VOA Urdu shortwave is restored. VOA Urdu (Radio Aap kee Dunyaa) has been given back the shortwave transmissions that were dropped on 31 December. They are 0100-0200 UTC on 9520 and 9820 kHz, and 1400-1500 UTC on 7440 and 9390 kHz, according to this schedule. These are in addition to medium wave 972 and 1539 kHz (via relays outside of Pakistan) at 1400-0200 UTC. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 09 Jan 2009 Permalink

CNN invites bloggers to submit "Dear Davos" questions. "From January 28 to February 1 CNN will be broadcasting live and reporting online from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as the world's leading powerbrokers and moneymakers gather to discuss the state of the world in 2009. ... As part of this year's 'Dear Davos' coverage, CNN is inviting a selection of influential bloggers to submit their questions to be put to our guests during our daily coverage. If you are blogger and would like to participate please send us details of your blog and the question you would like to ask." CNN, 9 January 2009. Posted: 09 Jan 2009 Permalink

Malaysian TV host's international TV picks. "Making her debut as a talk show host in Point of View today, ntv7 journalist Florence Looi believes Malaysian viewers are more than ready for such lively debates on the small screen, and is raring to go. ... 'We strive to keep a balance between the no-holds-barred style of BBC’s Hardtalk and the low-key style of most current affairs programmes.' ... Looi counts Hardtalk as her favourite talk show, admiring host Tim Sebastian’s hard-hitting style. She is also a fan of Larry King of CNN and Bernard Lo of Bloomberg Television Asia. 'Al-Jazeera talk shows Witness and Listening Post are great too,' she added." New Straits Times, 8 January 2009. Posted: 09 Jan 2009 Permalink

Say what you will about Russia Today, they do good hockey interviews. "Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin recently sat down with Russia Today for an interview that covers a lot of ground." Greg Wyshynski, Yahoo! Puck Daddy, 8 January 2009.
     "If you didn't see Greg Wyshynski's post yesterday on Ovechkin and his interview with Russia Today, stop, go here and watch the video. Great stuff." Tarik El-Bashir, Washington Post, 9 January 2009.
     "For a while now, it's been rather apparent that Russian hockey players tend to open up a bit more with the Russian press than with their North American counterparts. Case in point, this interview that Ovechkin did with Russia Today, the English language satellite television channel. Granted, you need to keep in mind that Russia Today is owned by the state operated news agency, RIA-Novost, but for soft interviews like this one you could probably discount that." Eric McErlain, AOL Sports Fanhouse, 8 January 2009. Posted: 09 Jan 2009 Permalink

BBC fights Iranian propaganda with anti-VOA propaganda. "Tehran views the impending BBC Persian TV with hostility, but the World Service argues that it is simply modernising, evolving from its 68- year-old radio service that will, in the words of Nigel Chapman, who heads the World Service, 'give people in Iran access to a wide range of views'. That simple statement ignores any political ramifications. For a start, the BBC is launching without permission. A spokesman at the Iranian Embassy in London summed up the mood bluntly: 'We believe this service to be illegal.' The channel will be beamed into the country via two satellites (two are considered necessary in case the BBC is forced off air from one of them). ... With 40 per cent of Iran's 70 million people estimated to have access to a satellite connection, it will certainly be possible to watch BBC Persian. Mr Chapman says: 'We will be able to provide coverage of events that have never been seen before in Iran -- like the inauguration of Barack Obama. Voice of America does not do set pieces like that, and Iranian television won't touch it either, at least not until much later on in the day.'" The Times (of London), 9 January 2009.
     BBC Persian executive editor Steve Williams told UK trade magazine Broadcast that Iranians "have seen the Voice of America [in Persian] which is blatantly neo-con. The general tone is incredibly critical and slanted against the government. They will see that we're not an overtly regime-change channel so I think they will relax a bit – probably not before the [June] election, but we'll see where we are beyond that." Broadcast, 8 January 2009.
     "BBC execs hope the new channel will be more successful than its BBC Arabic channel, launched last March. It has found it difficult to dislodge market leaders Al-Jazeera, based in Qatar, and MBC’s Al-Arabiya, Saudi-owned but based in Dubai. BBC Persian TV hopes to exploit a potentially big gap in the market. Iranian auds have a limited choice of tightly controlled state channels, the U.S.-funded Voice of America and a clutch of U.S.-based satcasters that beam a mix of musicvids and anti-regime rhetoric. 'We didn’t have the same range of opportunity with Arab TV,' Chapman said. 'There’s a bigger playing field for the Persian channel. There’s no Al-Jazeera or Al-Arabiya available in Persian.' ... The Persian-speaking market has become increasingly attractive to TV execs, thanks to its large, well-educated, youthful market. News Corp.’s Asian entertainment unit Star is set to launch a Farsi-language general entertainment TV channel early this year. Targeting a Middle East audience, the company will set up a sales and marketing office in Dubai Media City, the base of its Middle East operations." Variety International, 8 January 2009.
     "Speaking of Iran's reaction to the channel BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman said he was optimistic there would eventually be co-operation between the two." Brand Republic, 9 January 2009.
     "Behrouz Afagh, head of the BBC World Service's Asia and Pacific region, said the new service 'is contemporary in its style, and independent and penetrating in its journalism'. He added that it would give 'an opportunity for Persian speakers worldwide to debate common issues, bring to the foreground diverging viewpoints, and promote greater understanding through dialogue.'" AFP, 8 January 2009.
     Just for the record, yes, VOA, including VOA Persian, will cover the Obama inauguration. Nigel Chapman, outgoing (perhaps not quickly enough) director of BBC World Service has a history of making audacious statements about U.S. international broadcasting. See previous posts on 21 December 2007 and 25 April 2008. Expect responses from VOA in the British press. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 09 Jan 2009 Permalink

