ENTR: DW’s Pan-European media project celebrates first anniversary

8 April 2022

ENTR: DW’s Pan-European media project celebrates first anniversary

Since the launch of its multilingual platforms in May 2021, ENTR has garnered more than 40 million page and video views on social media and partners’ websites across all six languages.

With a target group of Europeans aged 18 to 34 years, it is particularly successful on Instagram. In February 2022 alone, ENTR’s videos on its own accounts and partner pages have reached more than 6.3 million page and video views in the six project languages (English, French, German, Romanian, Polish and Portuguese).

The war in Ukraine is now a dominant topic worldwide. As a platform for young people in Europe, ENTR takes a closer look at the larger context and history of the conflict and lets young people have their say. Videos on the war in Ukraine include a timeline of events, a video diary of a refugee fleeing the country and Ukrainian women and their hopes for the future. In the coming weeks, ENTR will continue to give young people a voice on the topic, with overarching themes like democracy, propaganda and peace in Europe. ENTR reports also cover climate, education, culture, gender equality and more. The content is produced or adapted for each of the project languages.

“Dreams and goals for the future, civic engagement, mental health – one year in, ENTR has more than managed to fulfill its own claim: To be an inclusive European platform for young people to discuss and share their perspectives on what matters most to them,” says DW Director General Peter Limbourg. “Collaborating with media organizations from six countries gives us the unique opportunity to exchange our expertise and to reach our young audience.”

Promoting European youth exchange

ENTR is funded by the European Union and the German Foreign Office. The media initiative aims at promoting European youth exchange and heightening awareness around a common identity while also highlighting the abundance of different perspectives across Europe.

Focusing on a constructive approach, ENTR provides high quality journalistic content. It builds on a longstanding cooperation between Deutsche Welle and France Médias Monde. The project’s international editorial teams can rely on both international groups’ infrastructure and resources as well as on the diversity and skills of its European partners. At DW, the Polish and Romanian editorial teams support the ENTR team with their expertise in the respective countries, in addition to support from many specialist departments at DW.

“We very much value the renewed support of the European Commission and the German Foreign Office for this ambitious project. The new partner Are We Europe and the English TikTok channel we will launch soon brings the project closer to be a comprehensive journalistic social media offer for young Europeans,” says ENTR Project Director Patrick Leusch, Deutsche Welle on the future of ENTR.

[Source: DW press release]

AIB holds Masterclass to mark launch of 18th annual journalism and factual competition

8 April 2022

AIB holds Masterclass to mark launch of 18th annual journalism and factual competition

To mark the launch of the AIBs 2022, the 18th annual international competition for journalism and factual productions across TV, radio and digital platforms, the AIB brought together a number of winners and finalists from previous years in a Masterclass.

“With a wide range of journalists, producers, editors and directors entering the AIBs each year, we are keen that the competition can showcase best practice and share knowledge,” says Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the AIB. “This online Masterclass is one way that colleagues from around the world can learn and share ideas. It is also useful for those studying journalism or embarking on a career in factual TV, radio and podcasting to hear from those who have created award-winning content.”

The Masterclass brought together experts from Australia, Qatar, Nigeria, the USA and the UK for a three session event covering investigative journalism, podcasting and journalist safety.

All three sessions, which were attended by participants from Argentina to New Zealand, are available to watch. Visit the special AIBs Masterclass page to watch all the sessions, free of charge.

Full information on how to enter this year’s AIBs is at www.theaibs.tv.

Justin Stevens appointed Director, ABC News, Analysis and Investigations

5 April 2022

Justin Stevens appointed Director, ABC News, Analysis and Investigations

The ABC has announced that Justin Stevens has been appointed Director, ABC News, Analysis and Investigations.

Justin brings extensive journalism experience and editorial leadership to the position built across two decades and senior editorial positions in current affairs.

In his former role as 7.30 Executive Producer, Justin has for four years been responsible for leading and managing the ABC’s agenda-setting flagship daily current affairs program.

His appointment as Director follows a comprehensive recruitment process involving both internal and external applicants.

