NHK World September programme highlights

2 September 2021

NHK World September programme highlights

Empty Homes, Shattered Dreams

China’s ‘Ghost Castles’

September 11 Sat.

1:10 / 7:10 / 13:10 / 19:10

A curious sight has emerged in the economically flourishing cities of China: Apartment buildings in which construction halts midway. Locals refer to them as “ghost castles.” Residents of one such building in Wuhan live in rooms without water or electricity, struggling under the financial weight of repaying the mortgage for an unfinished home. This program examines the shadow behind real estate development through the turmoil faced by the residents who have become victims of a ghost castle.

Satoyama Kitchen Diary

Summer veggies and freshwater flavours

September 24 Fri.

14:30 / 20:30 / 3:10 / 10:10

Savor the food culture of Hida Takayama with the Kogawa family. For hundreds of years, people in this area of Japan have let the seasons be their guide as to what to eat. Natural farming produces delectable vegetables for dining. Herbs from the garden make their way into tea. Traditional dishes include salted squid and cucumber mixed with sake lees, and river fish stewed with sansho peppers. It’s all part of what’s known as the satoyama lifestyle, relying on locally produced ingredients while aiming for zero waste.

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!

The Pride of Namie

How a Beloved Sake Made its Way Home

September 18 Sat.

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

People in Namie loved their hometown sake, Iwaki Kotobuki. The brewery, however, was one of the places in Fukushima prefecture devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The owner never lost hope of restoring production, even though he had to move to a neighboring prefecture. With support from back home, he succeeded in recreating the taste ten years after the disaster.

AIB joins media organisations and NGOs to call on G7 for urgent, immediate support to Afghan journalists

23 August 2021

AIB joins media organisations and NGOs to call on G7 for urgent, immediate support to Afghan journalists

The Association for International Broadcasting [AIB] has joined with 50 NGOs, civil society organisations and media support organisations across the world in calling for the G7 and members of the Media Freedom Coalition to take urgent and immediate action to support Afghan journalists.

“The AIB is committed to supporting those in Afghanistan who have supported freedom of expression,” says AIB chief executive Simon Spanswick. “Many hundreds of journalists and support workers have been involved in telling stories about the country to audiences in and beyond Afghanistan over the past 20 years. Many have worked with international news organisations, including AIB Members, to ensure the free flow of news. Now is their time of need and the international community needs to support everyone who needs and who seeks safe refuge outside the country.”

The recommendations, which are being shared with the Group of Seven countries ahead of their planned G7 meeting on Afghanistan on 24 August, also stress the importance of safe passage to exit routes out of Afghanistan and securing channels for money to flow into Afghanistan.

The AIB is working with a number of its Members to secure safe passage from the country for those who have contributed to the success of media within Afghanistan and to reporting the country to the world.

For more information on the call to the G7 and Media Freedom Coalition, or for assistance for those needing to leave the country, contact Simon Spanswick at the AIB Secretariat in the UK – telephone +44 20 7993 2557.

SABC builds new sports alliance

23 August 2021

SABC builds new sports alliance

The Walt Disney Company Africa and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) have signed a distribution agreement to bring local and international live sporting events, news programming, as well as library and film sporting content from ESPN to SABC Sports viewers across South Africa, through its SABC Sports Channel. SABC launched its new sport channel in June 2021.

Under the agreement, SABC Sports viewers will unlock a selection of premium sports content. ESPN brings an unparalleled portfolio of US sporting content and documentaries to its viewers across the world and in Africa, the broadcaster extends this offering by showcasing the latest in European football and other international franchises.

SABC Sports will bring the world’s top track and field athletes to its viewers through ESPN’s four live World Athletics Events, with the first coming straight from Nairobi with the U20 Championships, currently on air. Additional events include the World Indoor Championships from Serbia (March 2022), World Race Walking Championships from Belarus (April 2022) and the World Championships from the USA (July 2022).

After a successful inaugural season in Kigali earlier this year, teams from across the continent will once again gather to showcase the best in local basketball talent in a hotly-anticipated second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL), a partnership between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). SABC Sports viewers can look forward to select fixtures of this celebrated local league being broadcast live on their screens in 2022.

For Boxing fans, SABC Sports will be bringing live boxing events and programming to viewers in 2022, including over 150 hours of boxing content from ESPN’s vast library, showcasing the greatest in boxing events, athletes and moments in the sport’s history.

SABC Sport General Manager, Gary Rathbone, stated: “This agreement is going to add significant depth to our current offering on the SABC Sports Channel. Our channel will now offer unrivalled content to our local sport fans seven days a week, thanks to ESPN’s great boxing archive and film and documentary library. With the addition of long-awaited regular live boxing events, as well more live Football, Athletics and African Basketball, it’s clear that this partnership will deliver right across the board for our viewers”.

Rathbone added: “This partnership will not only give our viewers access to great sports content but will see the SABC Sport Channel and our teams benefiting from the resources and experience that this collaboration with ESPN offers.”

Kyle De Klerk, Director: Sports, The Walt Disney Company Africa, said: “With this content agreement we are excited to not only be bringing ESPN’s unprecedented and compelling sporting offering to new audiences, but to also be taking a great step in highlighting and celebrating some of the up and coming leagues and athletes from around this continent.”

Christine Service, Senior Vice President and General Manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa, noted: “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with SABC to include ESPN, bringing another diversified and exciting brand from Disney’s portfolio to local free-to-air audiences.”