Gaza media update for 8 January 2009. "Israel's onslaught on Gaza has taken over the screens of the two main Arab news channels, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, but each with its own perspective on objectivity and the airing of disturbing footage. ... To some, [Al Jazeera Arabic] may seem pro-Palestinian in its coverage by describing the dead as 'martyrs'. ... On the other hand, the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya has struck a markedly different tone in its continuous 'Gaza Invasion' coverage. The Saudi-owned station refrains from using the term 'martyrs' in news bulletins, referring to Palestinian fatalities as 'killed' or 'victims', although its correspondents do tend to use the term 'martyrs.' ... Al-Jazeera English, the news channel which launched in 2006, does not follow the policy of its Arabic-language sister, refraining from terms like 'martyrs'." AFP, 8 January 2009.
     National Public Radio interviews "Ayman Mohyeldin, a television reporter for Al-Jazeera English, has been in Gaza since the Israeli air strikes began." NPR, 8 January 2009.
     "Every day the carnage unfolds on CNN-International (different from CNN-US --the United States is the only country in the world with domestically customized international news coverage)." Anna Baltzer, OpEdNews.com, 7 January 2009.
     "On television, the war being viewed by Israelis is a sterile affair, at least compared with the daily images of graphic bloodshed broadcast by Arab satellite news channels. Much like their American counterparts, Israeli channels shy away from showing excessive gore. ... Instead, Israeli coverage focuses on soldiers and their families -- an emotional issue in a tiny country with mandatory military service and thousands of reservists in combat." Los Angeles Times, 8 January 2009.
     "As part of their military campaign in Gaza, Israeli forces seem to be targeting Hamas-affiliated media outlets, a practice that is of concern to CPJ. The Hamas-run broadcaster Al-Aqsa television was bombed on December 28, and then on January 5, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) appear to have hit the newsweekly Al-Risala as well its commercial printer. Fortunately, no one was killed in any of these attacks." Joel Simon, Committee to Protect Journalists blog, 7 January 2009.
     "A couple of days ago, CNN's anchor Campbell Brown complained that her network was trying to report as accurately as possible on the fighting in Gaza but can't because CNN has no reporters on the ground who can bring you first-hand information about what is taking place. The reason, she explained, 'we have no reporters on the ground in Gaza is because Israel will not allow foreign journalists into Gaza.' She went on to say, 'Much of the information coming out of Gaza is impossible to verify and many of the images you see on television are provided by Hamas.' This is total nonsense! There are more than a dozen television stations that still operate out of Gaza. For the past several years, Arab satellite networks have dispatched news reports out of Gaza almost on a daily basis. Leading Arab satellite networks all have offices and reporters in Gaza, such as, Al Jazeera (Arabic and English), Al Arabiya TV, Dubai TV, Nile TV, Abu Dhabi TV, to name a few." Jamal Dajani, Huffington Post, 8 January 2009.
     "While the Western media reported from outside Gaza, Arab television crews have been inside and many of the correspondents are themselves Gazans." The Telegraph, 7 January 2009.
     "Martin Savidge speaks with two Worldfocus producers about their background and knowledge of international media. Mohammad al-Kassim is a Palestinian-American raised in Jerusalem and Yuval Lion is an Israeli citizen who has family remaining in Israel." Worldfocus, 6 January 2009.
     "An Israeli spokesman said media coverage of the Gaza operation has been 'relatively fair.' In a briefing for reporters from the Jewish press, Israeli Embassy director of public affairs Rafael Harpaz added that 'what we would like to see more of is the suffering of the Israeli people' in the coverage." Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 7 January 2009.
     "Even as Israel's armor and foot soldiers push into the Gaza Strip in an effort to stop militants from launching rockets into Israel, the war is also being waged with psychological operations designed to sap morale on both sides. Over at Islamic Jihad's Voice of Jerusalem radio station in Gaza City, broadcaster Kamal Abu Nasser said that at least once an hour, the Israeli military breaks into his signal and broadcasts messages blaming Hamas for everyone's problems. Hamas, for its part, said it has broadcast messages on Israeli military walkie talkies threatening to kidnap and kill Israeli soldiers. The army said it had no information on such transmissions." AP, 7 January 2009.
     "The Israeli effort tends to operate on two levels - it deploys arguments to justify its strategy and tactics but it also gets into detail on individual cases, such as the attack on the school in Gaza on Wednesday. Hamas often relies on generalised statements. It routinely denies claims against it, such as hiding weapons in mosques or using schools or even ambulances as cover. It sometimes acts as if there was a greater truth to be put over, which goes beyond the detail of some contested incident." Paul Reynolds, BBC News, 8 January 2009.
     "I frequently get asked by Israelis, 'why aren't we winning the PR war? Why don't people understand that this is what we have to do?' Many are convinced that there is something wrong with Israeli hasbara (public advocacy), that the spokespeople aren't effective enough, or that the Palestinians have a huge and demonically efficient propaganda machine. When I hear this I have to explain that Israeli hasbara is so sophisticated that there is still no adequate word for it in English; that some of Israel's spokespeople could talk the hind legs off a donkey and then persuade the donkey to dance the hora, and that the Palestinians barely even know what a spokesman is, let alone be able to provide one who is available when he needs to be and knows anything about what is actually going on." Gideon Lichfield, Ha'aretz, 8 January 2009.
     "The Israel Project, a 'non profit, non partisan organisation impacting world opinion to help achieve security and peace for Israel' sends daily emails and provides booklets absolutely packed with the mobile phone numbers for almost every municipal, police, and hospital official within range of Hamas rockets, even the mobile numbers of countless ordinary residents. These are all legitimate practices, and most governments would do the same. And having easy access to government and military spokesmen and women is always to be welcomed. But so long as foreign journalists aren't allowed into Gaza - and therefore have to remain within the sphere of Israel's careful news management system - journalists working in the field need to be careful about maintaining their independence of judgement." Tony Connelly, RTÉ News, 7 January 2009.
     "ABC, CBS and NBC haven't sent their top news anchors to the Middle East to cover Israel's conflict with Hamas, even though each network did so in 2006 when Israel fought a war with Hezbollah. The networks said their decisions had nothing to do with economics, even though it comes at a difficult time when the news divisions are making retrenchments in overseas coverage. Rather, they said it had more to do with a busy news period and restrictions placed on coverage of the fighting." AP, 8 January 2009.
     "The [Hamas] strategy is as simple as it is cynical: Provoke Israel by playing Russian roulette with its children, firing rockets at kindergartens, playgrounds and hospitals; hide behind its own civilians when firing at Israeli civilians; refuse to build bunkers for its own civilians; have TV cameras ready to transmit every image of dead Palestinians, especially children; exaggerate the number of civilians killed... . Hamas itself has a name for this. They call it 'the CNN strategy' (this is not to criticize CNN or any other objective news source for doing its job; it is to criticize Hamas for exploiting the freedom of press which it forbids in Gaza). The CNN strategy is working because decent people all over the world are naturally sickened by images of dead and injured children." Alan M. Dershowitz, National Post, 7 January 2009.
     "BBC video journalist, Andrew Herbert, was the first international journalist to enter Gaza since the Israeli offensive began. He was given permission to film with the Givati infantry unit of the Israeli army as they pushed into the heart of the Gaza strip." BBC News, 7 January 2009.
     "The BBC has received more than 1,000 complaints about its coverage of the Gaza conflict – but they are evenly split between accusations of bias towards either the Israelis or the Palestinians." Broadcast, 7 January 2009.
     "Disruptions continue in the functioning of Hamas's propaganda apparatus. The Palestine-info website, its main portal, could not be accessed on January 6. The Hamas newspapers, Felesteen and Al-Risala , have stopped publication. Al-Aqsa TV 's website operates only partially. On the other hand, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades website could be accessed as of January 6 after several days of inactivity. According to its homepage, it was attacked by 'Zionist hackers' as part of Israel's 'propaganda war.' Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV, which broadcasts anti-Israeli and anti-Western propaganda and incitement, announced it would begin transmitting via the European Eurobird satellite. The corporation running the satellite company has its main offices in Paris. Al-Jazeera TV continues providing strategic support for Hamas's faltering propaganda apparatus. It broadcasts Al-Aqsa TV videos and provides a platform for Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida. It continues extensively broadcasting pictures of the bodies of women and children, reports only on civilian casualties (ignoring those of terrorist operatives), and broadcasts emotional protest demonstrations from the Muslim world. It also broadcasts Hamas's lies regarding the 'blow' the 'resistance' (i.e., the terrorist organizations) has dealt to the IDF, which it claims 'slaughters civilians' and does not achieve anything by its military action." Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center, 6 January 2009. See also op. cit., 7 January 2009.
     "Everyone from the kid with a mobile phone taking a picture, to the university student blogger can make his or her assertion. However, this new and all-inclusive front of the Arab-Israeli conflict means that the discourse is also being overrun with credibility issues and superficiality. The substance of the debate has degenerated into a competition of who can produce more, at a faster pace, with more flash and imagery than the other side. ... Another tactic being used in the debate is 'Google Bombing', or the organized attempt to skew Google search returns by inundating the blogosphere to links of a particular site or message." Jared Cohen, Huffington Post, 9 January 2009.
     "Extremists have launched a cyber attack against an online Basingstoke radio station – replacing website pages with terrorist propaganda. Hampshire Constabulary is investigating the targeting of Radio Basingstoke’s site after web pages were defaced with sinister images and messages by someone claiming to be a 'Soldier of Allah' and 'M03sl3mH4ck3rs'." Basingstroke Gazette, 8 January 2009.
     "Cyberwar is not just a distant concept anymore. Every recent armed or political conflict has been accompanied or followed by Internet-based attacks spreading propaganda or targeting vital infrastructure. The Israel – Hamas conflict in Gaza makes no exception to this rule, and has attracted what looks like a massive wave of hacking incidents affecting both sides." Softpedia, 7 January 2009.
     "Throughout the day we got numerous emails that contain a link to the 'spoofed' CNN web site hosting malware file Adobe_Player10.exe. ... The web site that opens, spoofs CNN news article on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict." Infosec World, 8 January 2009.
     More Gaza-related items can be found at John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 09 Jan 2009 Permalink

Azerbaijan foreign radio ban still in the news (updated). "The National Independence Party of Azerbaijan condemns the decision by the National Television and Radio Council about closure of foreign radio stations." Today.Az, 6 January 2009.
     "The Democratic Party of Azerbaijan ... assessed this step as a restriction of access to alternative information. The party considers that such a fact may lead to the crisis of information in 2009." Today.Az, 6 January 2009.
     "Azerbaijan National Broadcasting Council has not received respond from foreign radio stations on its proposals. The Council informed that it has not received any requests from foreign radio stations on broadcasting in cable networks." ABC.az, 5 January 2009.
     "An oil-rich dictator assiduously cultivated by Prince Andrew with Foreign Office support has rewarded Britain by pulling the plug on BBC broadcasts to his authoritarian state." Daily Mail, 5 January 2009.
     "RFE/RL argues that the change had more to do with its critical stance than with legal reform, and says that shrinking access to news and pressure on the media is becoming commonplace throughout the countries of the former Soviet Union." International Herald Tribune, 6 January 2009.
     "Media-watchers in Central Asia say 2008 was a period of stagnation, with many of the remaining independent press, broadcast and internet outlets under mounting pressure from national governments." Institute for War & Peace Reporting, 5 Januaty 2009.
     Update: “'Radio Liberty, Voice of America and BBC should request the National TV and Radio Broadcasting Council (NTRBC) to receive permission for airing at the short waves', Aflatun Sharifov, Director General of the Broadcasting and Satellite Production Association of the Ministry of Communication and Information Technologies, told APA. Sharifov said after that NTRBC would permit them, the State Radiofrequency Office would provide those radio stations with concrete waves." Azeri Press Agency, 7 January 2009. We're losing something in the translation, but I think this is a suggestion that RFE/RL, VOA, and BBC hire time on shortwave transmitters inside Azerbaijan, which, unlike FM and medium wave, are apparently not subject to the froegn radio ban. The problem is that Azerbaijanis, like people in other countries, have been spoiled by FM, and most probably would not revert to shortwave listening. Furthermore, shortwave propagates better over long distances, so relays in other countries might provide better service than transmitters inside Azerbaijan. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

Zimbabwe: does the administration fee have an administration fee? "The Zimbabwean government has announced restrictive licensing fees for foreign journalists working in the country, demanding they pay an annual fee of $4,000 to practice journalism. In addition foreign media groups must pay $10,000 for the application and $20,000 for accreditation, payable only in foreign currency, the government-controlled Media and Information Commission said Wednesday. An administration fee of $2,000 is necessary for the permit. ... Most Western media organizations including CNN are banned from Zimbabwe. Those that do still operate there including Reuters, The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Al Jazeera would have to pay the fee if they wanted to report from the country." CNN, 8 January 2009. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

TF1 asked €90 million, gets €2 million for its share of France 24. "France's leading private broadcaster TF1 confirmed on Wednesday a draft deal to sell its 50 percent stake in rolling news channel France 24, launched in December 2006 with the aim of becoming the 'French CNN.' TF1 said in a statement it is in talks to sell the stake to Audiovisuel Exterier de la France, a state media holding company, for 2 million euros, confirming a sum named by the holding company's head Alain de Pouzilhac in a press interview. De Pouzilhac ... told the Liberation newspaper in December that TF1 had originally hoped to get 90 million euros for its half of the channel, which broadcasts news around the clock, mainly in French and English." Reuters, 7 January 2009. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

