Weather Channel blows into Spanish-speaking communities

4 May 2022

Weather Channel blows into Spanish-speaking communities

We all like talking about the weather (particularly Brits, we know!), and it seems that there’s a global appetite for watching the weather on TV.

The Allen Media Group television network The Weather Channel – which the company says is the #1 source for weather news and information on television – has launched a brand-new free television network The Weather Channel en Español. The company says this is the first 24/7 Spanish-language free-streaming weather news network in the United States. The Weather Channel en Español makes its debut on the 40th anniversary of the launch of The Weather Channel television network. The Weather Channel en Español has signed major sponsors including Ford, GEICO, General Motors, Toyota, Walmart among others.

The Weather Channel en Español features a variety of Spanish language weather content, including locally specific forecasting, storytelling that will help viewers understand the variation behind weather events, climate science, and its human impact. Also, the new free-streaming network will utilise the full resources of The Weather Channel. Viewers can expect the same exceptional quality and timely reporting they rely on from The Weather Channel, along with seamless collaboration among other Allen Media Group platforms such as Pattrn – The Weather Channel’s climate, environment and sustainability network.

“The Hispanic marketplace is indexing extremely well with streaming services and is severely underserved. Our launch of The Weather Channel en Español is historic, and is a recognition of the continued and significant growth of the U.S. Hispanic population and the constant need to keep the entire public informed and safe as multi-billion dollar weather disasters are on the rise – especially in communities where Spanish is spoken as both the primary and secondary language in millions of households throughout America,” said Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of The Weather Channel parent company, Allen Media Group. “I am proud to say viewers of The Weather Channel en Español will be able to increase their safety and awareness of extreme weather events with the full support of the number one weather news network, and its vast resources, infrastructure, technology, and scientists.”

“I’m very proud to be a part of Allen Media Group’s significant investment in The Weather Channel en Español,” said Sussy Ruiz, Editor-in-Chief of The Weather Channel en Español (pictured). “The Weather Channel has been voted the most-trusted news brand in America for 11 consecutive years, and the fifth most-trusted brand overall. The full resources of The Weather Channel have been dedicated to ensure The Weather Channel en Español achieves The Weather Channel’s 40-year history of excellence.”

“The Weather Channel en Español represents the continued commitment of The Weather Channel to keep the entire public informed and safe when severe weather is about to strike,” said Nora Zimmett, President, News and Original Series for Weather Group. “In addition to vital weather and climate information, The Weather Channel en Español also provides cutting edge technology, comprehensive storytelling, plus compelling and engaging original programming.”

The first on-camera meteorologists to join The Weather Channel en Español are Albert Martinez, Henry Golac, Milmar Ramirez, Jessica Fernandez, Abel Hernandez and Lorena Lim.

