5 October 2009
Radio Netherlands Worldwide is using extra short wave frequencies to provide victims and aid workers in Sumatra with information. RNWs radio broadcasts in Bahasa Indonesia effectively operate as an emergency station in the region struck by the earthquake. In these live broadcasts RNW carries the latest news, up-to-date information and telephone conversations with victims and aid workers.
The extra radio broadcasts started on Friday 2 October between 13.00 and 20.00 hrs Indonesian time. The extra short wave frequencies used by RNW are 7235 kHz, 21480 kHz and 21730 kHz. The broadcasts can also be heard via the website www.ranesi.nl and local Indonesian radio stations, with which RNW is working closely.
RNW expects its extra radio broadcasts will be necessary for at least the next few days. A decision will be taken each day as to whether RNW will continue the emergency broadcasts and in what form.
5 October 2009
Al Jazeera, the world’s first global 24-hour news and current affairs television network, based in the Middle East, is today launching a mobile application called Al Jazeera, which gives access to the channels Arabic and English programs live and on-demand for all users of Symbian or Windows Mobile phones worldwide.
Developed by mobile TV specialist Mobiclip, the Al Jazeera mobile application provides high quality live viewing of the News Channel in English and Arabic as well as Video News Bulletin on demand. The application runs on Wi-Fi, 3G and Edge networks and can be downloaded from http://www.aljazeera.mobiclip.com/.
Phil Lawrie, Director of Global Distribution at Al Jazeera Network commented: This is an exciting new development the launch of a world-class application that will facilitate the viewing of Al Jazeeras English and Arabic channels, and made-for-mobile VOD service, for users around the world. The launch of Mobiclips Al Jazeera app is another initiative that helps us to meet our goal of serving our audience through multiple platform technologies.
André Pagnac, CEO of Mobiclip Inc. adds: “Al Jazeera is one of the most prominent news networks globally and we are proud to deliver to the network the highest standard of service and user experience. The Mobiclip application demonstrates the performance of our global video delivery platform. The billing system is simple and works across various platforms; such as Symbian and Windows Mobile. Through the Mobiclip application we are making Al Jazeera available to millions of mobile phone users worldwide, and this in itself is a major step in digital video distribution.
2 October 2009
Democracy in Mongolia has put pressure on broadcasters to provide balanced, independent news and programmes, an international meeting in Ulaanbaatar heard today.
Naranbaatar Myanganbuu, General Director of Mongolias national broadcaster, MNB, told the ABU Programme Committee that since the democratic revolution in 1989, audiences had become open-minded and interactive, and expected fair, balanced news.
MNB used to be a government mouthpiece to some extent, he said. Therefore our challenges are balanced reporting and editorial independence.
MNB had undergone a few years of major structural change and renewal, he said. Its current challenges were the revision of programme policies and production methods.
News and current affairs programmes had to be brought to international standards. MNB needed to build its capacity in specialised reporting and commentating, and investigative journalism.
Clara Choi of RTHK-Hong Kong chaired the meeting, which reviewed a range of radio and television activities among ABU members. Participants agreed to set up an ABU TV Documentary Working Party to look at new cooperative activities. (Source: ABU website)
2 October 2009
Vizrt announces that the Swedish Parliamentknown as Sveriges Riksdag in Stockholm, Swedenhas chosen a Vizrt digital media asset management (MAM) system to automate the workflow process as part of an overhaul of its Web portal. The portal is designed to provide live and on-demand video of speeches, debates, and other newsworthy events to the Swedish public and media. (A portal is a site that creates a single point of access to information collected from different sources.)
The portals newly automated workflow is based on Vizrts Viz Ardomea digital media asset management system that stores video and provides identifying metadata, converts video files to other formats, and provides editing capabilityalong with other complementary Vizrt products.
Because Viz Ardome automates everything from ingest to delivery, it will save the Parliament countless man-hours needed to prepare and deliver substantial amounts of video, said Parham Azimi, sales manager, media asset management products for Vizrts EMEA region. It also provides instant access to content and metadata, integrates with external information sources, and is easily scalable for future needs.
As video arrives from the Parliaments in-house production facility, the Viz Ardome ingests it, transcodes and transfers it to servers for Web streaming or download, and automatically updates it. Vizrt products also support a parallel content management workflowwhere staff can make creative decisions about the contentsuch as organizing, adding metadata, and editing.
Without this new Viz Ardome-based workflow, the Parliament might have had to scale back their Web portal expansion plans, Azimi said. Vizrt is very excited about this project because it clearly demonstrates how well our products can serve non-traditional environments in addition to broadcasting.