"Potential purchasers" for Worldspace (updated). "Tomorrow, Jan 6, a hearing will take place in the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to decide the date when an auction of Worldspace’s assets might take place, and to grant Worldspace another slice of operational cash as ‘Debtor in Possession’. The Court was told on Dec 30 that a number of potential bidders are conducting due diligence in preparation of bids for Worldspace’s assets. Worldspace is 'in discussions with a number of potential purchasers' said a Court affidavit submitted on Dec 30." Rapid TV News, 4 January 2009.
     Update: "On January 6 the Delaware Bankruptcy Court confirmed that the deadline for bids for Worldspace’s assets must be submitted by Jan 21. The formal auction for the company’s assets will commence on Jan 26. Judge Peter J Walsh ruled that an extra 14 days be granted to give all potential bidders the extra time needed to conduct due diligence enquiries at Worldspace. We can confirm that Ondas Media, itself busy putting together its own plans for European satellite radio, is not interested in any Worldspace assets." Rapid TV News, 7 January 2009. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

Another recommendation for Livestation. "Want to see first-hand reporting from Gaza? Al-Jazeera’s team was there before journalists were banned. Want to watch English-language TV news from Pakistan, India, Iran, Russia, Korea? Want to watch Hezbollah TV without your provider going to prison? ... A new application called LiveStation allows you to watch thousands of different channels on your PC for free, in very high quality." Eric Garris, Antiwar.com blog, 7 January 2009. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

CNN International sponsors golf tournament on Al Jazeera's home turf. "For a third consecutive year, CNN International - the world's news leader - will showcase Qatar to a world-wide audience in its role as Global Media Sponsor for the Commercialbank Qatar Masters [golf tournament], presented by Dolphin Energy. ... 'For a global brand such as CNN International to commit to supporting events like ours we know we have to deliver a tournament beyond reproach. The very fact that our relationship continues to blossom is good news not just for the golf tournament but also for Qatar as a whole.'" AME Info, 8 January 2009. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

Kuwait decides negative news from Kuwaiti newspapers is better than negative news from Al Jazeera. "With a staple diet of five Arabic newspapers for more than 40 years, readers in Kuwait always knew what to expect. But since a new law ushered in another 10, with more on the way, Kuwaitis are now picking from the Gulf’s most politically diverse press with a wall full of news in every corner shop. ... Ali al Kandari, an assistant professor in the department of mass communications at the Gulf University for Science and Technology, said the government had [to] let Kuwaitis take control of their own press. 'Al Jazeera started to report Kuwait in negative terms, so they thought letting other nations talk about our business might not be good.'" James Calderwood, The National (Abu Dhabi), 8 January 2009. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

Hungary will compare RFE recordings from 1989. "The Budapest-based Open Society Archives (OSA) and MTI [Hungarian news agency] will jointly publish a vast array of transcripts and recordings to mark the 20th anniversary of the change of political system in 1989. ... From MTI's archives, OSA will upload transcripts of the agency's radio monitoring service, including reports and commentaries by the BBC and Radio Free Europe from 1989. MTI plans to publish the same content on its website from February. The idea is to show two opposing sources in a parallel. For instance, the recordings and transcripts of Radio Free Europe and Hungarian state Kossuth Radio's broadcasts will be compared to MTI's records of Radio Free Europe broadcasts." MTI, 8 January 2009. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

Shortwave versus rumor in the USSR. Soviet residents of the 1970s "began to oppose state socialism because they were aware that their living standard was lower than that of advanced countries. They had two main ways of learning about living conditions in developed countries. First, propaganda was effective. Many Soviet citizens turned on their short-wave radios every evening to listen to news they were unable to access through the domestic media. However, many believed that foreign radio networks, like their local counterparts, were distorting facts as part of psychological warfare. What was more influential still was rumor. Stories provided by people who had been abroad, experiences of contacts with foreigners and impressions gained from watching foreign films and reading foreign magazines proved what living standards in advanced countries were like." Andrei Lankov, Chosun Ilbo, 8 January 2009. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

BBC Persian TV starts 14 January. "BBC World Service announces today (8 January 2009) that its Persian language television channel will launch on Wednesday 14 January. BBC Persian TV will form part of the BBC's multimedia news and information service for Persian-speakers in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and around the globe. BBC Persian is designed to reach audiences on radio, television, the internet, mobile phones and handheld computers in whatever way best suits the audience." BBC World Service press release, 8 January 2009.
     "It is aiming to fill a huge gap in the market between the strictly controlled Iranian media on the one hand and the US-funded Voice of America and exile channels beaming light entertainment and anti-regime propaganda on the other. But the authorities in Tehran appear deeply alarmed about the impact of what they call this 'suspicious and illegal channel working against the interests of the Islamic republic'." Ian Black, The Guardian, 8 January 2009. VOA will want to respond about the "anti-regime propaganda."
     "BBC Persian, which will go on air next week, will be used by British intelligence for "espionage and psychological warfare", according to Iranian officials. The channel, which has a £15 million budget and 140 staff, will broadcast news and features in Persian into Iran to anyone with a satellite dish. Although they are officially banned in Iran, most middle class homes have satellite dishes and the regime has generally given up enforcing its draconian rule. But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime described the new channel as 'suspicious and illegal' and 'working against the interests of the Islamic republic'. Viewers were warned to avoid the 'lie-spreading' network. ... The BBC has a long-running Persian radio service and a Persian website, but the satellite channel will reach a far wider audience." The Telegraph, 8 January 2009. Television might "reach a far wider audience," but it is easier to block than shortwave radio.
     "The BBC has said that viewers of its new Persian language television channel in Iran will have to decide for themselves whether it is safe enough for them to interact with it when it launches next week. BBC Persian, which will be run by the BBC World Service, is officially illegal in Iran and authorities in Iran have denied the free-to-air satellite channel clearance to have a presence in the country." The Guardian, 8 January 2009.
     Outgoing BBC World Service director Nigel Chapman: "'No one's ever successfully managed to block access to 20 million people. There's been attempts in the past and the authorities occasionally have crackdowns on the possession of a dish but the facts are that if you go to Tehran and you go to other cities in Iran they're everywhere.' Chapman said the channel would report a broad range of views from Iran - including that of government officials and dissident groups. 'In the end it's up to them [the government] but the door is genuinely open to them,' Chapman said. 'It's not in our interests for our journalism to be partial and selective. The audience is not stupid.' He added: 'If the president of Iran would like to do an interview with this channel we would be more than very pleased. I think it would be quite a scoop for the channel. But I think on balance it would be quite unlikely.'" Press Gazette, 8 January 2009.
     "£15m a year to give Iran a BBC channel it doesn't even want." Daily Mail, 8 January 2009. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

Venezuelan broadcast satellite starts service on 10 January. "Venezuela will make its first radio and television transmission through the Simon Bolivar satellite on January 10, announced the minister of science and technology, Nuris Orihuela. The official pointed out that that day transmission by radio and television will be done by the first Venezuelan satellite, its control of VENESAT-1 Simon Bolivar, launched from China last October." Prensa Latina, 6 January 2009. "The satellite Simon Bolivar will grant reliable services from Mexico's southern area to the middle of Argentina and Chile, covering Central America and the Caribbean." Prensa Latina, 6 January 2009. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

Latin Americans follow the Gaza fighting. "Here's what surprised me the most during a weeklong vacation in Argentina and Uruguay: People seem to be following the Middle Eastern conflict in Gaza much more closely -- and passionately -- than in the United States. ... On television, the Israeli attack on the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza after the group's constant rocket attacks is the focus of debates, with most voices criticizing Israel. Hamas, which the United States and the European Union officially consider a sponsor of terrorism , is often not identified as such in the South American media. ... The region's involvement in Middle Eastern politics has intensified since 2006, when Chávez first hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad has since returned to Venezuela, and has also visited Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia, in addition to receiving other Latin American presidents in Tehran. Ahmadinejad signed several economic and political agreements, including plans to finance new pro-government television and radio stations in Bolivia and other Latin American countries. ... Emilio Cardenas, a former Argentine ambassador to the United Nations, says Iran and Venezuela are benefiting from stirring up anti-Israeli sentiment in the region. When the Venezuelan government-financed regional Telesur television station feeds free footage of Palestinian children hit by Israeli bombs to Argentine and other Latin American television stations, the not-so-subliminal message is that Washington is backing an atrocity, Cardenas said." Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald, 8 January 2009.
     "Opposition to Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip is heating up throughout Latin America. ... Televised images of the carnage have been shown throughout Latin America, especially on Telesur, the regionwide television network financed by the Venezuelan government." McClatchy Newspapers, 7 January 2009. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