Martinez brings over 13 years of experience to The Weather Channel en Español and is known as one of the most trusted names in weather coverage, particularly among the Hispanic audience. He is a 13-time Emmy® award recipient, 5-time Telly award recipient and one of the highest rated meteorologists in the industry. His experience includes extensive live and field reporting of climate change, science, and astronomy. In his new role as Senior Meteorologist, Martinez will be responsible for directing and managing all aspects of weather content for The Weather Channel en Español, including integrating his previous experience in augmented and immersive mixed reality as a Max Reality Ambassador for The Weather Company (IBM). Prior to joining The Weather Channel en Español, Martinez anchored as Chief Meteorologist for Univision Network’s Despierta America, Edicion Digital, Noticiero Univision, and PrendeTV.
Golac is an 11-time Emmy® award-winning meteorologist and is the 2021 Rocky Mountain Emmy® award recipient for Best Weather Anchor in Arizona. Most recently, Golac served as Chief Meteorologist at Telemundo in Arizona. Golac has also held various roles at Univision Orlando, Radio Exito 105.5 FM and America Teve Channel 41.
Ramirez is also an Emmy® award-winning meteorologist with extensive experience in Spanish-language reporting. Previously, Ramirez was an anchor at Telemundo and Univision in Dallas, where she presented the weather forecast, as well as planned and coordinated severe weather coverage.
Fernandez joins the network from Univision 23 Miami and previously held positions as a meteorologist at NBC KGNS 8 Gray Television in Laredo, Texas and WSVN Channel 7 Miami/Sunbeam Television. She earned a Professional Science Master’s Degree in Broadcast Meteorology from the University of Miami.
Hernandez brings more than 20 years of experience as a weather presenter in major Hispanic markets like New York, Miami, Dallas, and San Antonio. Hernandez has won multiple Emmy® Awards in various categories such as, best weathercaster, best weather anchor during severe weather and best video journalist for an environmental report in Texas.
Lim joins The Weather Channel en Español from Salt Lake City, Utah where she was a chief meteorologist for the Telemundo local station. Lim was responsible for forecasting and planning for significant weather events in the area, as well as coordinating and producing weather coverage for markets like Sacramento, Tampa, Denver, Las Vegas, and Arizona. Previously, she was the chief meteorologist at a local Oklahoma news station, and held roles as a forecaster and researcher at Cuba’s National Institute of Oceanography and the National Institute of Meteorology.

The Weather Channel en Español is 100% free and available across over-the-top streaming platforms and all mobile devices. The content is focused on the U.S., the Caribbean and Latin America. The Weather Channel en Español is also accessible via The Weather Channel app.

FRANCE 24 programme highlight | France/Portugal cultural season

3 May 2022

FRANCE 24 programme highlight | France/Portugal cultural season

FRANCE 24 programme highlight: Lisbon: How African music is breaking down racial barriers?

In February 2022, France and Portugal embarked upon a cultural season that will see nine months of arts events in both countries. To celebrate this international friendship, France 24 is exploring Portuguese culture in a special programme. The culture show Encore! is going on a musical journey to Lisbon to meet the country’s top artists.

This show zooms in on the new Afro-Portuguese scene, whose influences come from Portugal’s former colonies Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Sao Tome and Principe.

Presenter Eve Jackson meets award-winning Dino d’Santiago, a rising star of Portuguese music who mixes traditional and contemporary sounds. And DJ Marfox is in the mix, to explain how he brings new beats to the airwaves.

France 24’s team also takes part in a concert from the Batukadeiras Orquesta, a group of female drummers and Cape Verdean singers, specialising in Batuka – a rhythmic call-and-response style created in Cape Verde during the slave trade.

Watch on France 24 on Friday 13 May at 1015 GMT.

DW Freedom of Speech Award 2022 goes to Ukrainian journalists Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka

3 May 2022

DW Freedom of Speech Award 2022 goes to Ukrainian journalists Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka

Ukrainian visual journalist and novelist Mstyslav Chernov and photojournalist Evgeniy Maloletka are this year’s DW Freedom of Speech Award laureates. For the eighth consecutive year, Germany’s international broadcaster is awarding the prize. It recognizes outstanding promotion of human rights and freedom of expression.

“Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka have a way of reporting that is painful to read and watch, but what really hurts is the truth that their reporting conveys: Russia brutally attacking Ukraine, and thereby Ukrainian civilians, under a fabricated pretence. While there are nuances to every story, there is no way facts can be negotiated. This is exactly what the Kremlin is doing: Distorting facts, spreading misinformation,” said DW Director General Peter Limbourg. “The Freedom of Speech Award for Mstyslav Chernov and Evgeniy Maloletka is to recognize their exceptional courage in standing up against propaganda and misinformation. It is to recognize that their fight for human rights and for the truth is a fight for democracy and free societies, for all of us, and it comes at a high price.”

The journalists, who both remain in Ukraine to continue their coverage of the war, welcomed the news about receiving the DW Freedom of Speech Award as an acknowledgment of their work.

The award ceremony will be held on June 20 as part of the DW Global Media Forum.

