NHK WORLD programme highlights July

1 July 2021

NHK WORLD programme highlights July

The Kengo Kuma Monologue

My principles of architecture

July 24 Sat

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

World-renowned architect Kengo Kuma is known for unique designs that reinterpret traditional Japanese aesthetics, and aim to re-balance the relationship between humanity and the environment. In this program, Kuma describes his architectural philosophy based on five essential principles of Hole, Particles, Softness, Oblique, and Time, revealing them in his distinctive projects around the world.

Blooming Miracles

A 93-year-old Cherry Tree Guardian’s Moving Mission

July 31 Sat

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

A 16^th generation sakuramori (cherry blossom guardian) calls caring for a 150-year-old tree “his greatest challenge ever.” The lone tree stands atop a small hill in Yokohama. The locals lovingly call it “Oshima-zakura-san.” When the possibility of cutting it down arises, Sano Touemon comes to the rescue with a transplant plan. It’s a difficult mission, compounded by the pandemic, but the sakuramori perseveres.

Core Kyoto

Thursdays

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

The timeless heart of Japan’s ancient capital. Against its rich backdrop of culture and tradition, today’s Kyoto continues to innovate and inspire.

Roots of Tokyo

Episode 1: Edo, City of Water

July 10th

15:10 / 22:10 / 5:10 / 10:10

Episode 2: Edo, City of Fire

July 17th

15:10 / 22:10 / 5:10 / 10:10

Until 1868, Tokyo was called Edo. By the 1700s, it had the highest population of any city in the world, surpassing both London and Paris. But how did the largest metropolis on the planet evolve? Clues are coming to light in Tokyo and around the world. Featuring newly discovered evidence and the latest in CGI simulation, experience the engineering sophistication and unique community of Tokyo 150 years ago.

[Source: NHK WORLD press release]

AIBs 2021 – closing date extended

1 July 2021

AIBs 2021 – closing date extended

By popular request, we’re extending the deadline for entering the AIBs 2021, the 17th annual competition celebrating the best journalism and factual productions across TV, radio and digital platforms. Entries will now be accepted until 23 July.
Full information on how to enter is at http://theaibs.tv.
Join colleagues from New Zealand to the Philippines, Singapore to Turkey, the USA to Argentina who are showcasing their work in this truly international competition.
It doesn’t matter what language your work is in – it’s welcome (we’ve had Welsh-language programmes entered for the first time this year, alongside Arabic, Burmese, Spanish, Mandarin, Bahasa Indonesia, Korean, Japanese, Bangla and more).
Full information is online at http://theaibs.tv.

Iran continues to harass BBC News Persian staff; raised at UNHRC event

25 June 2021

Iran continues to harass BBC News Persian staff; raised at UNHRC event

Iran’s escalating harassment of BBC News Persian journalists discussed at BBC and UN Human Rights Council virtual event

BBC World Service co-hosted a virtual “side-event” to coincide with the 47th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on 24 June. It was designed to raise concerns about the escalating cross-border harassment and threats from Iran towards BBC News Persian journalists and other Persian-language media. Alongside the BBC, the event was co-hosted by the International Federation of Journalists, National Union of Journalists and Doughty Street Chambers.

The virtual event was chaired by Deputy General Secretary at International Federation of Journalists, Jeremy Dear.

Speaking at the event, Ambassador Rita French, UK’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and International Ambassador for Human Rights, said: “It remains our desire to see Iran change tack, cease this abhorrent persecution against journalists and their families, and adhere to its international human-rights obligations. Until they do, the UK will continue to hold them to account, and seek to ensure media freedom is defended everywhere.”

Estonia will chair this year’s conference of the Media Freedom Coalition. Ambassador Minna-Liina Lind, Estonian Ambassador at Large for Human Rights and Migration, said: “We really want to have some concrete deliverables from the conference hosted in Tallinn in December 2021.”

Also on the panel was BBC News Persian journalist Kasra Naji who spoke about the campaign of vilification, threats and persecution endured by himself, his colleagues and their families, and BBC’s World Affairs Editor, John Simpson, who warned of the danger, that these policies that already have been in place for four years, will continue and intensify under Iran’s newly elected president Ebrahim Raisi, and called to protect and guard the BBC’s Persian service.