Gaza media update for 7 January 2009. "Al Jazeera has introduced and Interactive Map that will provide Internet users a valuable online resource that will be updated from time to time as incidents occur in and around Gaza. The map is also used for citizen reporting. Livestation, a free high-quality online platform accessible to people around the world enables viewers to join the interactive chatroom on Livestation to discuss the war. Using Twitter, the global online social messaging utility, Al Jazeera is providing live reporting of the developments in Gaza." The Peninsula (Doha), 6 January 2009. See also AME Info, 6 January 2009.
     "If the Israeli consulate were truly interested in having a thoughtful, democratized Web-based conversation with the global public, you’d think they’d have at least held their press conference as a Web chat—or a similar forum that, while affording widespread participation, also affords the sharing of nuanced information and the provision of necessary context. A forum, in short, that allows for answers to people’s questions that are as long as they need to be. But hosting a Web chat wouldn’t provide the PR coup that 'the world’s first Twittered press conference!' did. Media critics looking for their requisite new angle wouldn’t have found one in a tired old Web-chatted conference. Twitter, on the other hand, is so now—a topic mainstream journalists are eager to write about, a topic many audiences are eager to read about. So what the Twittered conference lacked in substance, it made up for in publicity for the Israeli perspective in the Gaza conflict." Megan Garber, Columbia Journalism Review, 5 January 2009.
     "Israel posted video of its attacks on militants firing rockets over the past five days on a new YouTube channel to try to show the world the threat against it. YouTube temporarily yanked the clips on Tuesday after viewers, apparently supporters of Hamas, flagged it as objectionable and asked that it be taken down. The video-sharing Web site restored the video a few hours later, labeling it inappropriate for minors. Supporters of Gaza’s Hamas rulers, meanwhile, have posted images of the devastating Israeli offensive on both YouTube and Facebook and on blogs, uploading images of the carnage and suffering in the tiny seaside territory." AP, 5 January 2009.
     "Israeli site Ynetnews, the English version of the major daily Yedioth Ahronoth, was hacked this morning by Pro-Palestinian cyberactivists. Is the Gaza conflict to be the centre of a hackers' war?" France 24 The Observers, 2 January 2009.
     "More than 10,000 websites have been defaced or compromised by hackers in an effort to show their pro-Palestinian support during the ongoing Gaza Strip conflict. Though the campaign to attack websites with anti-Israeli and anti-American messages was first reported last week, the number of infected sites has significantly increased since the weekend, including some high-profile Israel-based sites, SCMagazineus.com reports. Gary Warner, director of research in computer forensics at the University of Alabama, told the news provider a hacker named ColdZ3ro runs an Arabic language hacking school and has claimed responsibility for thousands of website defacements, which suggests this may only be the beginning." MX Logic, 6 January 2009. See also SC Magazine, 5 January 2009.
     "For the past year, two men — one Israeli, one Palestinian — have been blogging about their lives on opposite sides of the Israeli-Gaza border. Israeli Eric Yellin calls himself Hope Man. The Palestinian, who does not give his real name because of safety concerns, goes by Peace Man." National Public Radio, 6 January 2009.
     "BBC’s coverage of Gaza is a national disgrace. Given that such propaganda will invariably incite people to hatred, hysteria and even violence, the case for Parliament debating the BBC’s performance is overwhelming." Melanie Phillips, The Spectator, 6 January 2009.
     "A spokesman for the BBC said: “Clearly this is a conflict that some people hold passionate views about, which they are willing to express in strong terms. However, we are satisfied that the BBC’s coverage of the on-going events in Gaza and Israel is balanced, fair, accurate and impartial. In our reports, we have tried to explain how the current situation started and has since developed.'" Birmingham Post, 7 January 2009.
     "In this war, the Israeli narrative is dominant in the international media. The impressive Israeli PR apparatus was well-prepared before the air assault began, with many media experts recruited, and they have devised a range of new 'weapons'. Probably the most visible has been the number of Arabic-speaking Israeli spokespeople appearing on Arabic satellite channels to put the Israeli point of view. ... The problem with the rhetoric used by Hamas and its allies is that it endorses the negative image created by the Israelis." Abeer Najjar, The National (Abu Dhabi), 7 January 2009.
     "Israel’s diplomats know that if journalists are given a choice between covering death and covering context, death wins. So in a war that they consider necessary but poorly understood, they have decided to keep the news media far away from the death." Ethan Bronner, New York Times, 6 January 2009.
     "Khezir Shahin reporter of the Al-alam international News Network was taken in custody by the Israeli forces on Gaza Strip on Monday, the network reported Tuesday." Press TV, 6 January 2009.
     Mark Phillips "is a seasoned, London-based reporter. But he is also—thanks to the thinly spread news-gathering operations at CBS News—the lead reporter on most of the network’s stories in Israel. It’s a beat that spans more than 2,200 miles. On that chilly night a few days after Christmas, Mr. Phillips was standing on the roof of a commercial office building in central Tel Aviv that houses a number of media companies, including CBS’s Tel Aviv bureau, its largest outpost in the Middle East. Recently, on the eve of the outbreak of war in Gaza, the bureau got a lot smaller. In mid-December, CBS News executives broke some bad news to the employees at the bureau. Like seemingly everyone else in the media world, CBS News was undergoing some end-of-the-year cost cutting. Tel Aviv bureau chief Gaby Silon, cameraman Chris Albert—plus one editor-technician and one researcher-producer based in the West Bank—would be keeping their jobs. Everyone else was being let go." Felix Gillette, The New York Observer, 6 January 2009.
     "Following Al Jazeera on Twitter, one encounters the claim they are 'the only international broadcasting organization with correspondents based in Gaza.'" Jason Lee Miller, WebProNews, 6 January 2009.
     "Like all of the networks, Al Jazeera gives constant hard-hitting interviews with politicians and analysts from Israel, the West Bank, and the rest of the Arab world. But while others can only balance pundits with more pundits, Al Jazeera has been taking the viewer to the scene to weigh the words of politicians against the reality on the ground. ... Meanwhile, the world's only live coverage of the tragedy is kept away from American eyes. While Al Jazeera English competes with CNN and BBC as one of the largest networks in the world, no major American cable provider has been willing to carry the channel since it launched in 2006. Some say cable providers are squeamish about working with a channel popularly perceived in the United States as giving airtime to terrorists. But Al Jazeera is finding its way around the problem. Today, Americans hungry for inside coverage of Gaza can download Livestation, a free program that will let viewers watch Al Jazeera English among other international networks." Shane Bauer, New American Media, 6 January 2009.
     "'The very powerful images of what's happening to civilians in Gaza must be having a greater impact than seeing Israeli spokesmen talking about the war on terror.'" Prof. Charles Tripp quoted by AFP, 7 January 2009.
     More Gaza-related items can be found at John Brown's Public Diplomacy Press and Blog Review. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 08 Jan 2009 Permalink

VOA correspondent among five detained in Gabon. "Five anti-corruption campaigners in Gabon were arrested just before New Year and are being detained in harsh conditions on unknown charges, non-governmental organisations in France said on Tuesday. ... Nine French NGOs said the five Gabonese campaigners were arrested on Dec. 30 and 31 and have been held since then without access to their lawyers and without being told what are the charges against them. ... Gabon's Interior Minister Andre Obame declined to answer reporters' questions on Monday about the reason for the arrests. Some weeks ago Obame appeared on state TV in Gabon and accused one of the detainees, Marc Ona, head of the local branch of Publish What You Pay and correspondent for U.S. state-backed radio Voice of America, of being politically motivated." Reuters, 6 January 2009. Posted: 07 Jan 2009 Permalink

Russia is less hospitable to foreign stations on its FM dial. "Zima’s TV-1 is one of dozens of broadcasters that have fallen afoul of authorities in Russia and Central Asia recently and that happen to air RFE/RL programming. Three years ago, the broadcaster’s offerings could be found on 30 stations in Russia. The number of regional partners is down to two, according to Maria Klein, director of the RFE/RL Russian Service. The crackdown has been focused on regions outside Moscow. ... 'The Soviet authorities used to jam Radio Liberty and the Voice of America. Now, they actually revert to jamming, but using different, quite legal tools. They are creating a certain information climate in the provinces, while all independent information has been channeled to the Internet,' said Aleksei Simonov, president of Russia's Glasnost Defense Foundation, a free press advocacy group. ... Yelena Glushkova, chief correspondent of the RFE/RL Russian Service’s Moscow bureau, said local radio stations are dropping the station’s programs under pressure from the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications and Mass Communications, or Rossvyazkomnadzor. In fall 2005, Rossvyazkomnadzor ordered all RFE/RL partners to 'bring broadcasting activity into line with license terms.' Most partners' licenses did not allow them to transmit RFE/RL programs." Aleksandr Kolesnichenko, Transitions Online, 6 January 2009. Posted: 07 Jan 2009 Permalink

Jazz ambassadors' pix in the Russell Building. "Jam Session: America's Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World, a groundbreaking photographic exhibition organized and circulated by Meridian International Center in Washington, DC, will be on display in the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building between Tuesday, January 6 and Friday, January 23, 2009. Jam Session chronicles one of America's most successful cultural diplomacy programs. Under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and others served as cultural diplomats between the 1950s and the 1970s, transcending national boundaries, and making friends for our country. ... Meridian International Center ... is a non-partisan non-profit organization dedicated to public diplomacy. Meridian promotes international understanding through the exchange of people, ideas and the arts through a combination of professional exchanges, international conferences, cultural diplomacy and education programs." Meridian press release, 6 January 2009. "Meridian is actively seeking additional host venues for a three-year domestic tour that will offer a meaningful insight into this remarkable cultural diplomacy program." Meridian website. Posted: 07 Jan 2009 Permalink

First delete c:*.* On 22 January: "The USC Center on Public Diplomacy is proud to host Ernest J. Wilson III, Dean of the USC Annenberg School for Communication, for a presentation on 'Rebooting America's Image in the World.' Dean Wilson recently returned from Washington, D.C. where he served on the Presidential Transition Team for President-Elect Barack Obama. As part of the presidential transition, Dean Wilson led a team reviewing America's international broadcasting services, including the Voice of America and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and advised the transition team working with the U.S. Department of State on public diplomacy issues. Dean Wilson will discuss his experiences serving on the Presidential Transition Team and will offer his assessment of the limits and potential for public diplomacy under the new administration as it seeks to re-cast America's image abroad."
USC CPD. So there are separate transition teams for international broadcasting and for public diplomacy. This is more encouraging than the impression I had from previous writings. The only presidential involvement in U.S. international broadcasting should be the nomination of members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Content issues should be behind the BBG firewall. It is the job of public diplomacy to "re-cast America's image abroad," while international broadcasting reports the news with as much credibility as it can muster. Posted: 07 Jan 2009 Permalink