Bringing atrocities in Mariupol to the world’s attention

AP journalist and novelist Mstyslav Chernov and freelance photojournalist Evgeniy Maloletka are both from eastern Ukraine. Previously, their reports and footage from the conflicts in Crimea and eastern Ukraine have been published in various international media, including BBC, Deutsche Welle, The New York Times, Washington Post, Der Spiegel and others. As a war reporter in several conflict zones such as Iraq or Syria, Chernov has been wounded multiple times. Before the war, Maloletka had also been working on a project about the Hutsul community in western Ukraine, their traditions and daily life, and on the impact of the conflict in Donbass.

The Freedom of Speech Award now honours the reporters’ coverage of the war in Ukraine started by Russia on February 24, 2022. The report “20 days in Mariupol: The team that documented city’s agony” offers a unique account of Mariupol under Russian siege, with Chernov and Maloletka being the last journalists in the city before their evacuation. They documented the city’s first deaths at the city hospital of Mariupol and the attack on the maternity ward with pregnant women and children in it, as well as numerous bombings. During this work, the journalists themselves were under constant attack and took great risks only to find a steady connection to upload their footage of the siege, bringing it to the attention of the international community. They were evacuated by Ukrainian soldiers to avoid them falling into the hands of Russians, who had been hunting them down.

AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Julie Pace: “Mstyslav and Evgeniy were the world’s eyes and ears in Mariupol, producing courageous and compelling reporting as the only international journalists inside the besieged city. The harrowing realities of Russia’s war would have remained unseen without their bravery. We are extremely proud of their work.”

Limbourg: “The war in Ukraine is a war on human rights and European values, but also a war on truth and facts. Our laureates this year have documented the atrocities committed in Mariupol and have themselves become eyewitnesses. It is thanks to them, and other journalists working in war zones, that the world gets to see what is happening on the ground. It is only then that crimes can be prosecuted, and perpetrators be held responsible. The kind of commitment and strength shown by war journalists is extremely valuable, the work is demanding and dangerous, and it is too seldomly given credit.”

DW Freedom of Speech Award

Deutsche Welle provides independent news and information to people worldwide in 32 languages. DW promotes democratic values, human rights and the dialogue between different cultures. Since 2015, DW has been honoring individuals and organizations with the Freedom of Speech Award. The first laureate was Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who had been jailed for ten years and was released in March this year. Other recipients include Mexican investigative journalist Annabel Hernández (2019), whose work focuses on corruption, impunity and drug cartels, and Nigerian investigative journalist Tobore Ovuorie (2021), who uncovered an international human trafficking ring.

Global Media Forum 2022: Hybrid event

The DW Freedom of Speech Award ceremony is the annual highlight of the Global Media Forum, Deutsche Welle’s international media conference. On June 20 and 21, 2022, media experts and politicians from around the world will convene at the World Conference Center Bonn in Germany to discuss this year’s theme “Shaping tomorrow, now.” Participants from all parts of the world can join in and be part of the numerous inclusive discussions, debates and workshops – in Bonn or online.

[Source: DW press release]

RFE/RL Journalist Dies In Russian Air Strikes On Kyiv

29 April 2022

RFE/RL Journalist Dies In Russian Air Strikes On Kyiv

RFE/RL journalist Vira Hyrych has died in Kyiv after a Russian air strike hit the residential building where she lived in the Ukrainian capital.

Hyrych’s body was found early in the morning on April 29 amid the wreckage of the building, which was hit by a Russian missile the night before, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was visiting Kyiv on April 28 as air strikes hit the capital, including the apartment block.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of our Ukrainian Service staffer Vira Hyrych in Kyiv overnight. We have lost a dear colleague who will be remembered for her professionalism and dedication to our mission,” RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in a statement.

“We are shocked and angered by the senseless nature of her death at home in a country and city she loved. Her memory will inspire our work in Ukraine and beyond for years to come,” he added.

