BBC News restructures

11 February 2021

BBC News restructures

Director of BBC News Fran Unsworth has announced a restructure of the BBC News Board to deliver more value for audiences and better reflect the way BBC News will work in future. These changes are part of an ongoing restructure.

Five posts will be closed, and there will be three new roles:

Jonathan Munro will become Senior Controller, News Content and Deputy Director of News: responsible for the production of the journalism that supports the BBC’s news programmes and platforms. This includes the new multi-skilled Story Teams at the heart of the new operating model. Jonathan will also deputise for the Director of News and Current Affairs on all editorial issues.

Jamie Angus will become Senior Controller, News Output and Commissioning: responsible for the commissioning and delivery of news and current affairs output across TV and radio. This will include news output for BBC World News and World Service English.

A further role will be advertised shortly – Senior Controller, News International Services: responsible for our global strategy, World Service Languages, BBC Monitoring and BBC Media Action. Mary Hockaday, currently Controller of World Service English, will fill this role in the interim.

Overall, Board membership has been reduced from eleven to eight people. The remaining Board members are: Fran Unsworth (Director), Naja Nielsen (Digital Director), Alan Dickson (Chief Financial and Operating Officer), Kirsty Lee (interim HR Director) and Sarah Ward-Lilley (Managing Editor).

The changes announced today will come into effect in March.

They form part of the plans to modernise BBC News first set out last year – to respond to changing audience behaviour, increase the impact of BBC journalism and meet the BBC’s savings targets. A further update on the wider plans will be announced soon.

Source: BBC press release

Myanmar coup demonstrates fragility of reliance on the Internet

9 February 2021

Myanmar coup demonstrates fragility of reliance on the Internet

The International Telecommunication Union estimates that 53.6% of the world’s 7.75billion population are users of the Internet. The internet is inextricably linked to the lives of many of these four billion plus people. They rely on it for communication, entertainment and information. It provides a window on the world. That frightens some governments and so the Internet becomes vulnerable to being the first “off switch” that authoritarian regimes reach for at times of crisis.

That is exactly what happened in Myanmar as the military coup unfolded at the start of February 2021. Telecommunication connections were disrupted from around 0300 local time in the country on 1 February. By 0800, according to Netblocks, national connectivity fell to around 50% of usual levels. By midday on 1 February, connectivity had increased to around 75% of normal levels.

On 3 February, users of state-owned provider MPT found that access to Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and in part WhatsApp was restricted. On competing Telenor, restrictions on Facebook were more limited. On the evening of 4 February, Facebook was curtailed on most major telecom operators in the country, ranging from restricted access to the Facebook website to blocking the entire suite of Facebook products and mobile applications.

At the weekend, connectivity fell across Myanmar with users of major networks in the country reporting difficulty getting online. This increased level of restrictions came as protests against the military coup gathered pace across the country. By the afternoon of Saturday 6 February, the Internet was almost entirely shut down.

Telling the story is a challenge

The restrictions made reporting from Myanmar challenging for broadcasters, with limited access to pictures and reports as the Internet shutdown continued. Via the AIB, pooling of resources started to be discussed as rivalries between channels were put aside in an effort to report about developments in the country to the world.

Berlin-based news agency Ruptly says that it has provided a range of coverage from Myanmar since the coup. The agency has two producers on the ground in the country and is also sourcing and verifying UGC to offer the most complete coverage it can aim for. The agency says that its live coverage at the beginning had to be covert, filmed from within the crowds of protesters.

For continuing coverage, Ruptly says that it aims to provide live transmissions every day as further crackdowns against protesters loom. Both its producers on the ground are active and are following events. Ruptly’s Video Unit team is collecting a portfolio of sources among protesters and will try to uncover “side stories including small experiences that reveal bigger impact”.

Reaching audiences in the country

For broadcasters trying to serve audiences in Myanmar, the challenge of Internet restrictions is a major headache. With international broadcasters now relying heavily on social media platforms and their own websites to reach audiences, a shutdown such as the one imposed in Myanmar means significant potential reductions in impact in the country. Shortwave broadcasts do remain on the air in the Burmese language from the BBC, Radio Free Asia, NHK World and Voice of America, alongside religious broadcasters Adventist World Radio and Trans World Radio. However, shortwave has fallen out of fashion in Myanmar just as it has in the rest of the world, so its reach is limited compared to the immense potential audience that exists in the online world.

