26 October 2006
Al Jazeera Satellite Network will unveil The Wall of Freedom memorial dedicated to honour journalists and crew from across the world who have been killed while working in the field. The fifty-five foot tall memorial will be unveiled at Al Jazeeras 10th Anniversary on November 1st, 2006 in Doha, Qatar at Al Jazeeras headquarters. The Memorial is an ongoing recognition of the dangerous work that many journalists are required to do as part of their profession. Journalists today are placed in hazardous situations either as a consequence of covering wars or giving voice to opinions that are condemned by political regimes. As a result many of the journalists and crew on the Memorial were killed in war situations or by political assassination for their views. A number of the cases of those killed are still open with either little or no investigation into the circumstances and reasons for their deaths.
Over 630 names are etched on the memorial which was designed by the artist Mahmud Al Obaidi an Iraqi-Canadian artist who has exhibited his work in many parts of the world including Tunisia, India, New York, and France. I chose the wall as a form because it shows meaning more than any other form. The wall is black which is a sacred colour – it is a symbol of steadfastness. The boxes on the wall are windows to immortalize the worlds journalists and crew who died as heroes.
Director General of the Al Jazeera Network, Wadah Khanfar, stated, We want to recognize the courage and valour shown by journalists and their crews across the world, those who have sacrificed their lives. Reporting the news has become extremely unsafe in many parts of the world and more needs to be done to assure protection for journalists and for the freedom of expression. This memorial was built to remind the world of the heavy cost of telling the truth. We wanted to honour those who have sacrificed their lives for their profession and we hope that one day we can see an end to the killing.
26 October 2006
For the first time in the history of the Asian Games, eight major sports will be produced in HDTV. In response, GlobeCast – the global content management and delivery company – has been chosen by Qatar Telecom (QTel) to provide satellite distribution, both SD and HD, beyond the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) for rightsholders of the 2006 Asian Games. This partnership means that GlobeCast will service international broadcasters with worldwide satellite delivery. In addition GlobeCast will also be providing non-rightsholder services such as live stand-up positions, studio, and tape playout from Doha.
The Fifteenth Asian Games will be held in Doha, Qatar from 1-15 December 2006 and are set to be the biggest Asian games to date. A record 45 nations will compete in 39 sports ranging from the conventional athletics, gymnastics and swimming, to the more traditional judo and taekwondo. Over the 15 days of the event, around 50 countries are expected to produce more than 3,000 hours of television for an anticipated cumulative audience of approximately 1.5 billion viewers.
26 October 2006
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has announced the appointment of Danforth W. Austin as the Director of the Voice of America (VOA). He will have the overall responsibility for the planning, organization, direction and policy application of all VOA broadcasting activities. Austin will replace David Jackson who will be returning to the private sector. The BBG also announced the appointment of Russell Hodge as Director of VOA Television.
In making the announcement, the BBG said it looks forward to the leadership and vision that Austin and Hodge will provide in developing a strategic plan to implement VOA’s increased use of 21st century technologies to reach its worldwide audience, including satellite television, the Internet as well as FM and AM radio.
Austin is a news media executive with a business and journalism background. He has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc., the community media subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co., with 3,000 employees in nine states, overseeing both operating and support functions, including news, advertising, circulation, Internet development, production, technology, finance and human resources.
Austin also served in a number of senior positions with the Wall Street Journal, including Vice President and General Manager, where he was responsible for U.S. advertising, circulation, marketing and production operations. His other positions included Deputy National News Editor, Editor, Wall Street Journal Reports and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Bureau Chief.
Jackson is one of the longest serving Directors in VOA history, having served since September, 2002, and made significant contributions to its reputation and its future. These include the merging of Worldnet Television with VOA, the exceptional increase in VOA’s broadcast audience in television and on the Internet, and VOA’s remarkable expansion of broadcasting to crisis regions of the world in response to the War on Terrorism. The members of the Board of Governors join all members of the Voice of America in extending their sincere appreciation for his contributions and their best wishes for the future.
Hodge will serve as the Director of all VOA television programming and advise the Director of VOA on the editorial, production, program development, talent and day-to-day operations of all television programming produced or broadcast by VOA. He will also provide guidance to VOA’s Associate Directors for Language Programming, Central Programming, and Operations with regard to the development and production of television programming.
