28 April 2010
Support services company VT Group, which transmits the BBC World Service, has been presented with the Professional Services Award at this year’s BBC Global News Reith Awards for its exceptional effort in protecting the BBC Asia relay station in Thailand from severe flooding and maintaining transmission.
The site, located in the Nakhon Sawan province in Northern Thailand, is owned by the BBC and operated by 29 VT Group staff.
The building faced major damage and the staff were also in danger after extreme rainfall in the region caused authorities to divert flood waters from dams to protect the population of Bangkok and other urban areas.
However, as a result, the transmitting station was in the direct path of the diverted flood waters and desperate action was needed to protect the site and staff. Hundreds of tons of sand were packed into bags to protect site buildings and inside doors were sealed and additional barriers erected.
Once the flood waters began to rise there was nothing more staff could do as the site was breached and eventually the safety of the equipment was compromised. There was no alternative but to cease all broadcasts and to find alternative ways to transmit in appropriate quality.
The decision to close the site triggered the VT planned emergency response. Within 30 minutes, all on-air transmissions had been placed at alternative VT transmitting stations.
Site staff even enlisted the help of the Thai army who worked with volunteer staff to reinforce the sand-bag wall, operate the pumps and control water ingress. The building stood secure and essential power was maintained until the waters subsided and a clean-up plan was put in place, using local staff to ensure a cost-effective and efficient solution.
Subsequent work upgraded flood defences, including the re-design and re-laying of drains around the station to control any ingress of water better, strengthening the perimeter wall and raising the height of equipment in the antenna field.
VT Group General Manager Communications John Prior explained: Inspirational leadership and great teamwork avoided a potential disaster. Although there was a threat to the homes of many staff, they remained on site to lead the efforts there. If the water had entered the building, it would have affected the equipment. BBC transmissions from the site would have been off air for months and the financial costs of repair would have been enormous. The response of the staff was really beyond the call of duty.
Nigel Fry, Head of Transmission and Distribution in the BBC World Service said the tremendous effort of the VT Group staff has been recognised with this award. The response is a great reflection on the relationship that we have with the VT Group team.
In recognition of the help offered by local teams, VT and the BBC made financial and other aid donations to the local flood aid centre for distribution to the neighbouring population.
28 April 2010
The worldwide journalist death toll has soared to shocking new levels on the eve of World Press Freedom Day 2010.
Seventeen news media staff have died violently this April — one every 1.5 days, according to incidents recorded by the International News Safety Institute. Nine have been killed in the past 13 days.
It was the bloodiest April recorded for the news media in the past five years and the worst month in a year that has suffered 42 deaths in 22 countries so far, surpassing the 37 counted over the first four months of last year. And 2009 eventually turned out to be one of the worst years on record with 133 deaths.
At least 27 deaths were confirmed connected with the victims’ work as journalists. Fifteen more fatalities appeared to be linked but that was unconfirmed. All but a handful of the victims were murdered.
“As World Press Freedom Day approaches, this is a stark reminder of the terrible price we pay for our news around the globe,” said INSI Director Rodney Pinder.
INSI backs a call for one minute’s silence in newsrooms around the world to honour more than 1,500 journalists and other news media who have died trying to cover the story over the past 14 years. UNESCO has urged the gesture of respect to take place this and every year on World Press Freedom Day, 3 May, to denounce the murder of journalists and to demand an end to impunity for their killers.
INSI and other journalist support groups have found than in more than eight out of 10 cases of journalist murder no one is brought to justice. In some countries the prosecution rate is virtually zero.
“The shocking death toll in April brings this issue into even sharper focus,” Pinder said. “Each and every case demonstrates a crying need for action both in the countries concerned and on the world stage. Freedom shrieks whenever a journalist is killed for doing their job.”
The toll of this bloody April includes:
Patient Chibeya, a Congolese journalist shot dead in front of his home by men in military fatigues.
Radio presenter Luis Antonio Chevez Hernandez and journalist Georgino Orellana, gunned down in Honduras. Seven journalists have been slain in Honduras this year.
Edwin Segues, a radio reporter shot in the Philippines – the second reporter murdered there since January.
