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.”

Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 2021 14/15 June

10 June 2021

Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum 2021 14/15 June

DW’s mainly virtual Global Media Forum (GMF) on June 14 and 15 will feature high-profile speakers, guests and participants from more than 160 countries. They will discuss aspects of this year’s theme “Disruption and innovation” in panel discussions and workshops. Registration on the website gmf.dw.com is free of charge. The live stream from the DW headquarters in Bonn can also be accessed via that website.

The media conference will be opened by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday morning, 10 a.m. (CEST). Minister-President of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet (CDU party) and Minister of State for International Cultural Policy at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office Michelle Müntefering will also address the audience, as well as Annalena Baerbock, Chairwoman of the Green party of Germany, and the Mayor of Bonn, Katja Dörner.

German media experts at the GMF 2021 include

Julia Becker, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board, Funke Mediengruppe

Ellen Ehni, Editor-in-Chief Television, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR)

Tobias Schmid, Director Media Authority in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia

International experts from the fields of politics, journalism, human rights and academia include

Anne Applebaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and historian, USA

Audrey Tang, Digital Minister of Taiwan

Elif Shafak, British-Turkish novelist

Felipe Neto, YouTube star and influencer, Brazil

Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and Opinion, Bangladesh

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch (HRW), USA

Jesper Doub, Director of News Partnerships, Facebook, Germany

Leymah Roberta Gbowee, Noble Peace laureate, Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa, Liberia

Maria Ressa, journalist and CEO of Rappler, Indonesia

Nuseir Yassin, founder & CEO of Nas Daily, Israel

Noel Curran, Director General, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Ireland

Philipp Justus, Vice President Central Europe, Google, Germany

Steven Pinker, cognitive scientist, Harvard University, USA

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, opposition politician, Belarus

Timothy Snyder, author and Richard C. Levin Professor of History, Yale University, USA

Vĕra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, European Commission, Czech Republic

The two-day-conference will offer discussions and insights on topics such as digitalization, democracy, cyber security, constructive journalism and countering misinformation – and how these topics are interconnected. Here are a few highlights:

Digital platforms are increasingly becoming gatekeepers in the battle for users’ attention. How can media benefit from the innovative power of these intermediaries? How can they support each other with innovation while strengthening journalism? These topics will be discussed by Vĕra Jourová, Vice-President of the European Commission, Philipp Justus, Vice President Central Europe at Google, Naja Nielsen, Digital Director BBC News, and Julia Becker, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of the Funke Mediengruppe: “Looking into the future – A fruitful endeavor? Social media and journalism” on Monday, June 14,10:30 a.m. (CEST).

Entr.net is a new multilingual social media offer for young EU citizens, initiated by DW and France Médias Monde in partnership with media outlets in six European countries. On June 14 at 2:40 p.m. (CEST), the editors will present the unique project. In an additional session at 3:15 p.m., attendees will discuss “Breaking up national media bubbles – cross-border collaborative journalism initiatives.”

Constructive journalism can be easily confused with feel-good journalism or positive news as a recent internal study conducted by DW’s Trends and Knowledge team shows. So what exactly is constructive journalism? On June 14, 2:00 p.m. (CEST), the GMF session “Beyond who, what, when, where, and how – Exploring constructive journalism” will provide some answers, with experts Ruona Meyer (Solutions Journalism Network), Ulrik Haagerup (Constructive Institute) and Ellen Heinrichs (DW).

Timothy Snyder, professor of history at Yale University, will explore disruption in western societies in his impulse: “What went wrong?- Disrupted democracies and the media” on June 15, 11.20 a.m. (CEST)

Limited access to reliable information, misinformation on social media and restrictions on press freedom: journalists worldwide are under constant pressure in the pandemic. How are local and community media functioning in the pandemic? And how can newsrooms survive and come out of the crisis stronger? Media experts Teresa Chirwa-Ndanga (Media Institute of Southern Africa), Belén Pardo Herrero (Vokaribe Radio 89.6 FM) and Dina Aboughazala (EGAB.co) will explore in the session “Information saves lives – The role of local media in fighting the infodemic,” hosted by DW Akademie on June 15, 3:00 p.m. (CEST).

DW Freedom of Speech Award 2021

The annual DW Freedom of Speech Award ceremony on June 14, 5:20 p.m. (CEST) is one of the highlights of the GMF. Nigerian journalist Tobore Ovuorie is the seventh and second female laureate. Her undercover investigation into human trafficking and sex work helped her shed light on the mafia networks which operate between Nigeria and Europe. Since 2015, the DW Freedom of Speech Award has been honoring journalists’ outstanding commitment to human rights and particularly, freedom of expression.

Partner sessions

This year, numerous partner organizations from all over the world will be contributing their topics to the Deutsche Welle media conference by hosting and joining several sessions – including the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (based in Istanbul), the Association of German Newspaper Publishers (Berlin), the WDR and the Goethe Institute (Munich).

The DW Global Media Forum is Germany’s only international conference for representatives of the media from all over the world. Together with its main partners, the German Federal Foreign Office, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Savings Bank in Bonn, the Federal ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the City of Bonn, DW offers media professionals a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary discussions with opinion-leaders from different fields around the pressing issues of our time.

[Source: DW press release]

ABC welcomes Australian government’s focus of Media Reform Green Paper

4 June 2021

ABC welcomes Australian government’s focus of Media Reform Green Paper

The ABC has welcomed the Australian government’s focus on what the Corporation says are much-needed reforms to the Australian television and screen industry. The ABC has called for greater consultation on finding effective measures to ensure the future sustainability of the sector.

The ABC’s response to the government’s Media Reform Green Paper highlights the continued importance of free-to-air (FTA) television services, noting that 75% of Australians watch FTA television for an average of 21.3 hours a week, compared with 12.4 hours for online video-on-demand (VOD) viewers.