For many years, Iran has conducted a campaign of harassment and intimidation towards BBC News Persian journalists and their families in Iran. This has included death threats towards BBC journalists and their families in London, family members in Iran being brought in for interrogation and threats being made of cross-border operations to put BBC journalists in prison, online harassment and gendered attacks on women journalists, and a judiciary-imposed asset freeze on all assets of BBC News Persian staff in Iran. In some cases, family members were deprived of their liberty and held in degrading conditions, and ordered to tell their relatives to stop working for the BBC.

In response to this, the BBC initiated its first ever UN complaint in 2017 in relation to the protection of BBC journalists and has continued to engage with UN Special Mechanisms since. Concern has been raised about Iran’s treatment of BBC News Persian by the UN Secretary-General and successive UN Special Rapporteurs.

In March 2020, a group of UN experts made a joint statement condemning Iran’s harassment of BBC, raising concern of indications that:

… the Iranian authorities are prepared to use force extra-territorially, in violation of international law. Harassment, surveillance, death threats against journalists, within and outside domestic boundaries violate international human right law, including the right to physical integrity, the right to life and the right to freedom of expression.

The UN experts said that Iran’s acts towards BBC News Persian “violate international law regulating the use of force in times of peace” and “ultimately constitute serious threats to global security and thus demand strong reactions on the part of the Governments”.

In the past year, matters have escalated. Journalists and others perceived to be critics of the Iranian authorities have been abducted from other countries and returned to Iran, to be imprisoned and (in at least one case) to face the death penalty. Iran’s asset freeze has extended beyond BBC News Persian staff to some other international Persian-language outlets. Death threats have been made towards BBC News Persian staff in London, leading to police involvement and protection.

Tim Davie, BBC Director-General, said: “The treatment of the BBC News Persian journalists and their families by the Iranian authorities runs counter to the basic principles of human rights. Our total support for our journalists doing their job is as strong as our determination to never succumb to these pressures and we demand that they stop.”

Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC and Jennifer Robinson, counsel for BBC World Service, said: “This week, the newly elected President of Iran has claimed he is a ‘defender of human rights’. But the Iranian authorities’ cruel harassment and intimidation of BBC News Persian staff and their families violates the human rights of journalists and their families. Iran’s cross-border targeting of journalists is aimed at silencing voices Iranians are entitled to hear and also breaches the rights of the wider public. This is a sustained, pernicious attack on human rights by Iran. We urge UN experts to take action on this issue. The international community must condemn this in the strongest terms, and immediately take action to protect the integrity of journalists, their families and their profession.”

Simon Spanswick, chief executive of the Association for International Broadcasting, joined the event. During the session, he said:

“I believe that it is essential that we harness not only diplomatic channels but also the media industry itself in calling out the Iranian authorities and their attempts to silence BBC Persian, Iran International and others. We need to encourage other media organisations to use the platforms they have – both on air, and at industry events – to ensure that the issue is kept at the forefront of people’s minds. At the AIB, we’re happy to use our events to tell this important story.”

BBC News Persian is a multimedia news and current-affairs service, with a weekly audience of around 18.3m (2020), delivering accurate and impartial news, information and analysis from a global perspective to Persian-speakers around the world. Available online via the websitebbc.com/persian, on TV and radio, BBC News Persian also connects with audiences on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and Twitter. BBC News Persian is part of BBC World Service.

Watch the latest video about the harassment of BBC Persian staff:

SABC launches 24-hour sport channel

25 June 2021

SABC launches 24-hour sport channel

The South African Broadcasting Corporation has launched its new Sports Channel, following the successful soft launch of its 24-hour Sports Channel on the SABC DTT service, the Openview set-top-box and the TelkomONE mobile streaming platform in April 2021. The launch, hosted from the SABC headquarters building in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, also featured Team SAs announcement of the second team squad for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Games.

Gary Rathbone, General Manager: SABC Sport stated that “SABC Sport has always been the ultimate sporting home to the nation and has brought to South Africa unforgettable sporting events over the years. We are excited that as SABC Sport we will be part of the historic moment of unveiling the athletes who will be proudly representing the nation at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. For the public broadcaster, we are aware of the role we also play in touching the hearts and minds of the public. Through the events we showcase on the SABC platforms, we want to inspire up-and-coming athletes in the various sporting disciplines to reach for their dreams”.