The appointment is effective from Monday 4 April.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson said:“Justin has a proven track record in editorial leadership across complex issues and events. Together with the ABC News Executive team, Justin will lead the next stage of the ABC News strategy to be more accessible, valuable and relevant to Australians across all platforms, with the highest quality journalism always at the core.

“Justin fully understands the challenges and opportunities the ABC faces as an essential public service in the digital media era.

“I want to thank the members of the ABC News Executive for their support during this recruitment process, especially Gavin Fang, who has done an exceptional job acting in the News Director role and who will continue to play a crucial role in the work of ABC News into the future.

“This is a key appointment for the ABC and it comes amid major news events – the continuing effects of the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, domestic issues such as the rising cost of living, and the upcoming federal election.

“It’s a position that requires exceptional editorial leadership, and Justin will be outstanding in the role.”

Justin Stevens commented: “I’m incredibly proud to be part of ABC News and it’s an honour to be given the opportunity to lead this great team.

“The ABC celebrates 90 years this year and ABC News is a huge part of its proud heritage.

“Australians trust ABC News to deliver the quality public interest journalism and services they need and which are a key part of a healthy democracy. That job is more vital than ever.”

About Justin Stevens

Justin’s first job in the media was in 2005 as a researcher for the Nine Network on Sunday and for Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals.

He joined the ABC in December 2006 and worked as a producer and a supervising producer on 7.30 until 2014. His work there included producing key Australian political and feature interviews for presenters Kerry O’Brien and Leigh Sales, including with Barack Obama, Tony Blair, Sir David Attenborough, Woody Allen and the Dalai Lama, and working on breaking news coverage.

In 2013 he was a producer on the four-part ABC series “Keating: the Interviews” with Kerry O’Brien.

In 2014-2015 he was a producer on the three-part series “The Killing Season” with Sarah Ferguson, which won an AACTA Award for Best Documentary and a Logie Award for outstanding public affairs report.

From 2015-2017 Justin worked on Four Corners, producing programs including the Hillary Clinton interview special; a money laundering investigation; the “Leaders” election special; profiles of Clive Palmer and Bill Shorten; and a program on territorial disputes in the South China Sea. He produced “The Siege”, the two-part special on Sydney’s Lindt Café siege which won the 2018 Logie Award for outstanding news coverage.

In 2018 Justin was appointed Executive Producer of national nightly current affairs flagship 7.30, leading a team that sets the news agenda, goes in-depth on the biggest stories of the day and investigates and breaks stories of national significance.

Night after night, 7.30 delivers the key interviews with the top politicians, public figures and newsmakers from Australia and around the world. Its extensive record of public interest journalism includes long-running investigations on topics such as the Centrelink “robodebt” scheme and Melbourne’s quarantine hotel inquiry; breaking stories on decisions in grant allocations by former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian; in-depth reporting on Indigenous issues; and extensive reporting out of regional and rural Australia.

Under Justin’s watch 7.30 has grown its broadcast and digital audience. In 2021 its national audience averaged 980,000 viewers a night with an audience share of almost 13% in metro markets and 12.5% in regional areas.

NHK WORLD programme highlights April

4 April 2022

NHK WORLD programme highlights April

NHK WORLD’s programme line-up for April has the following highlights:

Globe-trotting wildlife photographer and filmmaker, Iwago Mitsuaki, offers the best of a vast collection of cat footage he took in Japan. On this unique trip around the country, discover the lesser-known charms and customs of regions through the eyes of cats!

Kawate Haruo knew that his father, Masao, a second-generation Japanese American, returned to Japan after World War II. That, however, was about all he knew of it. After Masao’s death, Haruo found a letter to an American attorney, Wayne Collins, seeking restoration of his American citizenship.

Haruo met with Collins’ son and with a Japanese American whose father chose to stay in the U.S. He discovered that Masao had suffered especially harsh treatment during the war, leading him to renounce his American citizenship. Follow along as Haruo pieces together the facts of his father’s life, eighty years after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Journeys in Japan

Tuesdays

0:30 / 5:30 / 10:30 / 15:30 / 21:30

Explore a different side of Japan. Meet the locals and discover traditions and cultures not usually found in guidebooks!