Hodge is the Founder and President of 3 Roads Communications, Inc., a television programming, video production, and strategic communications firm. He is also the President of Three Roads Media Partners, LLC, an affiliated company that focuses on domestic and foreign acquisition and distribution. Hodge is an Emmy Award-winning producer with more than two decades of experience in news, public affairs and documentary production and programming. His credits include projects for HBO, PBS, NBC, CNBC, CBS, Fox and Comedy Central. He has produced dozens of hours of television programming for network, Cable and Public Television and numerous foreign broadcasters. He has received more than three dozen awards, including an Emmy, Cable ACE, Telly, Aurora, Addy, Communicator, Aegis, and several other broadcasting awards.
18 October 2006
The latest edition of the AIB’s quarterly magazine, The Channel, is out now – and it’s as great a read as ever!
We’re unveiling our opinion on who the world’s media leaders are – and you might find our choices surprising. But we believe that our chosen media leaders are people that you need to watch as they’re making a real impact on electronic media worldwide.
The July edition is also packed with a range of in-depth feature articles, ranging from the way in which the internet is changing the way people consume content through to the role of freelance journalists in US public radio. And of course there’s the usual round-up of news from the international media industry.
If you don’t receive your copy automatically, subscribe today – simply
click
here!
13 October 2006
The World Teleport Association has announced the appointment of Mary Frost, CEO of GlobeCast America, to its Board of Directors effective October 1, 2006. Ms. Frost will complete the three-year term on the Board, representing the Americas region, vacated by David Sprechman, GlobeCast America’s former chief executive, upon his departure from that company in June.
GlobeCast America is the US unit of Paris-based GlobeCast, a subsidiary of France Telecom, and a global provider of broadcast distribution and content management services. As CEO, Frost oversees GlobeCast’s strategy and operations in North and Latin America, based between the company’s sales and marketing offices in Washington D.C. and New York. She joined GlobeCast in 2003 as Sr. Vice President, Sales, and was later named Chief Commercial Officer. Her more than 25-year career in media, entertainment and communications includes key positions as Managing Director at Price WaterhouseCoopers’ Entertainment, Media and Communications practice; Vice President of Network Broadcast Operations and Engineering for Disney and ABC, managing news and technology operations during 11 years at the network in New York; General Manager of ICO Global Communications in America; as well as CEO and President of two interactive and digital asset management ventures.
WTA’s Board is made up of senior representatives of the teleport sector of the satellite industry from around the world, including Olivier Badard, Vice President, Alcatel Alenia Space France; Dr. Gerhard Bommas, CTO of ND SatCom; Gary Hatch, CEO of ATCI; Jon Kirchner, Vice President, Loral Skynet; Michael Noon, Vice President, SES AMERICOM; Nick Thompson, Managing Director of Arqiva Satellite Media Solutions; and Malcolm Warren, Director, Asia-Pacific, ViaSat.
12 October 2006
“File-based asset management is now recognised as the logical way forward for television post-production, archiving and playout,” reports Roger Heath, Commercial Director of Pharos Communications. “The great majority of visitors we spoke with at IBC2006 in September recognise that file storage on disc server arrays makes much greater sense than relying on video tapes. Tapes have to be moved physically from shelf to studio and back again, they can only be in one place at any one time, they degenerate physically whenever they are played, edited or copied, and they are easily mislaid.”
“Our IBC 2006 booth was configured to prove that file-based broadcasting is fast and reliable. It has become the natural path for any business wanting to survive in today’s highly-competitive multi-channel world. And we are not talking about one-off little-box solutions. Our core media management system, Pharos Mediator, delivers the freedom to grow from a small operation up to an
enterprise multi-client, multi-channel network. Expandability is a crucial element of our three-tier message, the other components being precise modelling of each client’s intended workflow and genuinely user-friendly task-based operation.”
“We were able to announce at IBC Channel 4 Television’s decision to deploy Pharos Mediator as the enabling technology behind its own advance into
complete file-based broadcasting and archiving. Channel 4 has long been a
major Pharos customer and we are naturally pleased by the continuing
confidence of its management in our concepts and our technology.”
“I would like to add my thanks to the IBC organisation team for their sustained professionalism which keeps the event head-to-head with the NAB Spring Convention as one of the two must-see shows in the annual broadcast
calendar.”
