RFE/RL condemns Ihar Losik’s addition to Terrorist Watch Registry

29 June 2022

RFE/RL condemns Ihar Losik’s addition to Terrorist Watch Registry

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) condemns the Lukashenka regime’s addition of imprisoned RFE/RL Belarus Service journalist Ihar Losik to a terrorist watch list.

Losik was arrested by Belarusian agents in June 2020 and tried on fabricated charges including “organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order” and “preparation for participation in riots.” After a five-month trial held behind closed doors, Losik was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2021. Since his arrest, Losik has faced severe physical and psychological pressures, and has undergone weeks of hunger strikes to protest his detention and charges.

“This escalation is an egregious abuse of the state’s authority and underlines the Lukashenka regime’s contempt for journalists who expose the truth,” said RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly. “We continue to demand Ihar’s immediate release from prison so he can be reunited with his wife and daughter.”

Losik’s addition to Belarus’ terrorist watch list is the latest escalation in the country’s assault on free press in the region. Earlier this month, Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Belarus Service was sentenced to six years in a maximum-security prison on the bogus charges of creating or participating in an “extremist organization.” Belarus Service journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich also received a sentence of one and a half years in a penal labor colony in March for “taking part” in mass protests that he was covering on assignment.

Additionally, RFE/RL was added to Belarus’ registry of “extremist organizations” in December 2021, RFE/RL’s bureau in Minsk was raided and sealed by Belarusian security forces in July 2021, and numerous other journalists on assignment to report on the disputed August 2020 presidential election were harassed, detained, and stripped of their accreditations.

RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, with a monthly average of over 33 million visits to its websites and 59 million page views, was first established in 1954 and is a leading provider of news in one of Europe’s most restrictive societies, defying the government’s virtual monopoly on domestic broadcast media.

[Source: RFE/RL press release]

NHK WORLD Monthly Focus July

29 June 2022

NHK WORLD Monthly Focus July

Manga Artist René’s Diversity Lesson

Cameroon-born manga artist Hoshino René says he wants to “make Japan a country where people can embrace differences.” His works help to do just that by highlighting cultural distinctions. As the number of foreign residents rises, some newcomers have trouble adapting to Japan. One 17-year-old girl from Nepal facing just such a challenge came to René for advice. Join him as he visits her school to help students confront the problems they face, in part by turning to manga.

Transmission dates to be announced

J-FLICKS
Close-up: Cannes Film Festival

This episode sets the spotlight on the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Screened in competition was “Broker,” the first release by Kore-eda Hirokazu to be shown at the festival since he received the Palme d’Or in 2018 for “Shoplifters.” Then we look at Hayakawa Chie’s science-fiction feature,“PLAN75.”

July 17 Sun.

0:10/ 6:10/ 12:10/ 18:10 (UTC)

Cross-Cultural Documentaries from Asia

“I DREAM OF CARING”

July 1 Fri.

14:30 / 20:30 / 3:10 / 10:10 (UTC)

July 6 Wed.

19:00 (UTC)

This documentary, co-produced by a Filipino filmmaker and a Japanese cable TV station, depicts the struggles of a Filipina caregiver working in Japan and nurses who dream of doing the same.

Cross-Cultural Documentaries from Asia

“AWAY FROM HOME”

July 29 Fri.

14:30 / 20:30 / 3:10 / 10:10 (UTC)

This co-production by a Vietnamese filmmaker and a Japanese broadcaster depicts a Vietnamese university student’s challenging search for work in Japan and her family’s efforts to support her.

[Source: NHK WORLD press release]

Nostalgia corner: tenth anniversary of Radio Netherlands closure

29 June 2022

Nostalgia corner: tenth anniversary of Radio Netherlands closure

29 June 2022 marks the tenth anniversary of the closure of Radio Netherlands Worldwide, the international broadcaster that broadcast programmes across the world in Dutch, English and six other languages. The broadcaster launched in April 1947, with shortwave its mainstay distribution system for most of its life.

In 2011, the Dutch government decided to drastically reduce funding for Radio Netherlands’ international services, cutting its operational budget from EUR46m to just EUR14m, and to focus on promoting media freedom through a new organisations RNW Media, rather than serving audiences directly.

You can listen to a 20′ programme made by former Radio Netherlands Programme Director Jonathan Marks (pictured right) on the day of the closure here.

For those of us who grew up listening to programmes from Hilversum, the closure of the station was a sad day – and Jonathan’s recording brings back many memories.

Women: a new radio show from BBC News Afghan

29 June 2022

Women: a new radio show from BBC News Afghan

BBC News Afghanistan in Pashto and Dari has launched a weekly radio programme, Women (Mermen in Pashto, and Zan in Dari). The 30-minute show will go on air at 19:00 Kabul Time in Dari and at 20:00 in Pashto (14:30 and 15:30 GMT) every Friday.

Presented by Shazia Haya in Pashto and Aalia Farzan in Dari, the programme is aimed at women and girls – especially those in rural areas – in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Alongside offering them a platform to voice their views and questions, the new show will also deliver content that informs and educates, empowering the listeners to make informed decisions and choices.

The programme, which talks about women’s rights, healthcare, education, household economy, parenting, children’s health, as well as entertainment, sports and politics, opens with women-focused news from around the world. It discusses with experts the week’s main subject item and includes permanent slots on motherhood and childcare; inspiring stories about successful women from Afghanistan and around the world; and an arts & culture section dedicated to latest works by female writers, artists and musicians.

Shazia Haya and Aalia Farzan are BBC journalists who moved to the UK following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Shazia says: “This programme for me means giving a voice to the voiceless. I hope Mermen will help empower the Afghan women to have better lives – and I feel really privileged to be part of such a journey.”

