Media industry is key stakeholder in achieving the SDGs, says UN ECOSOC President

19 July 2022

Media industry is key stakeholder in achieving the SDGs, says UN ECOSOC President

**Inaugural SDGs and the Media forum explores how to empower journalists to hold power to account in all countries**

Working with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the Association for International Broadcasting staged a ground-breaking conference on 15 July to explore the relationship between media companies, journalists, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

See the agenda here.

Opened by the President of the Economic and Social Council, H.E. Mr Collen Vixen Kelapile, the event brought together hundreds of participants from 30+ countries to discuss how the world’s media can ensure that citizens in every country understand the need for the planet’s inhabitants to move toward greater sustainability.

In his opening address, H.E. Mr Kelapile noted “the media industry is a vital stakeholder in achieving the SDGs. It is key in promoting solidarity and reinforcing accountability from the global leaders so that they take the necessary bold decisions.”

He continued: “Fair and accurate reporting is very important, and it’s a must in this process. Let us send a strong call to action to journalists in every country to engage in support of the achievement of the SDGs.”

“We also want to hear from you on how the UN, the individual member states, and the media could become better partners in achieving the SDGs.”

The conference heard from four journalists who are actively engaged in telling stories about sustainability to audiences worldwide: David Shukman, former BBC Science Editor; Steve Herman, National Correspondent, Voice of America; Aida Salihbegović, Producer, Balkan Booster; and Angelina Kariakina, Head of News, Ukraine Public Broadcasting.

Central to the discussion was how “audience fatigue” can be avoided when covering stories about sustainability. There’s a need to make the facts relevant to audiences – for example, explaining that an area the size of a football pitch is being lost to deforestation in the Amazon every minute rather than giving a measurement that people cannot readily assimilate, said David Shukman. There must be a fresh angle to ensure that such stories become part of normal news coverage about politics, science, medicine, natural disasters and so on.

It’s vital to avoid “preachy journalism”, noted Steve Herman, and instead focus on telling stories about solutions and successful initiatives that communities and organisations are developing. There’s a need to be alive to corporate greenwashing, said both Shukman and Herman.

The potential for collaboration in telling stories across borders was demonstrated by DW’s Balkan Booster that brings together young journalists from five Balkan countries. They share experiences with other journalists from neighbouring countries, demonstrating that problems override geographical boundaries and nationality. One season of Balkan Booster focused on sustainability issues, explained Aida Salihbegović, and stories originated on the programme were picked up by local broadcasters across the Balkan region.

For Ukraine’s public broadcaster, observed Angelina Kariakina, covering the SDGs is vital as they are not only about sustainability. One of the Goals is peace, so covering the SDGs is highly relevant to citizens in Ukraine. In Kariakina’s view, the war in Ukraine has a negative impact on achieving all 17 of the Goals – from poverty to energy to environment to food.

The potential for creating effective corporate social responsibility initiatives by media companies in areas connected to the SDGs was highlighted by Georgia Arnold, Executive Director of the MTV Foundation. MTV Foundation has created series focusing on sexual health, gender-based violence and other key social issues that are distributed across sub-Saharan Africa and India.

The MTV Foundation has been operating since the late-1990s and has gained immense traction with its work across the regions it serves, through television, radio, graphic novels, digital platforms, and social media. It is an example that other media companies can follow, given their huge story-telling abilities.

Concluding the event, AIB chief executive Simon Spanswick said this SDGs and the Media forum kicked off a series that is planned to be organised in conjunction with the United Nations. The aim will be to explore effective ways for the global media industry to support story-telling around the SDGs and the need to protect the planet.

H.E. Mr Collen Vixen Kelapile agreed, saying that it is his hope that “this forum can become a special initiative of the successive presidents of EcoSoc and organised annually on the margins of the High-Level Political Forum.”

“Working together, we can increase the level of awareness and motivation among global citizens in addressing the enormous challenges we face and building the better world that was envisioned in the 2030 agenda when it was adopted in 2015.”

The AIB is now working with its global members and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs to develop a long-term programme of events to explore and advance collaboration on storytelling around the SDGs.

Watch the event: https://youtu.be/kvdcuRbHkGg

RFE/RL President & CEO Jamie Fly meets with staff, officials during Ukraine visit

18 July 2022

RFE/RL President & CEO Jamie Fly meets with staff, officials during Ukraine visit

During a visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv last week, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President & CEO Jamie Fly met with top Ukrainian officials and RFE/RL journalists who have been reporting on the frontlines of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Fly spent time with journalists from RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, who have put their lives on the line to deliver trustworthy, independent news to Ukrainian and international audiences. They have documented Russian war crimes, exposed the human cost of Russia’s attacks, and broken story after story about the Kremlin’s unjustified invasion.

“Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has not stopped our brave journalists from delivering vitally important, independent news every day,” said RFE/RL President & CEO Jamie Fly. “From Kyiv to Crimea, RFE/RL journalists are risking their lives to show Ukrainians, and the world, the true horror of this inhumane and unjustified war.”

On April 29, RFE/RL journalist Vira Hyrych was killed in Kyiv after a Russian missile strike hit the residential building where she lived. In June, Hyrych and other journalists killed during the war were posthumously recognised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Fly met with Hyrych’s parents and son and visited her gravesite.

During his visit, Fly also met with Ukrainian officials, including Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova, Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko, members of Parliament, and representatives of civil society groups and independent media outlets. Fly discussed RFE/RL’s efforts to provide truthful reporting about the war, as well as work to reach audiences inside Russia and newly-occupied areas of Ukraine.

He also raised the case of RFE/RL contributor Vladyslav Yesypenko, who was sentenced to six years in prison on February 16, 2022 by a Russian-controlled court in occupied Crimea. Detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service in Simferopol on March 10, 2021, he was eventually charged with possession and transport of explosives, a charge he denies. Yesypenko is the recipient of the 2022 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award.

RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service sets a standard in the Ukrainian media market for independence, professionalism, and innovation. Since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine on February 24, Ukrainian Service videos have been viewed over 111 million times on YouTube alone. The service’s comprehensive coverage includes the award-winning reporting of its Donbas Realities and Crimea Realities websites and “Schemes” investigative reporting team.

Get up-to-date with latest AIB media industry briefing

14 July 2022

Get up-to-date with latest AIB media industry briefing

The latest AIB industry briefing has been published and sent to thousands of readers across the world.

With stories from and about AIB Members, to news about cyber attacks, job opportunities, people and more, this regular briefing helps readers keep up to date with developments in media across the world.

Sign up to receive this regular briefing in your inbox: https://aib.org.uk/sign-up-to-the-aib-industry-briefing/

Read this edition: https://aib.org.uk/NL/AIB-Nx-brief-220714.html

BBC News Arabic reveal findings from major MENA survey

13 July 2022

BBC News Arabic reveal findings from major MENA survey

BBC News Arabic has revealed the latest results from one of the largest surveys carried out in the Middle East and North Africa.

Nearly 23,000 people across nine countries and the Palestinian territories were interviewed for The Arab World Survey 2021/2022 for BBC News Arabic. The findings provide a unique insight into the contemporary lives of Arabs.

Participants, who were selected at random to fairly represent their communities, were surveyed on a wide range of topics, including democracy, women’s rights, economy, and race. This is the first time a major survey has comprehensively captured people’s attitudes on racial issues in Arabic-speaking places in the region.

Between October 2021 and April 2022, face-to-face interviews were conducted with people living in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestinian territories, Sudan, and Tunisia.

The survey was carried out for BBC News Arabic by Arab Barometer, a research network based at Princeton University. The last survey was conducted in 2018/2019.

This year’s findings indicate that:

Attitudes towards the role of women are slowly becoming more progressive in places surveyed, apart from Morocco. But more than a third of people, in seven out of ten places, surveyed say violence against women has increased. Most people interviewed say men are better at political leadership, but compared to the 2018/2019 findings, the numbers that support this view has declined in most places. Notably, in Tunisia 40 percent of people agree, a drop of 16 percentage points since 2018/2019, and in Lebanon 36 percent agree, a decrease of 14-points. Morocco is the only place where attitudes to women are going in the opposite direction to the last survey. In 2018/2019, Morocco was the most supportive of women’s participation in the decision-making process in the public and private arenas. Thirty five percent of Moroccans said men are better at political leadership. But in the 2021/2022 findings this has risen to nearly one in two people (49 percent). Within the country, 62 percent of men and 36 percent of women agree with the statement. Over a third of people in seven of the 10 surveyed places say they think violence against women has increased in the past year. Most notably, 61 percent of people in Tunisia say this; 54 percent in Palestinian territories, 52 percent in Iraq, and 51 percent in Jordan. Nearly seven in 10 (69 percent) women in Tunisia agree with this statement, the highest number of women in the surveyed places.