Taliban murder relative of DW journalist, injure another

20 August 2021

Taliban murder relative of DW journalist, injure another

Taliban fighters hunting a DW journalist have shot dead one member of his family and seriously injured another. The Taliban were conducting a house-to-house search to try and find the journalist, who now works in Germany.

Other relatives were able to escape at the last moment and are now on the run. DW Director General Peter Limbourg issued a strong condemnation and called on the German government to take action.

“The killing of a close relative of one of our editors by the Taliban yesterday is inconceivably tragic, and testifies to the acute danger in which all our employees and their families in Afghanistan find themselves,” Limbourg said. “It is evident that the Taliban are already carrying out organised searches for journalists, both in Kabul and in the provinces. We are running out of time!”

Taliban hunting journalists

The Taliban have raided the homes of at least three DW journalists. Nematullah Hemat of the private television station Ghargasht TV is believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban, and Toofan Omar, the head of the private radio station Paktia Ghag Radio, was, according to government officials, targeted and shot dead by Taliban fighters.

Two men, also presumably Taliban, shot and killed the translator Amdadullah Hamdard, a frequent contributor to Germany’s Die Zeit newspaper, on August 2 in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, right there on the street. And a month ago, the world-renowned Indian photographer and Pulitzer Prize winner Danish Siddiqui died in Kandahar, presumably killed by Taliban militants.

Media alliance calls on German government for help

Consequently, DW has joined the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers (BDZV), Die Zeit, Der Spiegel, Deutschlandradio, dpa, Reporters Without Borders, stern, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, taz, RTL, n-tv and Arte in publishing an open letter calling on the German government to set up an emergency visa program for Afghan staff.

The German Journalists’ Association (DJV) is also calling on the German government to take swift action, given that stringers who worked for Western media are now being hunted down. “Germany must not stand idly by while our colleagues are persecuted and even murdered,” said Frank Überall, the DJV chairman. He said that saving these journalists right now and offering them refuge in Germany was absolutely essential.

DW is not revealing the name of the journalist or the location of his family as their lives are still at risk.

The Media Freedom Coalition [MFC] is meeting to explore ways this alliance of 49 nations can assist in protecting and supporting journalists and others employed by media companies in Afghanistan. It is not expected that Afghanistan, which under the elected government became a member of the Media Freedom Coalition, will take part in the meeting. The Association for International Broadcasting is a member of the Consultative Network to the MFC and will be taking part in the meeting.

Photo: A view across the city of Herat in Afghanistan from Herat Citadel. Jonathan Wilson/Adobe Stock

Volant Media UK launches Afghanistan International TV

18 August 2021

Volant Media UK launches Afghanistan International TV

On Sunday 15 August, the day the Taliban captured Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, Volant Media UK, the parent company of Iran International TV, launched Afghanistan International TV (AITV). AITV aspires to serve as a 24/7 international news network to provide reliable information for audiences and protect media freedom in the country.

With Afghanistan undergoing a chaotic transition after the US military withdrawal, AITV aspires to be a voice for the voiceless—to tell the story of the people of Afghanistan, said Harun Najafizada, AITV’s director. He revealed concerning reports of the Taliban’s tense relations with the media community and how independent journalistic activities have been severely disrupted.

The situation in Afghanistan is so dire that AITV decided to launch the network prior to the planned start date—which was slated for the United Nations’ International Peace Day on September 21. The hope is that this will fill a media vacuum that has developed with so many people fleeing the country and will provide a critical source of reporting and information amid rapidly shifting events on the ground.

AITV, which has started with daily nine hours of live television news and programmes, plans to expand to a full 24/7 schedule as soon as possible. But AITV also has a radio stream which is already offering 24-hour news and programs.

In terms of programming, Najafizada said AITV plans to rely heavily on reporting from across Afghanistan and to produce informative programs—talk shows, documentaries, and debates—to engage with people inside and outside Afghanistan. AITV will be an independent and impartial channel which will report facts, in keeping with standard journalistic norms.

As to how AITV will fare with the Taliban in control of Afghanistan, Najafizadeh says it is not about AITV, but it is about the Taliban and how they receive the international media. AITV is prepared for any scenario.

Pakistan offering visas to journalists and media workers in Afghanistan

16 August 2021

Pakistan offering visas to journalists and media workers in Afghanistan

On August 15, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan said that visas for Afghan journalists and families were being specially facilitated in “this period of uncertainty”.

The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) – a member of the Consultative Network to the intergovernmental Media Freedom Coalition – has welcomed the Pakistan government’s move to facilitate the visas of journalists and media personnel in Afghanistan.

A WhatsApp number (00923222807683) for the press counsellor has been provided, which media personnel requiring visas can contact, and as Khan has announced, will be facilitated.

In a tweet, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the Pakistan press section in Kabul had received hundreds of visa applications from the international media. Chaudhry said to facilitate their evacuation from Kabul, a special cell had been created.

Amid the escalating situation in Afghanistan, as the Taliban gained ground over previously Afghan government controlled territories, on August 13, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid had announced that in light of the evolving situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan had decided to ease its visa policy for journalists and media workers.

Rashid appealed to those international journalists and media workers who want to leave Afghanistan via Pakistan to apply for the Pakistani visa. The interior minister said that his ministry would issue these individuals visas on a priority basis.

Rashid said the decision to ease the visas was being taken by the Pakistani government keeping in mind the protection of journalists and media workers working in Afghanistan.

PPF hopes that the facility will act as a resource to a safe passageway for members of the media in Afghanistan who are currently in need of a safe exit.

Source: Pakistan Press Foundation