Bloomberg international hire. "Former CNBC Europe network director Lindsey Oliver is joining Bloomberg as commercial director, Europe, Middle East and Africa. She will be responsible for distribution and marketing for the financial network’s five European language channels. Oliver was commercial director at Al Jazeera international in 2007, launching the English-language channel in 80 million households." Broadband TV News, 7 January 2009. Posted: 07 Jan 2009 Permalink

BBC World News to consider if George W. Bush is "worst president." "From January, BBC World News will broadcast Intelligence Squared, a series of topical debates, taking place in London and New York, which are set to stimulate and challenge the channel's audience across the world. ... The first debate’s motion is 'George W. Bush is the worst American president of the last fifty years'. It will be broadcast on BBC World News from 10 January and speakers include Karl Rove, former-Deputy Chief of Staff to George W. Bush; William Kristol, Editor of The Weekly Standard; Jacob Weisberg, author of The Bush Tragedy; and British journalist, Simon Jenkins." BBC World News press release, 11 December 2008. Posted: 07 Jan 2009 Permalink

DW-TV Asia+ hires agency (updated). "Deutsche Welle has appointed Singaporean start-up, Green Worldwide, for its communication needs as the German international broadcaster launches a new feed in Asia. ... The German broadcasters will look to launch DW-TV Asia+ on March 2, 2009 to offer a mix of European lifestyle, culture and the arts as well as in-depth reports from business and politics. 'Green will be tasked to spearhead our communication needs, lead in strategic thinking for our launch and appoint media buying agencies for our advertising campaigns,' said Petra Schneider, director of sales and service, Deutsche Welle." Haymarket Media, 6 January 2009.
     Update: "DW-TV ASIA+ will be carried on the AsiaSat 3S satellite and is expected to be carried by several pay-TV platforms in the region. But the company was not able to announce individual territory deals. Compared with existing DW-TV ASIA service, new net will increase its daily English language programming to 18 hours with a schedule dominated by lifestyle, infotainment, health and wellness." Variety Asia, 7 January 2009. "'Viewers in Asia have a high demand for more intimate knowledge and insights into Europe and European culture, making it an important media market for Deutsche Welle.'" DW press release via asiamediajounal.com, 7 January 2009. Posted: 07 Jan 2009 Permalink

The case for bringing back Worldnet (updated). "Our former Worldnet TV service at the U.S. Information Agency would have been a perfect fit for President Obama, who plans to speak to Muslim audiences in the first 100 days of his administration from a venue somewhere in the Middle East. ... Sadly, when the U.S. Information Agency was disbanded in the late 1990s, international TV dialogues brought over to the State Department 'lost their traction', a Department official lamented to me. 'Except for posts in Africa and some in South Asia and Latin America, satellite TV conversations from the Worldnet system collapsed at U.S. embassies,' he said. 'Compared to the promises of the Internet, television was no longer viewed as the tool of choice for programming to large audiences. But we should have grown television as we grew the web.'" Alvin Snyder, USC Center of Public Diplomacy blog, 16 December 2008. In the meantime, we can be confident that anything that future President Obama says with the slightest relevance to the Middle East will be broadcast by Alhurra and Radio Sawa.
     Update: "As for Worldnet’s 'interactive TV capacity,' that also still exists through the American Embassy TV Network, 'the Department of State’s global television network and a direct U.S. television resource for international broadcasters.' Al Snyder’s source says that State Department’s television dialogues have 'lost their traction' since the days of Worldnet and the U.S. Information Agency. If that is the case, regaining the traction does not necessarily require a new, or revived, bureaucracy. It would be gentler on the taxpayers to do a better job by doing a better job." Kim Andrew Elliott, USC Center on Public Diplomacy blog, 6 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

RFE/RL provides Serbian-Albanian dialogue. "At a time of total breakdown in communication between Belgrade and Prishtina, which began after the proclamation on 17 February 2008 of Kosovo’s independence, the radio and internet pages of Radio Free Europe have become the only place for a Serbian-Albanian dialogue. RFE’s Most (Bridge) has initiated a series of dialogues - on the subject of how to unfreeze Serbia-Kosovo relations - between prominent individuals from Kosovo and Serbia." Omer Karabeg, Bosnian Institute, 5 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

A BBC for the French. "The French have always been jealous of the BBC, having failed to create a flagship, world-respected media entity of their own. In theory they’re in a great position to do so, being a powerful and influential nation and one which can provide a much-needed antidote to the Anglo-centric dominant international media organisations hailing from the United States and the UK." Blatherskite, 5 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

Watching satellite television in Jordan. "Satellite TV in Jordan, I discovered on my recent trip there, is a chaotic pleasure. When my American friends talk about watching it, taxiing home after a long day, there’s a little dread mixed with the hope of going into the kind of coma that only television can put one. ... The sun never sets on the reach of the BBC, which has turned British colonial know-how into total situation awareness for all. See proof that CNN isn’t dumb (it just thinks we are) by watching its international edition. You’ll quickly notice how our domestic version pales in comparison even to the Kremlin’s English-language propaganda machine, Russia Today. The up-and-coming crown jewel is none other than Al Jazeera, an island of common sense from the Persian Gulf, which makes up for what it lacks in slick graphics and endless pundits with skilled journalists and commentary by real movers and shakers from all over, whether they be government officials or Taliban warlords." Nathan Schneider, The Smart Set (Drexel University), 5 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

Egypt's Nile TV seeks expansion in Africa. Egyptian Ambassador to Namibia, Hadi El-Tonsi: "We are ... trying to bring our Egyptian channels in English to broadcast from here whether directly or through regional companies or cable services. It is important to have direct information between us and not through third agencies that have different ways of seeing issues. Channel Nile TV International broadcasting in English and French is available to African countries who want to receive it and it has programmes about African issues." New Era (Windhoek), 6 January 2009. Posted: 06 Jan 2009 Permalink