Videos and pictures from the site showed the lower floors of the building heavily damaged. Cars in the area had their windows blown out.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed “long-range, high-precision” missiles had hit factory buildings in Kyiv of Ukrainian rocket manufacturer Artem on April 28.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on whether the factory had been hit during the attack.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram on April 29 that one body had been retrieved from the rubble and another 10 people had been injured in the strikes. He gave no further details.

Hyrych, born in 1967, began working for RFE/RL in February 2018. Before that she worked at a leading television channel in Ukraine.

Source: RFE/RL; main photo: Facebook; Kyiv bomb damage photo: Aleksandr Sinitsa/UNIAN

Mali withdraws RFI and France 24 licences

28 April 2022

Mali withdraws RFI and France 24 licences

The Malian government has withdrawn the operating licences of the international radio and TV services RFI and France 24.

The country’s High Authority of Communication said: “The licence granted to France Medias Monde [FMM] to establish and operate Radio France International, RFI, services in Mali under convention No. 055/HAC-MALI/2018 of 11 June 2018 is hereby permanently withdrawn.”

The ruling means that the two services cannot be carried by any Malian TV or radio distributor, and it also means that the online services of the broadcasters cannot be carried on Mali-based mobile phone operators.

Reacting, France Médias Monde condemned the move, saying: “France Médias Monde strongly contests such a measure and intends to appeal this decision. It will use all other possible means of appeal.

“We will continue to cover the news in Mali, which is of interest to the whole of Africa as well as the rest of the world. All technical solutions will be implemented to make our media accessible to Malians who wish to continue to receive free, expert information that is open to the world. FMM stresses its commitment to the independence and freedom of information.”

Update

Media watchdog RSF unblocks RFI and France 24 in Mali

29th April 2022

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says it has unblocked French media outlets in Mali a day after the country’s military rulers revoked their operating licences.

RSF said in a tweet that RFI and France 24 were back online as part of its Operation Collateral Freedom, which was launched in 2015 and “is currently enabling 47 websites in 24 countries (including eight sites in Russia) to circumvent censorship by their governments”.

NHK World Japan Monthly Focus May

28 April 2022

NHK World Japan Monthly Focus May

The Power of Champuru

Barakan Discovers: OKINAWA

Peter Barakan meets with people in Okinawa, 50 years after its return to Japan from America following the postwar occupation. Residents worked tirelessly to heal the scars of war and reconstruct their heritage. That heritage is grounded in the Ryukyu Kingdom that Okinawa once was, surviving for 450 years as an independent entity between China and Japan. A Champuru ethos allowed the Kingdom to skillfully encounter and incorporate foreign influences, strategies that may be useful even today.

May 28 Sat. 0:10 / 6:10 / 12:10 / 18:10

How to be Likeable in a Crisis (Dubbed ver.)

International viewers can now enjoy one of Japan’s most popular TV dramas with the English-dubbed version of How to be Likeable in a Crisis made available by NHK Drama Showcase on NHK WORLD-JAPAN. The dark comedy revolves around Kanzaki Makoto, who works in public relations for a prestigious university.
The screenplay was written by Watanabe Aya, who has been behind many hit shows. Award-winning actor Matsuzaka Tori depicts Makoto navigating the choppy waters of the workplace and his personal life in the series’ five episodes.

Ep 1~3 Available on VOD!
Ep 4 May 1 Sun. 0:10 / 18:10
Ep 5 May 8 Sun. 0:10 / 18:10

Hometown Stories:

Bomb Disposal Quest in Okinawa

An engineer in southwestern Japan has dedicated his life to removing dud explosives from World War II that still lie buried. It will probably take 70 years to remove them all. We follow his challenge.

May 15 Sun. 1:10 / 7:10 / 13:10 / 19:10

GRAND SUMO Highlights

DAILY DURING TOURNAMENTS

The best of today’s sumo! Enjoy daily highlights of this dynamic sport with background info and play-by-play commentary adding to the excitement!

[Source: NHK World Japan press release]