demand, mobile devices and online.
“One of the major strengths of the Pharos Mediator platform is its deep support for industry standards and third party systems which is essential for organisations that wish to create a best of breed environment,” explained Glen Sakata, General Manager for Pharos Communications in the Americas. “The power of our workflow system and the substantial number of operational interfaces we provide will allow Corus to perform the vast majority of their end-to-end workflow using a consistent and highly flexible browser based environment, helping to improve efficiency across the organisation.”
The project will be led by Siemens who will be working closely with Pharos on the project, which is expected to go live in the latter part of the year. “This physical move and technological transformation is something that few media organisations have the opportunity to accomplish,” said Holger Kormann, Vice President, Siemens IT Solutions and Services, Inc. “Siemens is pleased to contribute our expertise in technology innovation and media asset management to such an important project. We look forward to working with quality companies like Pharos to deliver to Corus the benefits of Pharos’ expertise in automated workflow management. Automated workflow management is a crucial element of the new Corus content management system and will provide substantial benefits to Corus and its customers.”