David Anderson, ABC Managing Director, said: “We welcome the Green Paper’s recognition of the essential role that FTA television plays in making Australian news, culture and stories available to all Australians.

“As the nation’s biggest backer of homegrown content and creativity, the ABC agrees that broadcast television is important for most Australians and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

“We look forward to further consultation involving the government and FTA broadcasters to find the best approach to ensuring a sustainable future for the Australian television industry across the next decade and beyond.”

The ABC’s response to the Green Paper proposes principles that should be applied to developing a future roadmap for television, including:

Maintaining the Australian television broadcasting system and the distinct roles that national and commercial broadcasters play in it;
Equitable distribution of spectrum in each broadcast market; and
Ensuring consistent access to ABC services for all Australians across metropolitan, regional and remote areas.

In response to the Green Paper, the ABC says the proposal to shift broadcasters to delivering services through shared multiplexes, reducing the number of 7 MHz channels allocated for broadcasting, will require broadcasters to reduce the number and/or quality of the channels they offer audiences.

The ABC also submits that the Green Paper model removes any future growth path for FTA television, by preventing broadcasters from offering television services in higher-resolution formats to meet audiences’ expectations and remain competitive with online platforms.

The ABC welcomes the invitation in the Green Paper to propose other means of ensuring a sustainable Australian broadcast television sector.

The ABC submission makes the following points:

In combination with other funding sources such as Screen Australia, state screen agencies and the producer offset, additional funding for the ABC of $30 million per annum over the next three years would deliver more Australian stories on television screens. That funding will support the production of an extra 36 hours of Australian drama, factual and children’s content and 30 hours of arts, music and specialist programming a year.
The ABC strongly supports the introduction of regulatory mechanisms to ensure the presence and prominence of FTA broadcasters’ services on connected-TV platforms, which are becoming a new type of gatekeeper for Australian media services and content.
The ABC acknowledges the merit of the proposition that major international VOD services should contribute to the Australian production sector. Both content commissioners and audiences benefit from a thriving independent sector, and the Corporation supports measures that would sustain and grow it. The ABC would support regulation that would require SVODs to contribute to an Australian content fund. Careful design is required to ensure that it does not add to inflationary pressures already affecting the production sector.
Legislating an explicit requirement for the national broadcasters to provide new Australian programming is unnecessary. In the absence of any quota, the ABC is already a major investor in Australian content and a key partner to Australia’s independent production sector. Further, the imposition of an explicit content obligation risks affecting the ABC’s operational independence.

The ABC’s response to the Media Reform Green Paper is available to read here.

France 24 consolidates its European media position

3 June 2021

France 24 consolidates its European media position

According to the Ipsos Affluent Survey Europe 2021* carried out in 2020 with opinion leaders in 21 European countries, France 24 has made tremendous progress in terms of both awareness and reach.

The international news channel – which operates in French, English, Spanish and Arabic – has recorded the highest increase in awareness amongst all the international news channels: up 10.4 points in one year. 47% of opinion leaders say that they know about the channel and 4.7% watch it every week (+0.6 point). France 24’s weekly viewership has increased significantly in French-speaking countries (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland) as well as in Portugal, Spain and Turkey.

The excellent performances on TV are complemented by the channel’s success on digital platforms: 5.5% of opinion leaders visit its websites each month (+0.7 point).

In total, more than 7.1 million European opinion leaders (+1.5 point within a year) are in contact with France 24 each month, on television or online.

*Source: Ipsos Affluent Survey – Europe 2021, surveys lead from January to December 2020 in Top 20% of households by income in each of 21 countries across Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, The United Kingdom and Russia (Moscow and Saint-Petersburg).

Algerian public broadcaster gets new director-general

3 June 2021

Algerian public broadcaster gets new director-general

Chabane Lounakel has taken up his role as the new Director General of Algeria’s Public Television Establishment (EPTV).

His inauguration ceremony took place at the EPTV headquarters under the chairmanship of the Minister of Communication Amar Belhimer.

According to press reports, the Minister called for a combination of efforts in order to meet national and international media challenges as well as the aspirations of television viewers in the country. “Our country is going through a decisive period in its political history with the approach of the legislative elections scheduled for June 12,” he said.

Belhimer paid tribute to the incoming D-G saying: “he has a long experience in the information sector and administrative management which qualifies him to assume his new functions with a spirit of responsibility and to work to give the desired impetus to this strategic enterprise. ”

Lounakel has pledged to work to further strengthen public television as a vital and important enterprise for the country. “Algeria is a [country] made to be a pioneer. We must provide it with media establishments, so that it would be an example to follow in terms of progress, freedom of expression and human values ”, he said.

Photo: DZbreaking

Polish journalist refused accreditation renewal in Uzbekistan

3 June 2021

Polish journalist refused accreditation renewal in Uzbekistan

According to reports in the Uzbek media, and confirmed by organisations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists, Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry has decided not to extend the accreditation of Polish journalist Agnieszka Pikulicka. The reports quote the ministry’s spokesman Yusuf Qobiljonov as the source.

The decision was taken “due to instances of the violation of the legislation of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the part of Al Jazeera TV correspondent A. Pikulicka-Wilczewska”, the report says.

The journalist has yet to comment on the Foreign Ministry’s decision.

In April, the Uzbek Interior Ministry accused Agnieszka Pikulicka of biased coverage of the events surrounding blogger Miraziz Bozorov as well as of discrediting the law-enforcement agencies. Pikulicka called it an attempt to discredit her as a journalist and demanded that a court hearing be held if she had really breached the law on the media.

Al Jazeera and The Guardian newspaper employ Agnieszlka as a freelance reporter.