As war transforms media landscape in Europe, RFE/RL opens offices in Latvia, Lithuania

18 March 2022

As war transforms media landscape in Europe, RFE/RL opens offices in Latvia, Lithuania

Following the forced suspension of RFE/RL operations in Russia on March 6, RFE/RL is opening news bureaus in Riga, Latvia and Vilnius, Lithuania. These offices will house teams from RFE/RL’s Russia and Belarus services and the 24/7 Current Time global digital and TV network, and also provide a base for new investigative journalism projects and digital innovation hubs.

Said RFE/RL President Jamie Fly, “These new bureaus will allow RFE/RL to continue to engage with our audiences in Russia and Belarus, despite those government’s best efforts to silence independent journalism. RFE/RL will expand its already-successful efforts to reach Russian and Belarusian audiences with the relevant news they seek, and desperately need. We are grateful to the Latvian and Lithuanian governments for their commitment to press freedom and their support for vulnerable journalists who have had to seek safe haven outside their home countries.”

In Riga, RFE/RL plans to establish a multimedia hub that will host Russian Service and Current Time staff displaced from Russia. The Latvian capital will also house a new, Russian-language investigative journalism unit and a digital innovation hub designed to counter disinformation and develop strategies to circumvent online censorship across delivery platforms. The Vilnius news bureau will primarily host displaced Belarus Service journalists forced to flee after the flawed 2020 elections, as well as a new reporting team being set up by Current Time to serve the needs of the network’s Russian-speaking audiences in Belarus.

RFE/RL’s impact during the first two weeks of Russia’s war on Ukraine demonstrates the appetite within Russia and Belarus for a credible, uncensored alternative to Kremlin media about the full scope of the conflict. Between February 24 and March 16, the number of views of RFE/RL videos on YouTube from Russia tripled to nearly 238 million, while the number of visits, page views, and unique visitors to its websites from Russia rose by 34 percent, 51 percent, and 53 percent respectively. As for Belarus, the number of RFE/RL videos viewed via YouTube from inside the country quadrupled (to 22.4 million), and the number of visits (+158%), page views (+148%), and unique visitors (+110) to RFE/RL websites from Belarus has also increased dramatically.

RFE/RL says it deeply appreciates the support of the governments of Latvia and Lithuania for RFE/RL’s mission and for the establishment of these new bureaus. The people of Latvia and Lithuania have for decades been enthusiastic consumers of RFE/RL programming—both of RFE/RL’s Latvian and Lithuanian services that operated from 1975 to 2004, and more recently of Current Time programming. RFE/RL President Fly visited Vilnius and Riga this past January, in part to attend the Lithuanian premiere of the award-winning, Current Time-commissioned film “Mr. Landsbergis,” about Lithuania’s struggle to restore its independence.

RFE/RL’s Russian Service is a multiplatform alternative to Russian state-controlled media, providing audiences in the Russian Federation with informed and accurate news, analysis, and opinion. The Russian Service’s websites, including its regional reporting units Siberia.Realities and North.Realities, earned a monthly average of 12.7 million visits and 20.6 million page views in 2021, while 297 million Russian Service videos were viewed on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Current Time is a 24/7 Russian-language digital and TV network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, that caters to Russian-speakers worldwide. In addition to reporting uncensored news, it is the largest provider of independent, Russian-language films to its audiences. Despite rising pressure on Current Time from the Russian government, Current Time videos were viewed over 1.3 billion times on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram/IGTV in FY2021.

Labeled an “extremist organization” by the Belarus government, RFE/RL’s Belarus Service provides independent news and analysis to Belarusian audiences in their own language, relying on social media platforms such as Telegram, Instagram, and YouTube, as well as mirror sites and an updated news app to circumvent pervasive Internet blockages and access disruptions.

[Source: RFE/RL press release]

Mali suspends France 24 and RFI

18 March 2022

Mali suspends France 24 and RFI

Mali has suspended French international broadcasters France 24 television and RFI radio in the country.

On 17 March, a Malian government spokesman accused the two broadcasters of “destabilising the transition, demoralising the Malian people and discrediting the valiant FAMa”.

The announcement went on to say that RFI on shortwave and France 24 TV, plus the broadcasters’ digital platforms, would be suspended until further notice.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the Malian government’s decision on Thursday.

“I condemn with the greatest firmness this decision, which seems to me totally at odds with the values espoused by the people of Mali since its independence,” he said at a news conference in Paris.

Responding to the Malian government’s order, France Médias Monde said it “deplored” the decision and “strongly protested against the unfounded accusations that seriously undermine the professionalism of its broadcasters”.

In a statement released on 17 March, FMM said it would “study all avenues of appeal to ensure that such a decision is not implemented”. The group also reiterated its “unwavering commitment to freedom of information and the professionalism of its journalists”.

UK media regulator revokes RT’s licence

18 March 2022

UK media regulator revokes RT’s licence

The UK media regulator Ofcom has revoked RT’s licence to broadcast in the UK, with immediate effect from 18 March 2022

The regulator says: “We have done so on the basis that we do not consider RT’s licensee, ANO TV Novosti, fit and proper to hold a UK broadcast licence.

“Today’s decision comes amid 29 ongoing investigations by Ofcom into the due impartiality of RT’s news and current affairs coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We consider the volume and potentially serious nature of the issues raised within such a short period to be of great concern – especially given RT’s compliance history, which has seen the channel fined £200,000 for previous due impartiality breaches.

