Belarus: Director General Limbourg denounces classification of DW as ‘extremist’

10 March 2022

Belarus: Director General Limbourg denounces classification of DW as ‘extremist’

On Wednesday 9 March, Belarusian authorities classified the Telegram channel of DW Belarus, information services and Deutsche Welle (DW) as “extremist.”

DW Director General Peter Limbourg denounced the decision, saying, “The blocking of our websites in Belarus in October 2021 was already an unbelievable encroachment on press freedom. The recent announcement of the criminalisation of the DW logo proves how nervous the regime there is.”

“DW is still informing many people in Belarus via tools for bypassing censors. Especially following the attack on Ukraine, the numbers have significantly increased. Now they want to use cheap tricks to create pseudo-legal grounds to take action against people who make use of their right to free speech.”

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus released a statement on March 9: “The Minsk Central District Court, based on material from the Main Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, has classified the information products of the Telegram channel and the DW Belarus chat as extremist material.”

NHK WORLD-JAPAN’s English TV broadcasts go dark in Russia

10 March 2022

NHK WORLD-JAPAN’s English TV broadcasts go dark in Russia

NHK’s international English language television service, NHK WORLD-JAPAN, has been off the air in Russia since early morning on March 8th, 2022, Japan Standard Time.

NHK WORLD-JAPAN provides news and other programs to the world 24 hours a day. In Russia, its service has been available to about 18 million households via satellite, cable TV, and IPTV distributors through a local contractor.

The contractor informed NHK that it has no choice but to suspend distribution. NHK WORLD-JAPAN continues to deliver the latest news and information to Russia on the internet and overseas radio service. NHK’s international television service in Japanese, NHK WORLD PREMIUM, remains available through satellite distribution.

NHK WORLD-JAPAN is accessible within Russia in the following ways.

ONLINE NHK WORLD-JAPAN website and app in English, Russian, and other languages www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

English TV live streaming (24 hours) www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/live/

English news site www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/

Russian site www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/ru/

RADIO (Russian language service)

Shortwave Western Russia and parts of Europe 4:30–5:00 (UTC)

Far East Russia 5:30–6:00 / 11:00–11:30 (UTC)

Medium wave Western Russia and parts of Europe 3:30–4:00 / 17:30–18:00 (UTC)

For more information on how to listen and watch, please check the following website: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/thumbnails/en/information/english_nhkworldjapan_pressrelease_russiahowtowatch.pdf

AIB announces Masterclass for launch of 2022 journalism & factual competition

9 March 2022

AIB announces Masterclass for launch of 2022 journalism & factual competition

As we prepare to launch the 2022 AIBs, we are holding an online Masterclass that brings together a number of winners and finalists from previous years to share knowledge and provide inspiration and incentive for other programme makers, as well as offering encouragement to those entering, or hoping to enter, the journalism or factual programming industries.

The Masterclass will be informal and interactive, with the opportunity for guests to ask questions of all the panellists.

Join us on Thursday 7 April at 1200 GMT and meet winners and finalists of the AIBs in recent years as they share their experience and knowledge with our global audience.

There is no charge to join the Masterclass which will take place online and in the English language.

Register online here: https://forms.gle/L7AfrWZ9RmgqJAn17

Session 1

Global investigations – the key to success

Peter Charley, AJI

Barbara Arvanitidis, CNNI

Calliste Weitenberg, SBS

Session 2

Soundscapes – telling important stories

Robert Mulhern, Sky News Storycast

Tom Koenig, VP, US Podcasts, Somethin’ Else,

Session 3

Safety is key

Roger MacMillan, Volant Media, talks about the challenges of keeping staff safe from abduction and worse in difficult locations globally

Safety company representative – TBC

DW locates Moscow bureau to Latvia

9 March 2022

DW locates Moscow bureau to Latvia

Deutsche Welle (DW) is relocating the journalistic operations that were based in Moscow to Latvia following the closure of its Moscow studio and the withdrawal of its staff’s accreditation by the Russian government.

Infrastructure for DW’s broadcasting operations will be set up over the coming weeks in the capital city of Riga. Yuri Rescheto, previously DW Bureau Chief Moscow, will be head of DW’s new foreign location.

DW Director General Peter Limbourg: “We continue to take all the technical and organisational measures possible to provide our audience in Russia and around the world with critical information. We remain committed to providing independent and objective reporting. Even though our website and most social media channels have been blocked by the Putin government in recent days, people in Russia can find a variety of ways to circumvent censorship.”

DW Editor-in-Chief Manuela Kasper-Claridge: “From Germany, Ukraine, neighboring European countries and now soon also from Riga, we provide our audience in Russia with comprehensive and sustainable information about the war in Ukraine. Latvia offers geographical proximity to Russia, and the vibrant media landscape in the Baltic countries now creates optimal conditions for our team and reporting.”

On February 3, 2022, the Russian government banned DW from broadcasting in Russia, citing as a reason Germany’s ban on the German-language channel of Russian state TV network RT DE. The following day, staff at DW’s Moscow studio had to hand in their press accreditations. The Russian Foreign Ministry also announced an investigation into whether DW should be classified as a foreign agent.

BBC increases access to news on Ukraine and Russia

7 March 2022

BBC increases access to news on Ukraine and Russia

BBC News is increasing access to its independent journalism on the invasion of Ukraine.

From today it will make a daily half hour news bulletin (broadcast at 2000 GMT) available free of charge to other broadcasters who are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Audiences will get the chance to watch Outside Source, normally presented by Ros Atkins, from Monday to Thursday, and a BBC News bulletin from Friday to Sunday. Given the current news agenda we expect the news to focus on Ukraine and related stories.

BBC News is also launching Tik Tok accounts exclusively dedicated to videos about the war, in Russian and in English, from today. The handles are @bbcnews and @bbcnewsrussian. Tik Tok has fast become a crucial platform for information (and disinformation) about the war in Ukraine.

Although Tik Tok has suspended new content and livestreaming in Russia, we know that audiences find ways of getting to, and sharing, the content.

Jamie Angus, Senior Controller, News Output and Commissioning, says: “Access to trusted, impartial and independent news is never more crucial than in times of conflict. We are always looking to find ways to ensure our news is available to those who need it most, on the platforms where they are. We welcome trusted European public broadcasters who want access to this daily bulletin via our partners at the EBU.”

These moves come amid a large increase in audiences for BBC News. Audiences to the BBC News channel were up 57% last week (w/c 28 February, compared to an average week in 2021).

Updated figures show that in the last week of February, 200 million people turned to the BBC World Service’s digital news in languages other than English. Reach on social media in Russian tripled (with the biggest gains on Facebook) and in Ukrainian more than tripled.

Access to news in Russia is becoming increasingly difficult, so the BBC is continuing to explore ways to make its trusted, impartial news and information available in as many ways as possible.

A guide to accessing BBC sites via circumvention is available here

[Source: BBC press release]

Second Ukraine TV tower hit; channels off the air

7 March 2022

Second Ukraine TV tower hit; channels off the air

Reports from Ukraine say that the Russian invasion has targeted a second TV transmission tower.

The TV tower in Kharkiv is reported to have been hit on Sunday 6 March, taking TV channels off the air. It appears that this is a new tactic by Russia as it attempts to restrict access to information for Ukrainian citizens in the country.

Standing 240m high, the Kharkiv tower was constructed in 1981 and is believed to carry TV and radio signals to the city and surrounding area.