US President Joe Biden’s MENA policies are viewed as not much better than Trump’s, but the United States’ pull out from Afghanistan is widely supported in surveyed places. Mr Biden’s policies towards MENA are viewed to be the same or as worse as former US President Donald Trump’s. More than three quarters of people in Lebanon (76 percent) and the Palestinian territories (77 percent) believe this. However, the pull out of the US from Afghanistan is backed by more than half in all places surveyed. Eighty percent of those surveyed in the Palestinian territories support it and more than half of people do in Jordan (80 percent), Mauritania (72 percent), Morocco (68 percent), Libya (66 percent), Sudan (65 percent), Lebanon (65 percent), Iraq (59 percent), and Tunisia (54 percent).

In the surveyed places, people appear to be finding their faith again, particularly young people, but trust in religious leaders continues to dwindle except in Mauritania. Apart from Iraq and Lebanon, all places surveyed saw a decline in people who described themselves as not religious. Mauritania (88 percent) and Sudan (57 percent) have the highest increase of people saying they are religious. In 2018/2019, 37 percent of Sudanese citizens said they were. [1]

Among the under 30s, in seven out of nine places there has been a decline in those describing themselves as not religious.[1] Tunisia saw the largest decline. Today, about a third of Tunisian youth describe themselves as not religious; in 2018/2019 it was almost half the young population. But in Lebanon and Sudan there has been a significant increase in people saying they do not have any trust in religious leaders. Forty seven percent of Lebanese citizens say this, an increase of 20 points from 2018/2019. In Sudan, 31 percent say this, an increase of 15 points from 2018/2019. Trust in religious leaders is significantly higher in Mauritania (74 percent) than in the other surveyed places.

Across surveyed places faith in democracy is in decline and there is broad support for leaders that bend the rules: Half or more people in Tunisia, Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Libya, and the Palestinian territories say under a democratic system their country’s economy is weak. Iraq had the highest number of people who appear to have lost faith in democracy, with 72 percent of Iraqis agreeing with the statement. In every place surveyed in both 2018/2019 and 2021/2022, there has been an increase in the number of people who agree with the statement. [1] Jordan saw the biggest change from 24 percent of citizens saying this in 2018/2019 to 57 percent in 2021/2022. But a majority of people in all places surveyed, believe that while democracies may have problems, they are better than other political systems. In Mauritania, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and the Palestinian territories, more than half of people agreed with the statement that their country needs a leader who can bend the rules if necessary to get things done.

There is a widespread acknowledgment of racial discrimination in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Sudan, and Tunisia: [2] A third or more of people in all places except Egypt agree that racial discrimination is a problem. Tunisia had the highest number of people agreeing with this, at 80 percent. But 82 percent of Egyptians say that there is no racial discrimination at all against black people.

Findings from The Arab World Survey 2021/2022 also suggest:

Desire to emigrate has not risen in the surveyed places: Egypt saw the largest decline. In 2018/2019, just over one in four people (28%) wanted to leave Egypt, in the latest findings it is just over one in ten (13%). Jordan has the highest proportion of people who want to emigrate, at 48%. Notably, in Tunisia, Lebanon, Sudan, and Jordan, over half of under 30s want to emigrate. Top destination countries are the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, France, Italy, and Germany. The United Kingdom is lower down as a preferred destination, ranking in the top 5 preferred countries in only two places.

People believe economic conditions are worsening: Over half of those surveyed in all places say the economic situation in their country is bad or very bad. Further, in most places surveyed, a majority have experienced food insecurity and scarcity and say often or sometimes they did not have money to buy more.

People feel there is growing authoritarianism and declining civil liberties: Relatively few people say that their civil liberties are guaranteed. Compared to 2018/2019 people in Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories believe there has been a steep decline of civil liberties. The percentage of citizens reporting they have guaranteed civil liberties are highest in Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan still towers above international leaders: In these latest findings, Mr Erdogan’s policies remain popular in places surveyed, with six places putting his policies on top.[5]

Sam Farah, Head of BBC News Arabic, says: “The Arab World Survey 2021/2022 is vital in helping us to understand what people living in the Middle East and North Africa think about the pressing issues affecting their lives.”

Veteran Journalist James O’Shea Named MBN Board Chair

12 July 2022

Veteran Journalist James O’Shea Named MBN Board Chair

The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN) announced that James O’Shea would serve as the Chair of MBN’s board of directors. O’Shea was editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times and managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, where he spent many years overseeing the Tribune’s foreign news staff. He is succeeding Amb. Karen Kornbluh, who stepped down from the board in June.