Latvian publisher Grigorijs Nemcovs, the victim of an apparent contract killing
Malik Arif and Azmatr Ali Bangash, killed by a suicide bomber as they reported on a refugee camp in Pakistan
Nathan Dabat and Sunday Bwade, stabbed by rioters as they covered unrest in Nigeria
Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto, shot in the chest during a clash between troops and demonstrators in Thailand
Metin Alatas, a journalist working for a Kurdish-language newspaper in Turkey, found hanged in a tree
Enrique Villacana Palomares, a kidnapped Mexican columnist, found with his throat cut
Colombia: Mauricio Moreno Medina, a community radio journalist, stabbed to death and Arsenio Zambvrano Ocampo, found in his home, gagged and bound and stabbed 10 times
Most killings this year have taken place in Honduras. Mexico, with six dead, Pakistan with four, and Colombia and Nigeria with three each are the next most murderous nations.
Other countries in INSI’s casualty listings are Nepal and Venezuela with two each and, with one each, Cyprus, Russia, Ecuador, Turkey, Afghanistan, Angola, Yemen, India, Congo, South Africa, Philippines, Latvia, Cameroon, Iraq and Thailand.
“INSI calls on all of the States concerned — and especially Honduras, Mexico, Pakistan, Colombia and Nigeria — to conduct full inquiries into these deaths and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Pinder said.
“We also urge all UN member states, in the spirit of UNESCO’s call for a minute’s silence, to join in a global effort staunch the bloodshed and end impunity for the killers of journalists.”
Full details of all of the deadly incidents are available on the INSI website http://tinyurl.com/yj8hzhn
26 April 2010
Al Jazeera Childrens Channel (JCC) won the Gold award for best medium length film for its production Baghdads Angel at the closing ceremony of the Al Jazeera 6th International Documentary Film Festival.
The 52 minute documentary by Director Rasheed Mashharawi shows the hardship of children in Iraq through the eyes of Hawraa, a 10 old year girl who walks the streets begging support for her family.
As Mashharawi lands in Baghdad on a mission to produce a series of documentaries highlighting the labour of Arab children in December 2008, the war in his homeland Gaza erupts. The film consequently illustrates the tragic similarity between Iraq and Gaza, showing the grave influence of war and conflict on the lives of children.
Mr. Mahmoud Bouneb, JCCs Executive General Manager commented: JCCs has been marking major presence through such works in regional and international film festivals in an attempt to promote and distribute such productions to other broadcasters; although those movies were not produced to primarily broadcast on JCC; however, they highlight the committed editorial policy of the Channel to unveil the issues Arab children are facing in their home countries and around the world.
The Gold award is in recognition of JCCs production strategy in the last few years. With more than 50 films produced in collaboration with Arab and international filmmakers and specialized production houses, JCC has received prestigious prizes like the Ecumenical Prize at the Berlinale this year for Aisheen, a film about the war in Gaza in 2008, and last years Special Jury Award at the Osian Cinefan festival in New Delhi for Wailing Wall. Since 2006, JCC has taken home two Gold and two Silver awards at Al Jazeera International Film Festival.
20 April 2010
AP Global Media Services, the video newsgathering facilities arm of The Associated Press, has announced that it is to build a major new studio and production space in the heart of central London.
The state-of-the-art broadcast facility will comprise five HD compatible studios, two of which will be multi-camera. The studios will overlook many of central Londons most famous and recognisable landmarks. These include Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and the West End theatre district, the City financial district, the London Eye, The Mall and Buckingham Palace. Located in Haymarkets New Zealand House, the studios will also be within walking distance of Leicester Squares red-carpet events, Whitehall and 10 Downing Street.
As well as providing breathtaking views for broadcasters and production companies needing London backdrops, the studios will also provide editing facilities and high-speed fibre transmission links to the APs global satellite and fibre network.
Mr. Alla Salehian, director of AP Global Media Services said, These studios represent a huge investment and vote of confidence in the industry by the AP and highlight its commitment to providing the best facilities for its clients. We believe the studios will quickly become the premier live shot facility in London. Their location and elevation above the London skyline will give clients multiple live backdrops and camera angles. Theres nothing like it and broadcasters and the viewing public will be treated to vistas of central London they have never seen before.
The studios will be fully-operational in time for the United Kingdom general elections on 6th May 2010. The facility will be able to transmit both High-Definition (HD) and Standard-Definition (SD) live video signals to newsrooms worldwide, as well as service the production requirements of clients needing both video editing facilities and immediate access to APs video news, entertainment and sports news content.