Gaza media update for 5 January 2009. "Major US television channels also adopted the equal time approach, despite the reality that Palestinian casualties exceeded Israeli ones by a hundred fold. However, such comparisons were rare because the scripts read by American correspondents often excluded the overall Palestinian death count. By stripping the context, American viewers may have easily assumed a level playing field, rather than a case of disproportionate force." Habib Battah, Aljazeera.net. 5 January 2009.
     "BBC World interviewed a Gazan, Hatem Shurrab of Islamic Relief, who during the night apparently moved his family into the basement to escape the bombardment. Sympathetic interviewers asked him to describe how terrifying he had found the sound of the explosions. He obligingly described how terrifying this was and how his child had been crying all night. ... But there was of course absolutely no mention of, let alone an interview with any of, the thousands of Israeli families in southern Israel who for the past seven years have been forced to live in bomb shelters for month after month with no respite, with their children now suffering psychological damage from the unending terror from Palestinian missile attacks directed specifically at them." Melanie Phillips, The Spectator, 4 January 2009.
     "Many supporters of Israel have grown frustrated with hostile feedback posted to Web articles and on blogs since the start of Operation Cast Lead nine days ago. A group of Israeli students has decided to fight back. HelpUsWin.org is manned by social media experts and Israel activists around the clock, with the main "situation room" based at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, and sponsored by the Stand With Us education organization." Jerusalem Post, 4 January 2009.
     "When they shoot from the F16 aeroplanes, it sends waves of aftershock which blow out the windows. It interferes with radio and TV reception too. The only TV channel we can still receive is al-Jazeera English. Not the Arabic, not the BBC." Gaza resident Tamer, BBC News, 5 January 2009.
     "It should also be noted that Al Jazeera English, a station whose management is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, has been displaying a large graphic titled 'War on Gaza' during their coverage of the crisis." Family Security Matters, 5 January 2009.
     "At 2:06 pm on Saturday 1/3 EST, I was watching CNN, the US feed, which had temporarily switched to the London desk of CNN International. CNN International began an interview with PLO spokesman Saeb Erakat, the first time I have seen a Palestinian commenter on US television during the past week with the exception of the PA envoy to the UN. CNN US suddenly interrupted the Erekat interview and switched to Ben Wiedeman in Jerusalem to explain the task Israel had before it. It has been 20 minutes and they have never returned to finish the Erekat interview. Have any of the major magazine shows had any Palestinians at all on this week as commenters? 2:31 PM CNN US did a telephone interview with Mustafa Barghouti, who complained that CNN's coverage was all from the Israeli side." Juan Cole, San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, 4 January 2009.
     "A group of Jordanian journalists have started a campaign urging the Arabic media to refrain from interviewing Israeli officials in order to avoid 'justifying' ongoing attacks on the Gaza Strip. In a statement published on the Amman-based Khaberny news website, media activists said Israelis 'exploit' the Arab media to 'promote the Zionist perspective of the aggression and massacres' occurring in the besieged coastal enclave. ... Al Jazeera staff, however, stress that they themselves are supporters of the Palestinian cause and continue to interview Israeli officials. 'You cannot present your own story of the struggle without showing the other side,' Al Jazeera correspondent in Amman Yasser Abu Hilala told The Jordan Times, adding that by including the Israeli perspective, Arab outlets are able to 'prove to the West that our cause is just'. ... BBC Radio Amman correspondent Saad Hattar said a professional journalist, however, should not ignore any side of a conflict, adding that reporters should 'grill' Israeli officials who hold 'destructive' ideas. 'Talk to them, grill them and try to convince them that what they are doing is wrong.'" Jordan Times, 5 January 2009.
     "While CNN and BBC are broadcasting every bit of Palestinian propaganda it can get its hands on, Fox News is sticking more to the Israeli-American view, reporting the facts, not the propaganda." J.R. Dieckmann, RenewAmerica, 4 January 2009.
     "The Israel Defense Forces this week extended its airstrikes on Gaza to the Web, posting video footage of its air assault against Hamas militants on YouTube and using Twitter to spread its message." CNET News, 3 January 2009.
     "Al Jazeera, the BBC, CNN and other major international and national networks are focusing on the suffering of Gazans, and they neglect to cover the suffering of Israelis due to Hamas’ rocket attacks." Michael van der Galien, PoliGazette, 4 January 2009.
     "A Yemeni Islamist slammed the Satellite Channel of al-Arabiya as a 'Zionist trumpet' as he praised al-Jazeera as the 'nation's faith affiliate' over the war on Gaza covering. The Member of Parliament and mosque speaker, Mohammed Al Hazmi said that al-Arabiya channel is 'not less dangerous than Israel' on the nation warning men and women from watching it. 'What this channel, which is falsely called al-Arabiya, is doing is not less dangerous than what Israel does. ... It says that that Hamas is responsible for this war because it refuses the truce. ... I would like to very much thank al-Jazeera channel which expresses the nation's trends, goes with its options, and raises its vital issues.'" Yemen Observer, 5 January 2009.
     "Once again Arab television blanketed the airwaves with coverage of the conflict in Gaza. And once again Arab media gave a rather distinct view of the conflict, which differed starkly from the view presented to the West. Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab satellite channel, broadcast interviews with victims of violence at a hospital in Gaza, asking survivors what they felt about the invasion." Raed Rafei, Los Angeles Times Babylon & Beyond blog, 4 January 2009.
     "Israeli Defense Forces took over Hamas' Al-Aqsa television station over the weekend -- the latest blow in a increasingly-sophisticated information war over Gaza. The channel became infamous in 2007 for broadcasting a children's show featuring 'Farfour,' an anti-semitic Mickey Mouse look-a-like. But the Israeli military considered al-Aqsa to be a serious enough propaganda threat that the station's main studios were hit on the second day of the latest air campaign against Hamas." Wired Danger Room, 5 January 2009.
     "I have lost confidence in the BBC World Service in their ability to present news in an unbiased manner. And I will be making a formal complaint to the Chairman of the BBC Trust. Yes. Perhaps I am one of the few remaining MPs who has consistently defended the BBC for their standards of journalism and impartiality. And when occasionally I have been angered by the output of their domestic services, I have consoled myself with the high quality of BBC World Service reportage. No longer. Being abroad for me always involves my taking a short wave radio in my back-pack. India, where I am now, remains on the ever reducing list of areas where the BBC is available on the radio. And I have been listening for several hours each day. I have been horrified and angered by the coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict. While paying scant regard to the provocation of 10,000 rockets fired at Israeli civilians from Gaza over the last seven years, the BBC has chosen to broadcast 'human interest' stories reminiscent of salacious photos in the cheaper red top newspapers." Michael Fabricant MP, ConservativeHome.com, 5 January 2009.
     "The IDF dropped thousands of propaganda leaflets from the air to Gaza’s inhabitants. 'The Hamas leadership is leading you to ruin. Take responsibility for your future,' they read. In addition, the radio broadcasts of the Gaza Strip were jammed, and a statement in Arabic was read: 'We are not fighting against you, but against Hamas. Help us. Stay away from the battle areas.' Israeli officials went into chat rooms on the Internet and told Gaza residents, 'Help us. Give us information. Hamas will not know about it.'" David Bedein, The Bulletin (Philadelphia), 5 January 2009.
     "Television and Second Life are enlisted by Israel and Palestinian supporters during the renewed fighting in Gaza." Reuters video via Yahoo!News, 4 January 2009.
     From Jukka Kinkamo in Finland: "Al-Jazeera has their own dedicated website which is constantly updated by SMS, email and tweeters: labs.aljazeera.net/warongaza/#. The service is rather powerful indeed, provided the original sources are reliable enough. And, this is very interesting: The technology and pieces of software behind the service are discussed in more detail in Danger Room Blog. blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/getting-tweets.html." Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

The United States Good Listeners Agency. Among five "myths" of public diplomacy: "Myth 2: Everyone needs to get on the same page. A communications strategy is important. But reciprocity is at the heart of truly successful public diplomacy. We must listen as much as we transmit messages. A brass plaque reading 'Telling America's Story' adorned the building housing the US Information Agency until its oft-lamented demise in 1999. Perhaps it should have read, 'Telling America's Story Is Done Best by Good Listeners.'" Sherry L. Mueller, Christian Science Monitor, 5 January 2009. Actually, that was the basic idea of the name of USIA being changed to International Communication Agency during the Carter administration. During that time, the "Telling America's Story" plaque was removed from the front entrance. The Reagan administration restored the name U.S. Information Agency, and the plaque. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

BBC's Farsi television reckons with an unfriendly Iran. "Something is clearly going on between the Iranian authorities and the BBC. Relations are not good. In the next week or two the BBC will begin to broadcast a Farsi television service from London funded by a £15m grant from the Foreign Office. The BBC World Service has had a Farsi radio service for 68 years. Many in the Iranian administration do not welcome the BBC's new television channel, which will doubtless attract an audience of millions of Iranians when it begins to broadcast eight hours a day." Stephen Glover, The Independent, 5 January 2009. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

Al Jazeera RSS feeds on Sony Ericsson mobile devices. "Al Jazeera has announced a new partnership with mobile handset manufacturer Sony Ericsson to provide built-in AJ RSS feeds on devices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region." journalism.co.uk, 5 January 2009. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

Azerbaijan since the ban of foreign radio on FM. Kai Ludwig in Germany notes that the RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service, known as Radio Azadliq, is only using one shortwave frequency, 9485 kHz, at 1600-1700 UTC, according to the RFE/RL transmission schedule. Kai adds: "This single shortwave transmission had been reintroduced at the beginning of the B08 season [25 October 2008], I suspect as a precaution because the end of the rebroadcasts in Azerbaijan was already looming. I would have expected the amount of shortwave airtime to skyrocket now as well, but as of yesterday still only this lone hour is in use. Were they simply not able to add more until now because everybody is still on vacation?" -- VOA Azerbaijani has three shortwave frequencies, 9625, 9805, and 12025 kHz, at 1830-1900 UTC.
     "Work schedule of Liberty, Voice of America and BBC radio stations’ Azerbaijan bureaus was not changed after decision of National Television and Radio Council on conclusion of broadcasting international radios in national frequencies passed on December 30, Azerbaijani bureaus of above-mentioned radios told APA." Azeri-Press Agency, 5 January 2009.
     "Azadlyg political bloc has released a statement, sharply condemning the decision by the Azerbaijani National Television and Radio Council (NTRC) resulting in discontinuation of the air wave broadcasts by the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the Voice of America (VOA) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). ... It should be reminded that Azadlyg bloc comprises the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, Liberal Party of Azerbaijan and Civil Development Party." Today.Az, 5 January 2009. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

VOA drops Ukrainian radio, Urdu shortwave. After a reprieve for VOA Ukrainian radio in August 2008, its radio transmissions ended on 31 December. The service continues with television and an internet presence. See also VOA Ukrainian announcement about closure of radio. On this page, files containing WED are audio of VOA Ukrainian's last day. These will soon be unavailable, as the archive of VOA Ukrainian 2008 radio broadcasts is no longer available.
     VOA Urdu shortwave frequencies were dropped on 31 December, though still listed in this VOA schedule. VOA Urdu (Radio Aap ki Dunyaa) continues on medium wave (972 and 1539 kHz) and on television. -- "Effective 31st December 2008 VOA Urdu service has dropped all SW services to South Asia at 0100-0200 (9520 9820 kHz) and 1400-1500 (7440 9390 kHz) hrs. Only MW 972 and 1539 kHz are available at 1400-0200 hrs. There are many listeners in India and Bangladesh who are listening to this Urdu service on SW and many more especially after the closure of VOA Hindi service." DXAsia, 31 December 2008. Posted: 05 Jan 2009 Permalink