Broadcasters aiming programmes to Myanmar are encouraging audiences to use VPNs to access services. The use of VPNs has increased dramatically since the coup with some reports estimating that requests for VPNs from people in the country have increased by 4,600%. Specialist peer-to-peer services such as Briar, Ouinet, NewNode, Qaul.net, and Ayanda promoted by the US-based not-for-profit Open Technology Fund allow users to potentially circumvent national restrictions to access Facebook and similar social media platforms. Other services include Psiphon, Lantern, FreeBrowser and the Tor Browser.

Meanwhile Norway’s Telenor – which operates Telenor Myanmar – says that since restrictions were imposed in certain regions in the country in June 2019, it “has been advocating for the restoration of services and emphasised that freedom of expression through access to telecoms services should be maintained for humanitarian purposes”.

It is unclear when the restrictions on Internet access and social platforms will be lifted in Myanmar. It is worth noting that even in Myanmar, pressure delivered by social media on the military has been effective. Freedom House reports that after a video showing abuse at a military academy went viral in Myanmar, public outrage forced the military to launch a high-level investigation, something that Freedom House says was an unprecedented gesture toward accountability from the country’s most untouchable institution. Perhaps there is hope that the current shutdown will be relatively short-lived.

Photo: A couple interrupt their wedding in Myanmar to join protesters against the military coup TWITTER/@KhinGantgawKyaw

Radio Liberty fined in Russia – again

8 February 2021

Radio Liberty fined in Russia – again

Russian courts have fined Radio Liberty – the Russian-language service of Prague-based RFE/RL – twice in two weeks over the organisation’s alleged failure to ensure that its output is marked as being produced by a “foreign agent”.

In late January, a court in Moscow fined RFE/RL and its head in Russia a total of 1.1m roubles (around $14,500). Then at the beginning of February, RFE/RL was fined a further 2m roubles ($26,500). Andrei Shary, RFE/RL’s head in Russia, was fined 200,000 roubles in the February ruling.

Fines were also levied against websites Krym.Realii and Factograph that carried the RFE/RL output, according to Interfax News Agency, reported by BBC Monitoring.

In a statement issued on 5 February, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty announced that it has appealed what it says is: “a string of Russian court decisions to fine several of the broadcaster’s Russian-language endeavours and the general director of its operations in Russia for allegedly failing to comply with new restrictions under the country’s controversial “foreign-agent” law.

“RFE/RL’s lawyers on February 5 filed the appeals against the decisions by the Tverskoi District Court in Moscow to approve several administrative protocols submitted by Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor “for noncompliance by the media performing the functions of a foreign agent with the requirements of the law on labeling information disseminated by them.”

RFE/RL’s lawyers stated in their appeals that Roskomnadzor’s moves prevent journalists from performing professional activities and contradict the Russian Constitution and laws on media by restricting competition.

The appeals also say that censorship is officially banned in Russia, stressing that Roskomnadzor’s orders will “distort the essence of reports [and] change the way they are received by the audience.”

According to the lawyers, following Roskomnadzor’s requests would create distrust and rejection of the reports and materials of RFE/RL’s projects, while many of the requests cannot even be technically executed.

“These fines represent nothing less than a state-sponsored campaign of coercion and intimidation, targeting a media company whose editorial independence is protected by law,” RFE/RL’s Regional Director for Europe and TV Production Kiryl Sukhotski said.

“Our audiences in Russia have long depended on RFE/RL to be trustworthy, credible, and factual; to be an alternative to disinformation and spin. These qualities are, and will always remain, at the core of RFE/RL’s reporting,” Sukhotski said.

Russian regulators have singled out RFE/RL, whose editorial independence is also enshrined in U.S. law, over other foreign news operations in Russia.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Hussein released from jail in Egypt

8 February 2021

Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Hussein released from jail in Egypt

After more than four years in detention without trial, Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein has been released by Egypt.

According to Al Jazeera, Hussein, an Egyptian national held under preventive detention since December 2016, was released from jail on 6 February 2021.