Hori Hiroshi: A Puppet Master Rises from the Embers

April 9th

0:10 / 6:10 / 12:10 / 18:10

Celebrated puppet master Hori Hiroshi created ningyo-mai, a performance art fusing dolls and actors. After his wife and artistic partner passes away, Hori turns to his craft to work through his grief.

[Source: NHK WORLD press release]

AIB and Channelbox bring Ukraine news TV to UK Freeview

31 March 2022

AIB and Channelbox bring Ukraine news TV to UK Freeview

24 hour rolling news channel direct from Kyiv available via connected Freeview service across the UK

At the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, seven of the country’s largest broadcasters pooled their resources to deliver a 24-hour-a-day news service. The combined channel is available across Ukraine and, thanks to a growing number of agreements with broadcasters and platforms, in a constantly increasing number of countries across Europe.

Today, 31 March, the Ukrainian channel has gone live on the UK’s digital terrestrial TV service, Freeview, via the multi-channel OTT service Channelbox, and on mobile through Channelbox’s iOS and Android applications.

The news and information channel is produced jointly by the 1+1 International, Rada, Ukraine 24, Inter +, ICTV, UATV, and Suspilne media companies. Its purpose is to provide accurate and impartial news from across Ukraine, and to debunk disinformation and fake news that is being propagated about events in the country. The news service is also a vital link with home for the estimated four million Ukrainian citizens who have fled the country as the war has spread.

“The Association for International Broadcasting has been working since the start of the invasion to bring the Ukrainian news channel to platforms in the UK,” says Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the AIB. “We wanted to make a contribution to support Ukraine and its citizens. Bringing Ukraina 24 to viewers in the UK, whether expatriates or refugees, helps maintain links at the most difficult times of their lives. We are delighted that Channelbox is the first UK platform to make the channel available on a mainstream UK TV platform.”

Tanya Kronfli, Channelbox Head of Content and Business development, said: “We are honoured to be part of this project and to be able to help people of Ukraine to have access to the news from home. This is true lifeline broadcasting and demonstrates the way that modern technologies like connected TVs are able to support people at times of crisis.”

The Ukrainian news channel is available 24 hours-a-day on Freeview channel 271, and on IOS https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/channelbox/id1596904340. Android users can access the service at: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.synapsetv.channelbox

Main photo: Man outside destroyed apartment building in Kharkiv/Andrii Marienko/UNIAN

VOA officially launches Afghan satellite TV channel

30 March 2022

VOA officially launches Afghan satellite TV channel

One day after the ruling Taliban banned Voice of America broadcasts from terrestrial television, the U.S. government-funded independent news agency has officially launched a 24/7 direct-to-home satellite-delivered television channel for Afghanistan. The channel carries uncensored news and information in both the Pashto and Dari languages of the country. VOA’s programs were ordered off affiliated television stations in Afghanistan effective Sunday, March 27, as part of a broad ban on content regarded as undermining Taliban policies, including prohibiting women from anchoring newscasts with men.

VOA’s new TV stream, identified as “VOA Afghanistan,” is on the Yahsat Y-1A satellite (52.2 degrees East), Transponder 12 (downlink frequency 11.938 GHz), Channel 469. The Yahsat satellite is Afghanistan’s most popular platform, ensuring the Afghan audience will have access to VOA’s programming despite the Taliban censorship.

“Afghanistan is now one of the most repressive media markets in the world,” said Acting VOA Director Yolanda López. “Despite the Taliban’s attempt to end press freedom, VOA News stands by its Afghan audience with credible and authoritative news and information.”

The new VOA Afghanistan satellite stream includes its popular “TV Ashna” newscasts, its women’s show “Etesal,” viewer call-in programming, and programming from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Azadi radio. Additional programming is planned, including entertainment shows to fill a void in Afghanistan, where local channels cannot air music programs.

The VOA satellite channel has been in development since August, before the fall of Afghanistan’s elected government. The channel is also accessible on YouTube and on VOA’s Pashto and Dari language websites.

[Source: VOA press release]