Gaza media update for 4 January 2009. "Everybody is on the Gaza situation. Even MSNBC has interrupted its weekend of rerun filler to cover it. But if you'd like a decidedly non-American-centric take, Al Jazeera English appears to have reporters all over the place. And the Doha correspondent just had one of those exchanges with a spokesman for the Israeli PM that you just don't see on American TV. ... Those Israelis put their suits on with five-inch nails -- they're tough. Watch as the spokesflack gives as good as he gets. And they'll get right back on AJE and do it again in a couple of hours, if not sooner. And beam it into Israel, where AJE has (last I heard) replaced BBC World on the largest Israeli cable systems." Aaron Barnhart, TV Barn, 3 January 2009.
     "Boycott cable TV statiosn that REFUSE to broadcast al-Jazeera English. There are some Arab TV programs in the US, but they are useless compared to the power fo al-Jazeera Englsih, which is why al-Jazeera English has been banned from broadcast in this country. al-Jazeera English IS the media we NEED in this country and the mainstream media has excluded them. Protest THAT! Demand that Comcast Cable, for example, offer al-Jazeera English in their options packages." Ray Hanania, Arabisto.com, 3 January 2009.
     "Protesters calling for Israel to stop its assault on Gaza lined the sidewalk in front of CNN’s headquarters Saturday. ... The protestors decided to gather in front of CNN to call attention to media coverage of the attacks, which are in their eighth day. 'The media in the U.S. has a tradition of not providing an unbiased message,' said Ziyaad Lunat , one of the protest organizers. 'They dehumanize the Palestinians.'" Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3 January 2009.
     "The newspapers here tend to echo the elite MSM in the West, and CNN International here is big on 'equal time', so the war in Gaza is showing all sorts of gory photos. One rarely hears anything negative in our local papers about any Arab or Muslim misdeed: lots stories lamenting the problems of Palestinian refugees from 1948, none about the equal number of Jewish refugees fleeing pogroms in Arab lands back then." Nancy Reyes (Philippines), Blogger News Network, 4 January 2009.
     "As in the past, U.S. media coverage and commentary has overwhelmingly backed the Israeli actions (as it did in the Lebanon war in 2006, which turned into a fiasco). CNN has provided some helpful balance, starting late Saturday, but on the Sunday morning talk shows Democratic leaders said little, or nothing, critical of Israel. Of course, most on-the-scene coverage of civilian casualties in Gaza has been hindered, to say the least, by Israel barring foregin journalists from entering." Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, 4 January 2009.
     "Larry King on CNN first interviewed an Israeli spokesman, with a fluent English accent, all polished in appearance, and repeating the same 'message' that Western audiences are used to hearing. That is, Israel is a peace-loving, un-aggressive Western democracy that is only defending itself from filthy, ignorant, uncivilized, desert-dwelling, camel-riding, nomadic religious fanatics. For one thing, this looks a lot like re-enacting how Europeans colonized America, Australia and South Africa - they can relate to this image. And how does the Palestinian side react? The spokeswoman was articulate enough, but she was only heard by radio, despite the fact that humans are 90% visual sense animals. She was also too articulate, using big words that the audience didn't recognize as part of the 'story'. So, the American media can claim that this CNN story was unbiased, giving both parties a chance to speak, even though the Palestine side's message had zero audience impact." Neil Sutherland, Palestine Chronicle, 3 January 2009.
     "The Al-Aqsa TV channel, controlled by Hamas, reported resistance fighters disrupted communications between land units of the Israeli army. ... In turn, Qatar’s Al-Jazeera TV channel reported about Israeli shelling of the Al-Aqsa radio station, also belonging to Hamas." Itar-Tass, 4 January 2009.
     "Leaflets signed by the commander of the Israeli military were dropped over northern Gaza on Saturday morning, warning residents to 'leave the area immediately' to ensure their safety." IBNLive, 3 January 2009.
     "'Since the definition of war has changed, the definition of public diplomacy has to change as well,' said David Saranga, the head of media relations for the Israeli consulate in New York, which conducted the Twitter news conference on Tuesday. Some, including the MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow, mocked the idea of a government spokesman addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in tweets barely a sentence long. 'The Israeli government is trying to explain a conflict that people write books about, a conflict that newspaper writers struggle to explain in 2,000 words, in 140 characters at a time,' she marveled. ... Question from peoplesworld: 40 years of military confrontation hasn't brought security to Israel, why is this different? Answer from israelconsulate: We hav 2 prtct R ctzens 2, only way fwd through neogtiations, & left Gaza in 05. y Hamas launch missiles not peace?" New York Times, 3 January 2009.
     "The Israeli military created its own YouTube channel, where it has been publishing aerial videos of its bombings on the population of Gaza. The Foreign Press office of the Israeli Military heavily promoted one particular video which it said clearly showed the Israeli airforce targeting men loading homemade shells onto a truck. ... Despite the ban on media in the Gaza Strip, 55-year-old Gaza resident Ahmed Samur, managed to get a statement out of the besieged and imprisoned coastal strip that these so-called 'rockets' were actually oxygen canisters used in his welding business." International Middle East Media Center, 4 January 2009.
     "If you're interested in getting some information about what's going on in Israel and Gaza--you know, beyond the Israel-bashing, 'terrorists are victims' crap you get from the 'mainstream' media--the Israeli Defense Force has now entered the Web 2.0 age. The have a blog called IDF Spokesperson where you can catch some of the latest updates about the war against terrorism in the Middle East--specifically as it affects Israel. The IDF also has a YouTube channel where you can view footage of some of the IDF precision strikes against terrorist strongholds. Unlike the terrorists who intentionally target innocent civilians, the IDF does everything it can to minimize noncombatant casualties." Bob Ellis, Dakota Voice, 3 January 2009.
     "Facts appear to have been the first casualty in a public relations war that is being conducted as vigorously by Israeli defence officials as the fight against Hamas. This weekend Israel was celebrating the first week of a 'hasbara' campaign – the Hebrew word that has come to mean 'spin' and 'propaganda' – being waged on several fronts, including unprecedented use of the internet and other new media. ... The YouTube channel, established the day after the first air strikes, is currently the most popular on the site. The two dozen videos relating to the current operation have recorded hundreds of thousands of hits. ... According to the Israeli media, the army has been advising 50 influential bloggers in the United States alone." The National (Abu Dhabi), 4 January 2009.
     Jukka Kinkamo in Finland notes that the Israeli website DEBKAfile was down for a time. In an e-mail sent to its readers: "DEBKAfile's two sites in English and Hebrew have been under attack since 19:00 local time. We are doing our best to restore the service as soon as possible. Please check the site periodically." The site is restored when checked at 2300 UTC on 4 January. Jukka also observes that "on the radio front at the moment the Galei Zahal on 6973 kHz is audible (loud and clear) here." This is the only shortwave broadcasting still on the air from Israel, other than the Kol Israel Persian service.
     See previous post about same subject. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

Another vote for keeping Jim Glassman as PD chief. "The under secretary of state for public diplomacy has been on the job for only six months, but he has already scored small successes in the U.S. effort to win over 'hearts and minds' in the Muslim world, a hard sell if ever there was one. Glassman has largely shelved the strategy of his predecessor, Karen Hughes, another onetime journalist, who waged this battle as an ad campaign, flooding the unreceptive market with positive 'messages' about the United States. Glassman is out to halt radicalism, and he is fighting the war of ideas in small and diverse ways: private-sector partnerships to teach English; conferences where liberals from around the world can swap ideas; social networks on the Internet that teach the virtues of democracy by rewarding the best Web video on the subject. Glassman has 'been very strong,' says a senior State Department official who didn't want to be quoted knocking Hughes. ... Because Glassman's approach is 'not yet institutionalized,' there's a danger a new appointee might reverse it, says another senior State Department official. That would be a shame, because Obama needs a light touch in public diplomacy." Adam B. Kushner, Newsweek, 3 January 2009. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

And RFE/RL is looking forward to establishing a service for Alaska. "Russian economist Igor Panarin, for instance, has gotten a good deal of press attention (particularly in Russia, but abroad as well) for predicting that the financial crisis will lead to civil war in the United States and the partitioning of that country. He even suggested on Russia Today that Alaska will want to join the Russian Federation and that former Chukotka Oblast Governor and oligarch Roman Abramovich would make a good governor there. Watch out Sarah Palin, it appears that Vladimir Putin can see Alaska from his house too!" Robert Coalson, RFE/RL The Power Vertical, 3 January 2009.
     "Alex Jones, an Austin, Texas-based American talk radio show host and professional conspiracy theorist, has been a regular guest on Russia Today TV since the Georgia War in August 2008. ... Russia Today, an English language TV channel set up in 2005 as a Russian equivalent of the Qatar-based Arab television channel Al-Jazeera, often gives Mr. Jones a platform to expound his fringe views on a regular basis." Charles Ganske, Russia Blog, 3 January 2009. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

RFA scoop on essays by Chinese dissident. "The most prominent dissident still living in China has attacked the Communist party’s economic reforms and compared Deng Xiaoping, its late leader, to Louis XIV. ... The essayist is Bao Tong, 76, who was the highest-ranking official imprisoned after the 1989 crackdown on China’s democracy movement. He served a seven-year sentence and now lives under house arrest in Beijing. ... The essays were broadcast on the Chinese-language service of Radio Free Asia, a US-funded station, and have been posted on the internet. The fact that Bao has apparently not been punished suggests to Chinese analysts that the reformist faction inside the party remains influential enough to protect him." The Sunday Times, 4 January 2008. See also RFA, 3 January 2009 and links on that page to other essays by Bao Tong. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

New South Korean medium wave relay for VOA Korean. T. Yamashita in Japan, member of the Asian Broadcasting Institute, heard the VOA Korean Service relayed via HLKX, the Far Eastern Broadcasting Company station near Seoul on 1188 kHz medium wave, 1 January at 1330-1500 UTC. This via S. Hasegawa of the Nagoya DXers Circle, who was able to hear it well 3 January at 1400-1459 UTC, with slight interference from NHK station JOKP, Kitami, also on 1188 kHz, and from an unidentified Korean-language station, which might be a jammer.
DX Listening Digest, 3 January 2009. Thanks to Kai Ludwig for the news tip. Kai also points to a story in the website of South Korea's Christian Broadcasting System (CBS), in Korean, but if machine translated, indicates that some in South Korea are already challenging the legality of this relay of VOA by FEBC's station near Seoul. Christian Broadcasting System, 2 January 2009. VOA Korean broadcasts are targeted to North Korea. The 100 kW transmitter on 1188 kHz can certainly reach into nearby North Korea. It is also used for FEBC's own broadcasts in Mandarin. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

New book is critical of 24-hour news channels. "From CNN to Al Jazeera to Fox, Sky News and the BBC News Channel ... there's plenty of naffness, bias and cock-ups to complain about. ... Howard Rosenberg and Charles Feldman, ... No Time To Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle is an assault on the entire rolling news venture. Their main criticism, as the title suggests, is the sheer speed of modern news-gathering and the impetus to get the story to air quickly – without the time to check, or even think about the ramifications. ... But they are woefully wrong to suggest that baby, bathwater and all have little of value and threaten democracy." Review by Charlie Courtauld, editor of "Frost Over the World" on Al Jazeera English, The Independent, 4 January 2009. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