“Jim has a wealth of journalistic experience, and MBN will benefit from his knowledge and guidance,” stated MBN Acting President Hassan Shwiki. “We are extremely fortunate to work with him as MBN advances its digital-first programming strategy and continue to provide accurate and objecting news to audiences across the Middle East and North Africa on the platforms they use.”

“MBN serves the vital mission of reporting on topics not covered in the Arabic press, as well as news about America and the American people,” stated O’Shea. “This is a very talented and dedicated team, and I am grateful to serve as their board chair. I also wish to express my appreciation for Karen Kornbluh’s wonderful work as chair of MBN’s board.”

In addition to his work at the Times and Tribune, O’Shea is the author of three books including “The Deal From Hell,” a narrative about the merger of Times Mirror and the Tribune companies. He co-founded the Chicago News Cooperative, a digital news start-up that produced Chicago news pages twice a week for The New York Times. O’Shea was also the Howard R. March Visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Michigan for the 2013/2014 academic year.

Other members of MBN’s board include Amb. Ryan Crocker, Michael Kempner, Amb. Susan Ziadeh and Timothy McNulty.

About Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN)

Launched in 2004, MBN is non-profit corporate media outlet financed by U.S. government through a grant from US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), an independent federal agency. The USAGM serves as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters.

MBN is an Arabic-language multimedia organization whose mission is to expand the spectrum of ideas, opinions, and perspectives available in the media of the Middle East and North Africa; provide objective, accurate, and relevant news and information; and, accurately represent America, Americans, and American policies. Through its multimedia broadcasts, MBN seeks to inform, engage, and connect with the regions’ people in support of universal freedoms.

MBN Platforms

Television (Alhurra, Alhurra-Iraq)

Radio (Sawa Levant, Sawa Iraq, Sawa Sudan)

Digital (www.Alhurra.com, www.RadioSawa.com, www.Elsaha.com, www.Irfaasawtak.com, www.MaghrebVoices.com)

[Source: MBN press release]

Critically acclaimed Current Time doco chronicles families divided by Russia’s war, disinformation

6 July 2022

Critically acclaimed Current Time doco chronicles families divided by Russia’s war, disinformation

A new documentary produced by Current Time and directed by journalist and filmmaker Andrey Loshak, “Broken Ties,” has premiered to critical acclaim in Russia. The film shows the human cost for Russians themselves of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and ways Kremlin disinformation and state propaganda are tearing Russian families apart.

Filmed over a three-month period, “Broken Ties” follows seven Russian families as their relationships deteriorate in the months following the invasion. Among the subjects followed are: Renata, a pediatrician struggling to come to terms with her guilt over Russia’s involvement in the war, and her mother, Vinera, a fiercely patriotic schoolteacher; and Ekaterina and Artem, a Russian couple so deeply divided on the war that they may divorce. Loshak also interviews Vika, a survivor of Russia’s bombing of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, and her brother, Yakov, who dismisses Vika’s perspective on the war. As ideologies clash, communication becomes strained, and relationships begin to deteriorate. In time, any hope of finding common ground, understanding or reconciliation begins to vanish.

Kenan Aliyev, executive editor at Current Time and executive producer of the film said, “We are extremely proud of this latest collaboration with Andrey Loshak, and our ability to release this important documentary to Russian-speaking audiences – including in Ukraine – while the war rages on. This documentary shows the real, human costs for Russians themselves of Putin’s assault on media freedom and independent journalism.”

In one of the film’s most moving scenes, Natalya, a psychologist opposed to Russia’s invasion, recounts how she regularly talks with her mother Lyudmila for hours, refuting state propaganda. When asked if her daughter has managed to persuade her at all, Lyudmila answers, “No, of course not.”

“Broken Ties” first premiered for Russian-speaking audiences on Current Time on June 20. It is now available on YouTube, where it has been seen over 1.2 million times, generating significant positive audience engagement.

Ksenia Larina, a prominent Russian journalist and television critic, described the film as “astonishing” and “scary;” and Anton Dolin, a Russian film critic writing for Meduza, called the film, “a powerful antidote to what Russian television has become,” and, “made by one of the best representatives of a different kind of television…”

Andrey Loshak is an internationally recognized journalist, reporter, and filmmaker from Moscow. He has received the Russian TEFI award for “Best Reporter” and the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” 1st class medal for his pioneering work in Russian national TV. Loshak’s previous work with Current Time includes “InterNYET,” a series covering the rise and fall of Russia’s internet, and “Let It All Burn,” a documentary about Russian rock band IC3PEAK’s fight with local authorities for its right to perform.

Watch “Broken Ties” with English subtitles here.

[Source: RFE/RL press release]