“In this context, we launched a separate investigation to determine whether ANO TV Novosti is fit and proper to retain its licence to broadcast.

“This investigation has taken account of a number of factors, including RT’s relationship with the Russian Federation. It has recognised that RT is funded by the Russian state, which has recently invaded a neighbouring sovereign country. We also note new laws in Russia which effectively criminalise any independent journalism that departs from the Russian state’s own news narrative, in particular in relation to the invasion of Ukraine. We consider that given these constraints it appears impossible for RT to comply with the due impartiality rules of our Broadcasting Code in the circumstances.

“We recognise that RT is currently off air in the UK, as a result of sanctions imposed by the EU since the invasion of Ukraine commenced. We take seriously the importance, in our democratic society, of a broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression and the audience’s right to receive information and ideas without undue interference. We also take seriously the importance of maintaining audiences’ trust and public confidence in the UK’s broadcasting regulatory regime.

“Taking all of this into account, as well as our immediate and repeated compliance concerns, we have concluded that we cannot be satisfied that RT can be a responsible broadcaster in the current circumstances. Ofcom is therefore revoking RT’s licence to broadcast with immediate effect.”

Freedom of expression is something we guard fiercely in this country, and the bar for action on broadcasters is rightly set very high. Following an independent regulatory process, we have today found that RT is not fit and proper to hold a licence in the UK. As a result we have revoked RT’s UK broadcasting licence.

Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom Chief Executive

The AIB’s Executive Committee suspended RT’s membership of the Association on 24 February 2022.

AIB Members elect new Executive Committee

17 March 2022

AIB Members elect new Executive Committee

Members of the Association for International Broadcasting have elected a new Executive Committee.

The six-person Executive Committee provides governance and oversight for the Association, working closely with the Secretariat.

Executive Committee members hold office for two years.

The six people elected are:

Eugen Cojocariu	Radio Romania International
Walter Fernandez	Mediacorp
Nigel Fry	BBC World Service
Carlson Huang Chia-shan	RTI
Shawn Powers	USAGM
Serge Schick	France Médias Monde

The first meeting of the new Committee will take place in the coming weeks and quarterly thereafter.

Another Ukraine transmission tower targeted

14 March 2022

Another Ukraine transmission tower targeted

Television and radio services have gone off the air in the Rivne region of western Ukraine following a reported Russian air attack.

According to regional governor Vitaliy Koval via Telegram, the authorities are working to restore TV and radio services in the region. He told followers that alternative means to access programming is via satellite and cable. The extent of the damage is not currently known. The tower is located in a relatively sparsely populated area that appears to be predominantly agricultural, just south of the E40 highway.

The TV tower is located around 12km east of the city of Rivne, population around 240,000. Rivne is around 200km north east of Lviv, the city to which many western diplomatic missions relocated and from where international TV news channels are based having moved from Kyiv as the situation in the capital city worsened.

The attack on the Rivne tower follows the strikes on the Kyiv and Kharkiv transmission towers (see: https://aib.org.uk/second-ukraine-tv-tower-hit-channels-off-the-air/ and https://aib.org.uk/aib-condemns-attack-on-kyiv-tv-tower/).

Update at 1800GMT on 14 March 2022: Photos of the bombing site have been shared by the region’s governor. These show the TV tower still standing with a building immediately adjacent – presumably housing transmission equipment – in ruins. It is reported that nine people died in the attack and others are likely buried in the rubble.

Main photo: Google Street View; above: Віталій Коваль

CNN+ will launch at end of March in USA

11 March 2022

CNN+ will launch at end of March in USA

CNN has announced that CNN+ will debut on March 29, 2022 in the United States.

“March 29 will be an important day in the history of CNN and CNN+ will be a critical part of our future,” said Andrew Morse, CNN EVP, Chief Digital Officer and Head of CNN+. “I am so proud of the work our teams have done to ensure our world class journalism and storytelling comes to life on this new platform. We can’t wait for our subscribers to experience it.”

CNN+ was announced in July 2021 as set to debut in Q1 of 2022. The product offers subscribers three types of content: live, on-demand and interactive programming, including what the company describes as “a whole new way to engage with CNN’s world class journalism and storytelling.”

“We’re excited for everyone to experience CNN+ and see what we’ve been working on,” said Alex MacCallum, CNN Worldwide Head of Product and General Manager for CNN+. “We have a really compelling content offering with CNN’s world class journalists and are confident in the product offered at this compelling price.”

CNN will have a single CNN app that will offer access to both CNN+ and TVE experiences, with easy navigation between the two. In the single CNN app, CNN+ customers can explore a range of new live, on-demand and interactive content through editorially-curated and personalised experiences that suit their interests. Pay TV customers can also enjoy the TVE experience that they’ve known for years, including access to CNN’s linear TV feeds of CNN, CNN International and HLN as well as a substantial on-demand offering, which will be available exclusively to pay TV customers.

CNN+ will be available for purchase at US$5.99 a month or $59.99 per year. Early subscribers that sign up within the first four weeks after March 29 directly with CNN+ will have access to the “Deal of a Lifetime,” or 50% off the monthly plan – for life – as long as they remain subscribers.