Salehian continued, The UK elections are just the beginning. Our plans for broadcaster support include all major London events in the coming years including the 2012 Olympic Games, movie premieres, cultural events, and, possibly, even a Royal wedding or two. Were confident these studios will become the UK base for British and international broadcaster and production companies who want to produce and anchor regular strands or one-offs programmes from London. Furthermore, its ideal for film and entertainment companies and PR firms organising celebrity press junkets, as its just a stones throw from Leicester Square.
AP is working in partnership with the studio design and construction company WTS Broadcast, who will build and maintain the studios, whilst AP will handle all client bookings and enquiries.
20 April 2010
Radio Netherlands Worldwide is launching an extensive, interactive web dossier in seven languages on human rights and political prisoners today: www.rnw.nl/political-prisoners.
The dossier, which focuses on the families of political prisoners, is being launched during the ‘Human Rights & (New) Media’ conference in The Hague. It features a series of film portraits made in cooperation with IDTV.
The ‘Political Prisoners’ dossier is in seven languages. It includes powerful videos, insightful articles and discussions on human rights and political prisoners. In eight film portraits, family members of prisoners from Cuba, Uzbekistan, China, Iran, Eritrea, Indonesia, Azerbaijan and Colombia tell their stories. The web dossier is published in Dutch, English, Spanish, Indonesian, Chinese, Arabic and French.
Radio Netherlands Worldwide Editor-in-Chief Rik Rensen says: “The prisoners in the films are not normally in the spotlight and come, without exception, from regions where there is a lack of freedom of speech and the press. It is in precisely these regions that Radio Netherlands Worldwide is active and their personal stories deserve attention.”
The web dossier focuses mainly on unknown political prisoners. Why are they being held and under what kind of circumstances? How do family members experience the detention of their loved ones, with whom, in some cases, they have not been allowed contact for many years? Radio Netherlands Worldwide provides a platform using social media networks in which family, friends and organisations are able to exchange news and experiences.
13 April 2010
NHK/NHK Educational Corporation, and Al Jazeera Children’s Channel have announced the co-production of the ultimate science entertainment series, which will show the rules of nature through spectacular experiments. Discover Science will give viewers a unique chance to understand science by showing it in action on a massive scale.
Production is being led by NHK Educational Corporation (NED), an NHK affiliate that produces a vast number of programs for NHKs educational channel. NED is well known for childrens programs but also produces a wide range of programs for adults. NEDs expertise in creative visualization will be paired with NHKs latest shooting techniques to yield fascinating ways to visualize scientific phenomena. The production team has made it a rule not to use CGI or talking heads. The visual focus is the experiments, which will be easy for viewers to understand and presented in an entertaining way on a massive scale.
NED and Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC) have enjoyed a fruitful relationship through exchanges of childrens programs since JCC was launched in 2005. The joint development of Discover Science is a response to dwindling interest in science among children in Japan and to JCCs shared need for good science programming for children. The series is intended mainly to rekindle childrens curiosity about science, but it will be enjoyable for a wider audience including people who are already science lovers.
Discover Science is the first series to be co-produced by NHK, NED, and JCC.
NHKs Executive Managing Director, Hidemi Hyuga, said: We respect JCCs commitment to offering high-quality programs to the Arab world. As a public broadcaster with a designated educational channel, NHK shares JCCs goal of enlightening childrens minds through television. I believe Discover Science is a wonderful way to achieve that goal, and I hope it will reach other territories as well. NHK Educational Corporations CEO, Kenichi Murakami, also expressed his enthusiasm: Im thrilled that our relationship with JCC has led to this wonderful project. This is the first major international co-production for NED, and were delighted to be able to contribute our expertise.
Mahmoud Bouneb, the Executive General Manager of Al Jazeera Childrens Channel (JCC), stated: Completing a co-produced scientific program of this scale was not a simple task, and in order to provide children with credible scientific material that is delivered in an impressive and entertaining manner, we chose to co- produce the program with a company that has extensive experience. Bouneb added, Discover Science, which JCC will begin to air in September, is a step in the path to enhancing our production capabilities and diversifying our sources of income and programs making. Bouneb continued by expressing his appreciation and gratitude for the continuous and fruitful cooperation between JCC and its Japanese partner.
The Discover Science series is being produced as 26 editions of 14 minutes each. The completion target is the fall of this year.