In a statement, Mostefa Souag, acting director-general of the Al Jazeera Media Network, said the release of Hussein was “a moment of truth and an inspiring milestone towards press freedom”.

“Al Jazeera Media Network welcomes the news of Mahmoud’s freedom and believes that no journalist should ever be subjected to what Mahmoud has suffered for the past four years for merely carrying out his profession.

“Today, we are pleased he is finally reunited with his family, after being robbed four years from his life and deprived of his fundamental rights. We wish Mahmoud a speedy recovery and hope he will be able to overcome this past ordeal and start a new chapter in his distinguished career.”

The 54-year-old was arrested in Cairo on December 23, 2016, while visiting his family for a holiday. He was interrogated for more than 15 hours without a lawyer present, before being released and then arrested again days later.

Egypt’s Ministry of Interior publicly accused him of “disseminating false news and receiving monetary funds from foreign authorities in order to defame the state’s reputation”, but no charges were ever formally brought against him. Hussein and Al Jazeera consistently denied the allegations.

Shortly after his arrest, Al Jazeera launched a worldwide media campaign calling for Hussein’s release. The AIB supported this campaign.

Egyptian authorities, however, extended Hussein’s detention more than a dozen times, far surpassing the country’s maximum period for pre-trial detention in violation of both Egyptian and international law.

During his time in jail, Hussein suffered physically and psychologically. He was held for long periods in solitary confinement and denied proper medical treatment when he broke his arm in 2017.

In January 2018, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that the conditions of Hussein’s imprisonment amounted to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”.

Media Freedom Coalition expresses concern over Belarus situation

6 February 2021

Media Freedom Coalition expresses concern over Belarus situation

The intergovernmental Media Freedom Coalition has issued a statement in which it expresses its deep concern about continued attacks on media freedom and the targeting of independent journalists in Belarus.

Media freedom is an important part of democratic societies and essential to the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Since the contested presidential election was held on August 9, authorities in Belarus have restricted access to information and have led a brutal and sustained campaign to persecute and harass independent journalists and those from foreign media organizations and prevent them from performing the vital role of objectively reporting on events and holding authorities to account. Access to unfettered information is vital for citizens during protest. Independent journalists play a key role in informing citizens on the causes of unrest and state responses.

Some 400 journalists and media workers in Belarus have faced various forms of repression in the course of the election and its aftermath. On January 12, 2021, media consultant Andrei Aliaksandrau was arrested for allegedly providing financial support to protestors. On December 22, members of the Press Club Belarus were arrested and charged on tax evasion. On January 19, the Belarusian courts confirmed their rule of December 3 which rescinded the official media status of independent news website Tut.by, thereby stripping its journalists of the official protection they have the right to expect when doing their job. Tut.by journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich remains in custody under criminal charges of the alleged disclosure of medical secrets of the late Raman Bandarenka, who died after reportedly being beaten by security forces. On November 15, independent journalist Yekaterina Bakhvalova was arrested and had criminal charges brought against her after filming police officers firing stun grenades during a memorial for Raman Bandarenka. Authorities detained another 23 journalists who were covering this event.

It is deeply troubling that RFE/RL journalist Ihar Losik felt the need to go on hunger strike in order to bring attention to his unjust imprisonment. We are relieved Mr. Losik has halted his hunger strike but remain concerned about his ongoing detention. Sadly, this is only one example of the impact of the authorities’ blatant contempt for media freedom.

These are not isolated incidents but tragic examples of the authorities’ wider campaign to restrict the fundamental freedoms of opinion and expression, by violently suppressing peaceful political protests by opposition supporters and demonstrators. These actions have also been strongly condemned by UN human rights experts and the likeminded international community.

We reaffirm our unequivocal condemnation of the targeting, harassment and detention of journalists and media workers. We call on Belarus to protect media freedom, desist from shutting down Internet access, and respect international human rights law. We strongly urge Belarus to implement OSCE Moscow Mechanism report recommendations on freedom of expression and the media. Political prisoners must be immediately released. We call on Belarus to release journalists and other media workers who have been arbitrarily detained and hold accountable those responsible for attacks on journalists and media workers.

Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Switzerland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

UK media regulator revokes CGTN broadcasting licence

4 February 2021

UK media regulator revokes CGTN broadcasting licence

UK media regulator Ofcom announced on 4 February that it has withdrawn the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the UK. The regulator gave details of its decision, stating that “…after its investigation concluded that the licence is wrongfully held by Star China Media Limited.”