Rathbone went on to say “Our newly launched Sports channel on the DTT, Openview and TelkomONE platforms, must also be commended. Since the Channel became operational in April this year, its audience figures have been positive, with latest TAMS figure showing a total reach of over 2 million, a 5 % share of the National Television Market. On Openview alone, the channel has established itself amongst the top 10 on the bouquet, with a total reach of over 1.4 million, representing a 24% share of the Openview market. This is really positive start for an exciting new Sport Channel that South Africans will be able to access without needing to pay a subscription”.

The SABC Sport Channel is committed to providing compelling and exciting local and international sporting content for all sports loving South Africans. You can see the launch event at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJuDjce6wus.

CBC/Radio-Canada to play a leading role in greening the Canadian media industry

16 June 2021

CBC/Radio-Canada to play a leading role in greening the Canadian media industry

As part of Canadian Environment Week, CBC/Radio-Canada has unveiled its new 2021–2026 environmental strategy, Greening Our Story. The five-year plan will see the public broadcaster take a leading role in advancing sustainable production practices in the country’s media industry. The objective is to create content in ways that actively eliminate waste and carbon emissions from production workflows.

CBC/Radio-Canada is committing to:

Measuring the carbon footprint of 100% of its in-house productions using albert, a tool that calculates the carbon emissions of productions;
Ensuring that 25% of its in-house productions are “albert-certified” as sustainable;
Measuring the carbon footprint of 50% of external productions using albert and collaborating with independent producers to reach the Corporation’s sustainability goals.

For more than 10 years, CBC/Radio-Canada has been reporting on its efforts to reduce its environmental impact, via its environmental performance reports. Now, we are intensifying our efforts and setting even more ambitious targets.

Catherine Tait, President and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada, said: “Greening our Story is an opportunity to transform CBC/Radio-Canada into a world-class, sustainable public service media company. This new strategy builds on our environmental work to date and takes our aspirations to the next level. It accelerates our commitments and encompasses everything we do, from how we produce our content and operate our business, to how we make the choices to avoid waste, reduce our energy consumption and limit our carbon footprint.”

Photo: Leduc Field/Flickr/CreativeCommons licence

Signiant to enable NBC Olympics to streamline remote production during Tokyo Olympics

13 June 2021

Signiant to enable NBC Olympics to streamline remote production during Tokyo Olympics

NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, has selected Signiant to provide intelligent file transfer software for its production of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, which take place in Tokyo, Japan, from July 23 – August 8.

With Signiant’s software, NBC Olympics will be able to move petabytes of footage from Tokyo back to its International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn., immediately upon capture. Signiant’s patented network optimisation technology enables seamless transfer of the footage over standard IP networks, eliminating latency and packet loss, so that editors in Stamford can begin creating highlights almost immediately as the action is happening thousands of miles away. The software also allows for content, including advanced graphics work and pre-recorded footage, to be transferred quickly, easily and securely back to the broadcast center in Tokyo. Signiant’s software enables NBC Olympics to leverage their talent and equipment back home in Stamford, enabling them to provide enhanced viewing experiences to their audience much more efficiently.

“Signiant is excited to partner with NBC Olympics for the production of the Tokyo Games this summer,” said Signiant CEO Margaret Craig. “Fan expectations for more immersive viewing experiences are growing and with NBC Olympics’ remote production operations, they will be sure to delight their audiences with amazing coverage. We’re proud that Signiant’s software will play such a central role in enabling NBC Olympics to seamlessly leverage their talent and technology located halfway around the world.”

“NBC Olympics is pleased to work with Signiant’s Managers and Agents solution,” said Darryl Jefferson, VP Post Production & Digital Workflow, NBC Sports & Olympics. “File movement is central to all of our remote workflows both in Tokyo as well as in our broadcast centre in Stamford. We are excited to see how it optimises our transfers and provides greater resiliency across our domestic and international transfers. Signiant is enabling us to scale up to handle our Tokyo Olympics workload and our increased file sizes due to our HDR and 4K production efforts.”