In addition to the companys traditional television broadcast roots, Vizrt products are in use for the display of real-time graphics on scoreboards within soccer stadiums; to drive news media web sites; store massive libraries of video and graphic data for the government and corporations; and to provide one graphical user interface on a single screen for security applications that integrate large amounts of video and graphic information. As one example of a non-broadcast environment, the New York Stock Exchange uses Vizrts Viz Virtual Studio for its NYSE MarkeTrac Live, a virtual set that provides financial reporters and web viewers with live market data for inclusion in financial newscasts.
The Swedish Parliaments current portal is based upon an early version of Viz Ardome. Parliament officials chose the latest Viz Ardome because it allows them to manage more extensive live streaming, video on demand, and searchable archives of virtually unlimited amounts of content. It also lets Swedish news outlets log in, search for video, browse in low-resolution, and even request their video selections be sent directly to their broadcast servers in high resolution and ready for air.
The complementary tools in this Viz Ardome workflow include: Viz Dart and Viz Capture to ingest video feeds, files, and tapes; Viz EasyCut, Viz PreCut, Viz MediaLogger for proxy-based video editing; and Viz VideoEngine, a two-channel multiformat video server. Theres also Viz Adactus, a content delivery platform geared to new media devices.
2 October 2009
euronews, the international multilingual news channel, has announced its first distribution agreement in South Korea. Qrix, a South Korean based multiple system operator, has launched on September 23, 2009, the channel on its IPTV platform that reaches 140 000 subscribers. This new agreement strengthens euronews distribution in Asia. euronews reaches today nearly four million households in Asia and the Pacific Rim region.
On Qrixs IPTV platform, euronews is available in eight languages: Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian, 24 hours a day, on channel 182. Qrixs coverage includes the capital city of Seoul, the local district, Jongno-Gu and Joong-Gu.
1 October 2009
The directors of five leading international broadcasters, including the Voice of America (VOA), released the following statement today at the conclusion of their annual meeting in Berlin, Germany:
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, freedom of speech is still far from being a reality in many countries of the world and journalists have to face ever more sophisticated restrictions preventing them from reporting freely. While, for some of us, multimedia usage has become an almost indispensable part of everyday life, we should not forget that access to free information is still limited to just one third of the world’s population. The global economic downturn has also worsened the situation for many media outlets, especially smaller independent broadcasters.
In light of this, the five largest international broadcasters [VOA, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle (DW), Radio France International (RFI) and Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW)] call on governments worldwide to end restrictions on the media. The directors general of the group call on heads of state to implement Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” The international broadcasters point out that countries’ democratic credentials can be measured to the extent by which they permit freedom of information, and that this, in turn, is essential for a dialogue of cultures and free exchange of ideas to take place.
During the past year, restrictions on media, and in particular on international broadcasters, have peaked during national election campaigns. Tactics have included deliberate interference with transmissions, blocking and denial of service on the Internet, and harassment and imprisonment of journalists, notably in Afghanistan, Burma, and Iran.
Nevertheless, many courageous people in societies around the world are fighting for their right to express themselves and to be heard. Erik Bettermann, director of Deutsche Welle and current chair of the international broadcasters’ group, said, “We are impressed by the ingenuity and energy shown by audiences worldwide in using new digital media to facilitate cross-border communication. Their eyewitness accounts of events (many of which their own governments would prefer to go unreported), often accompanied by audio and visual material, have marked the beginning of a new era in communications, one from which we, as international broadcasters, can also benefit, supplementing our own coverage with authentic accounts supplied by citizens in the world’s conflict zones keen to see the story told.”
Some countries have extended restrictive regulations beyond broadcasting to the Internet and emerging new media, further limiting access to information. Authoritarian nations without the technical wherewithal to block or eliminate new media dissemination are resorting to traditional methods of repression and intimidation expensive lawsuits, long prison terms, confiscation of property to restrict the flow of news, both local and international.
Prior to the Berlin meeting, Reporters Without Borders, an international press freedom advocate, issued a press release expressing concern about reports “that Internet Service Providers in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have installed a new filtering software called Landun (Blue Shield or Blue Dam in English) that is more powerful than its problematic predecessor Green Dam.” As a result, the report said, “Access to independent news websites is liable to become more difficult and more risky.”
Today, journalism must still be regarded as one of the world’s riskiest livelihoods. “Over the past year, hundreds of journalists worldwide – including some from our organizations – have been harassed, arrested, exiled, kidnapped or killed,” the group pointed out.
“This only strengthens our resolve to jointly increase our efforts to set up a global civil society, where the free flow of information and the dialogue of cultures can take place unimpeded,” Bettermann said.