Ofcom’s statement on the affair said:

“China Global Television Network (CGTN) is an international English-language satellite news channel.

In the UK, broadcasting laws made by Parliament state that broadcast licensees must have control over the licensed service – including editorial oversight over the programmes they show. In addition, under these laws, licence holders cannot be controlled by political bodies.^[1]

Our investigation concluded that Star China Media Limited (SCML), the licence-holder for the CGTN service, did not have editorial responsibility for CGTN’s output. As such, SCML does not meet the legal requirement of having control over the licensed service, and so is not a lawful broadcast licensee.

In addition, we have been unable to grant an application to transfer the licence to an entity called China Global Television Network Corporation (CGTNC). This is because crucial information was missing from the application, and because we consider that CGTNC would be disqualified from holding a licence, as it is controlled by a body which is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.

We have given CGTN significant time to come into compliance with the statutory rules. Those efforts have now been exhausted.

Following careful consideration, taking account of all the facts and the broadcaster’s and audience’s rights to freedom of expression, we have decided it is appropriate to revoke the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the UK.

We expect to conclude separate sanctions proceedings against CGTN for due impartiality and fairness and privacy breaches shortly.

Ofcom’s investigation

Our investigation found that SCML does not have editorial responsibility for selecting or compiling CGTN’s programme schedule. It is the distributor of the CGTN service in the UK, rather than “the provider” of the service.^[2]

In addition, none of the employees involved in CGTN’s decision-making, or day-to-day running of the channel, appear to be employed by SCML. CGTNC confirmed that its Global Editorial Board is the ultimate decision maker over the selection and organisation of programmes for the CGTN service and exercises editorial control.

CGTN’s licence transfer application

In response to our enquiries, CGTN accepted that SCML did not control the channel and should no longer hold the licence. But it confirmed its intention to restructure to separate the CGTN division from China Central Television (CCTV) – which is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and so disqualified from holding a UK broadcast licence^[3] – and apply to transfer the licence to an entity which did control the channel.

Given the revocation of a broadcast licence is a significant interference with a broadcaster’s right to freedom of expression, we considered it appropriate to allow CGTN a reasonable period of time to come into compliance.

An application to transfer the licence to CGTNC was submitted in September 2020. However, we were unable to properly assess it. Crucial information was missing from the application, while the restructure that CGTN had signalled had not, and still has not, taken place.

CGTN has since repeatedly failed to respond to important questions necessary to our assessment of its application to transfer the licence, or to offer any update on progress with its restructure.

Links between CGTNC and CCTV

Having considered the available evidence, we have decided we are unable to grant the application to transfer the licence from SCML to CGTNC.

Correspondence from CGTN submitted during the course of our investigation makes clear that CGTNC is controlled by CCTV, which is also the sole shareholder of CGTNC.

Given CGTNC is controlled by CCTV – which, as part of the China Media Group, is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party and therefore disqualified from holding a broadcast licence under UK broadcasting laws – we consider that CGTNC would be disqualified from holding a licence.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Our investigation showed that the licence for China Global Television Network is held by an entity which has no editorial control over its programmes. We are unable to approve the application to transfer the licence to China Global Television Network Corporation because it is ultimately controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is not permitted under UK broadcasting law.

“We’ve provided CGTN with numerous opportunities to come into compliance, but it has not done so. We now consider it appropriate to withdraw the licence for CGTN to broadcast in the UK.”

Other CGTN cases

In 2020 we found CGTN in breach of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code for failing to preserve due impartiality in its coverage of the Hong Kong protests, and also found a serious breach of our fairness and privacy rules.^[4]

Due to the seriousness of these breaches, we told CGTN that we would consider imposing sanctions.

Today’s decision does not affect these sanctions proceedings against CGTN, and we expect to reach our decisions shortly.

We have three other fairness and privacy investigations about content on the CGTN service which also remain ongoing, pending further consideration.”

CGTN has been monitored still broadcasting to the UK via the Freesat platform at the headquarters of the AIB at 1530GMT on 4 February.

UPDATE: The service ceased on Freesat at 1638GMT.