Aalia adds: “I want our new radio show, Zan, to serve as a window to every Afghan woman’s home. A window which opens every week to bring her the kind of knowledge that is really useful for her, and also to invite her to speak out about the things that worry or frustrate her.”

The new radio programme will be available via FM and shortwave frequencies across Afghanistan and will be available on demand via the websites bbc.com/pashto and bbc.com/persian/afghanistan, and the BBC News Pashto and BBC News Dari channels on Facebook.

BBC News Afghanistan service in Dari and Pashto is part of BBC World Service.

AIB conference on media and the SDGs – 7 July 2022

27 June 2022

AIB conference on media and the SDGs – 7 July 2022

The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB), a member of the UN SDG Media Compact, is organising a virtual forum as a side event to the ECOSOC HLPF to engage media sectors in a global dialogue on the urgency of member states to ensure the global goals are met.

Journalists in all countries must hold power to account on progress made (or delays encountered) on the implementation of the SDGs and Member States’ short- and medium-term plans to meet the crucial 2030 deadline as part of recovery efforts.

The dialogue will explore the power, role and responsibility of global media in accurately and transparently reporting the progress of members states on the 2030 goals, advocating for transformative policies to be adopted as part of the recovery from COVID-19 as well as an upsurge of international solidarity.

This conference will bring together editors, journalists, producers, sustainability experts and more. Best practice will be shared to encourage journalists and programme makers to tell stories around the SDGs and to hold politicians to account on progress – and in some cases lack of progress – on achieving the SDGs.

The conference will be opened by HE Mr Collen Vixen Kelapile, President of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Expert speakers include Aida Sofić Salihbegović, DW, Steve Herman, VoA, Angelina Kariakina, UA:PB, Georgia Arnold, Executive Director of the MTV Staying Alive Foundation and Carys Taylor, Director of the Albert Project, as well as leading editors and journalists from across the world.

The full agenda is available here.

Register to join this two-hour conference free of charge here.

DW’s Limbourg: Diversity is one of strengths of DW’s Global Media Forum

24 June 2022

DW’s Limbourg: Diversity is one of strengths of DW’s Global Media Forum

Global Media Forum 2022 in Bonn concludes with the attendance of global media leaders: Maria Ressa, Leonid Volkov, Timothy Snyder, David Beasley, Paul Ronzheimer, Barkha Dutt, Audrey Tang, Ulrik Haagerup, Bernhard Pörksen and Gwen Lister.

The two-day Deutsche Welle (DW) media conference, titled “Shaping tomorrow now,” covered hybrid topics on-site in Bonn and online, including journalism education, climate change, digital activism, and war and pandemic reporting.

In his closing remarks, DW Director General Peter Limbourg emphasised the strength of DW’s Global Media Forum in bringing even people from countries in conflict with each other into conversation and constructive debate. “The diversity, reflected in the presence of journalists from Russia, Ukraine, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, was the strength of DW’s Global Media Forum,” he said. “We can ask critical questions. We can address everything. I’m really happy that we had these two days in Bonn.”

A highlight of the event was the keynote of Philippine journalist and Nobel Prize laureate Maria Ressa. “If you don’t have facts, you don’t have truth; if you don’t have truth, you don’t have trust,” Ressa said in her keynote. Fact-based journalism, she said, can restore the trust that has been lost to illiberal governments. A second Nobel Prize laureate, David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme, also attended this year’s media conference.

Peter Limbourg similarly addressed the loss of media credibility: “We are confronted with a storm of disinformation, propaganda and censorship. When the free and independent voices work together, we can withstand this storm and make a difference.”

In an emotional ceremony Monday evening, DW honoured Ukrainian photojournalists Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka with the Freedom of Speech Award in recognition of their courageous reporting of the Russian attacks on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in February and March. Jodie Ginsberg, president of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), delivered the laudatory speech. Ensaf Haidar, wife of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi who received the first Freedom of Speech Award in 2015 while in prison for ten years, read a welcoming speech.

Reporting from the frontlines and combating disinformation

BILD Deputy Editor-in-chief Paul Ronzheimer reported from Ukraine on his war experiences: “Many journalists died in this war and that’s something you can’t get out of your head,” he said. In another panel discussion, Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang and Russian opposition politician Leonid Volkov debated the threat of online censorship and methods to combat disinformation. “It is no coincidence that Putin and the Kremlin shut down all independent media in Russia on the first day of the war,” Volkov said. “They know full well that the media is part of the war effort.”

In his closing speech “Media Coverage in Times of Crisis,” U.S. historian Timothy Snyder drew a parallel between the famine in Soviet Ukraine in 1932-33 and the current Russian war in Ukraine: “Stalin took a particular political decision to blame the Ukrainians,” he said. “As with Stalin, so with Putin. This is a political decision with perfectly predictable consequences.”

On Tuesday afternoon, the ARD.ZDF Media Academy honoured three female graduates with the “Women and Media Technology” award for their work in the field of audio-visual media production and distribution. The award winners (first to third place): Katharina Greiner, Janine Jensch and Wiebke Middelberg.

The participants of the conference in Bonn were able to experience live broadcasts of the DW programs “JaafarTalk” and “Arts.21.” In addition, the 15th GMF offered numerous online events covering topics such as Internet censorship, fact-checking and reporting on the Ukraine war.

The DW Global Media Forum is Germany’s only international conference for representatives of the media from all over the world. Together with its main partners, the German Federal Foreign Office, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn, the Federal ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the City of Bonn, DW offers media professionals a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary discussions with opinion-leaders from different fields around the pressing issues of our time.