Azerbaijan: demand for shortwave radios "has skyrocketed" since ban of foreign radio on FM (updated). "'Everyone would listen to Azadliq [RFE/RL Azeri service] , from taxi drivers to housewives. This was enough to shut down the station. Where else you would hear alternative voices?' Mammad Suleymanov wrote in an opinion piece in 'Bizim Yol.' Alternative voices are still being heard through Radio Azadliq -- but fewer people are able to hear them. Azadliq is still able to broadcast on shortwave frequencies, and shopkeepers say the demand for radios that receive shortwave has skyrocketed in past days. Others tune in on Azadliq's website, where they can hear not only current broadcasts but also older ones from the archive." RFE/RL Watchdog, 2 January 2009.
     "The Azerbaijan National Television & Radio Council (NTRC) will hold intensive monitoring to prevent airing of movies in foreign languages, Gafar Jabiyev, a member of the Council, told TrendNews on Jan. 3. ... On Dec. 30 in 2008, the Council made a decision on broadcasting of all telecasts at the Azerbaijani TV channels only in the Azerbaijani language beginning from Jan. 1 in 2009." Trend News Agency, 3 January 2009.
     Update: "Sözün Düzü, for example, posts a video from YouTube where a group of Azeri youth celebrates the New Year in solidarity with the station's staff in the last minutes of Azadliq. One of the youth interviewed in the video says that he had come to share the grief of the radio station while another comments that 'they can close Azadliq, but Liberty will surely come to this country.' ... Meanwhile, various Facebook groups have been set up in support of Radio Liberty, VOA and the BBC in Azerbaijan. One such group, which at time of writing has 768 members, is Support Radio Liberty, VOA and BBC in Azerbaijan!!!" Ali S. Novruzov, Global Voices, 4 January 2009. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 04 Jan 2009 Permalink

Gaza media update. "Day after day, night after night, Aljazeera’s Arabic channel broadcasts the atrocious pictures: heaps of mutilated bodies, tearful relatives looking for their dear ones among the dozens of corpses spread out on the ground, a woman pulling her young daughter from under the rubble, doctors without medicines trying to save the lives of the wounded. (The English-language Aljazeera, unlike its Arab-language sister-station, has undergone an amazing about face, broadcasting only a sanitized picture and freely distributing Israeli government propaganda. It would be interesting to know what happened there.)" Uri Avnery, The Palestine Chronicle, 1 January 2009.
     "For users of Twitter.com, Al Jazeera English is offering updates via a dedicated Twitter AJGaza channel." Al Jazeera McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, 3 January 2009.
     "The Israeli propaganda effort is being directed to achieve two main aims. The first is to justify the air attacks. The second is to show that there is no humanitarian calamity in Gaza. Both these aims are intended to place Israel in a strong position internationally and to enable its diplomacy to act as an umbrella to fend off calls for a ceasefire while the military operation unfolds. Israel has pursued the first aim by being very active in getting its story across that Hamas is to blame. The sight of Hamas rockets streaking into Israel has been helpful in this respect. It has also allowed trucks in with food aid and has stressed that it will not let people starve, even if they go short. ... Israel has bolstered its approach by banning foreign correspondents from Gaza, despite a ruling from the Israeli Supreme Court. The Arab television news channel Al Jazeera is operating there and its reports have been graphic and have affected opinion across the Arab world. The BBC also has its local bureau hard at work." Paul Reynolds, BBC News, 3 January 2009.
     "The al-Jazeera network ... a player that does not adhere to all the media rules, and uses the medium similarly to that knife in the boxing ring – in order to eliminate Israel. This is prominent on normal days, and is even more conspicuous at this time of confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians. The news stories aired by the network constitute blatant incitement with no regard for the truth. Al-Jazeera features no balance, as for every minute of airtime featuring an Israeli spokesperson presenting Israel’s positions, the network airs long hours of horrific sights from the Palestinian side, including close-ups of the dead and wounded, and of crying and suffering Palestinians. Meanwhile, reports of attacks on Israel are normally covered briefly and in a sterile manner, with no proportion to the descriptions of what is happening in Gaza. ... There is only one conclusion here: We must immediately shut down al-Jazeera’s Israel offices and prevent its employees from working for it. Once Israel does it, many other countries will follow suit, particularly in the Middle East, for their own reasons." Mordechai Kedar, ynetnews, 3 January 2009.
     "Israeli troops have detained two journalists from Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television in an area close to the Gaza border that has been decreed a closed military zone." AFP, 3 January 2009. "The Al Jazeera team were later forced to hand over two discs containing footage which had been filmed during the morning." The Peninsula, 3 January 2009.
     "The satellite TV network Al Jazeera contrasted footage of Obama wearing shorts and playing golf in Hawaii with scenes of the carnage in Gaza, by way of highlighting what it called 'the deafening silence from the Obama team.'" Chicago Tribune, 3 January 2009.
     "Several hundred people opposed to the fighting in Gaza yesterday rallied outside the Lucas County Courthouse [Toledo], flashing peace placards and shouting anti-war chants. ... Amjad Doumani, 50, one of the rally organizers, said his wife is from Gaza and his family feels fortunate to have been able to contact relatives there by phone. ... 'If the American people could see the footage that is being shown by other media, like [Arabic TV station] al-Jazeera, Americans would take a stand against these attacks. But Americans are not getting the whole story,' he said." Toledo Blade, 3 January 2009.
     "Cairo residents interviewed on Friday resented the criticism from other Arabs as unfair and unjustified, citing Egyptian aid to Palestinian victims. But they were also uneasy with Cairo’s open blame of Hamas and with its failure to criticize Israel more loudly. Nearly everyone interviewed said they watched Al Jazeera and praised it for its realistic, if bloody, coverage of Gaza, contrasting it with the tame images shown on national television." New York Times, 2 January 2009.
     At BBC headquarters in Wales, protesters, "a man and a woman, said that they wanted to demonstrate against the BBC's biased coverage... . 'We have super-glued our skin to the main doors of the BBC in protest at the irresponsible reporting of the Middle East issue by the public broadcaster.'" Mathaba News Network, 2 January 2009.
     "A Morocco-based Islamic group hacked into DomainTheNet’s registration system server today, hijacking several domain names, including ynetnews.com (the English-language Web site of Yedioth Ahronoth) and Bank Discount, and sending users to pages featuring anti-Israeli messages. ... This latest attack follows the defacement of more than 300 Israeli Web sites with anti-Israeli and anti-U.S. messages in a 48-hour period last weekend. Today’s attack did not hack particular Web sites, and are believed to be retaliation for Operation Cast Lead in Gaza." The Jewish Journal, 2 January 2009.
     "The International Federation of Journalists condemned Israel for targeting and destroying the offices of Al Aksa TV in Gaza on Sunday. 'The IFJ and other press freedom advocates have consistently condemned attacks on unarmed media installations which are not being used for military purposes,' read a statement it released following the attack. One might be able to argue - though not very persuasively, given its locale and raison d'etre - that Al Aksa TV falls under the category of an 'unarmed media installation.' One might even attempt to prove that it is 'not being used for military purposes,' as well - though this is even less credible, given the inflammatory material it broadcasts regularly." Ruthie Blum Leibowitz, Jerusalem Post, 1 January 2009. See also IFJ, 28 December 2008.
     "An Iranian newspaper was closed by authorities after publishing a statement critical of the government's support for Hamas. The statement was made by a pro-reform student group to 'Kargozaran,' a paper affiliated with former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [read more in Persian]. During a discussion of the Gaza conflict, a Radio Farda listener in Tehran calls Hamas an obstacle to peace [listen in Persian]. Another listener from Southern Iran wonders why the government is sending support to the Palestinians when there are so many problems at home [listen in Persian]." RFE/RL, 1 January 2009.
     See previous post about same subject. Posted: 03 Jan 2009 Permalink

DW adds to its mobile access. "Rubberduck Media Lab, a leading provider of mobile TV solutions, announces today a new collaboration with German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. ... Deutsche Welle broacast to an international audience with radio channels in 30 languages and TV for instance in German and English. Deutsche Welle's users has previously had access to live channels on web and mobile internet and will now also be provided with video clips on their mobile through the new agreement with Rubberduck Media Lab. Through mobile portal mobile.dw-world.de users gain access to a wide rage of programs in news, entertainment, culture, motor sports and more. The offering includes regular TV- and radio shows from Deutsche Welle's archives, but also programs that have been adapted to the mobile user behaviour, which means clips that are 2-5 minutes long. The service can be used regardless of operator, and viewers only pay for data costs." Rubberduck press release, 18 December 2008.
     "Germany’s international broadcaster Deutsche Welle is recruiting young journalists from around the world for its two-year master’s program in International Media Studies, which trains students in topics including media and development, journalism, communication science and media economics. ... The Master’s program is bilingual (German-English). Entering students are required to have a bachelor’s degree, more than one year of experience in media or a related field, and proof of their communication skills in both languages. The degree is a joint effort of the University of Bonn, the Bonn Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, and Deutsche Welle." International Journalists' Network, 1 January 2009. Posted: 03 Jan 2009 Permalink

Another aspect of the decline of shortwave. "Recent news from NASA that the ionosphere is now at lower elevation than in the past. I suppose this means that worldwide shortwave signals might not propagate as far." Tad Cook, K7RA, American Radio Relay League, 2 January 2009. "National Aeronautics and Space Administration instruments aboard an Air Force satellite launched in April [discovered] that the ionosphere was not where it had been expected to be. During the first months of the satellite's operations, the transition between the ionosphere and space was found to be at about 260 miles altitude during the nighttime, barely rising above 500 miles during the day. Those altitudes, said NASA, were extraordinarily low compared with the more typical values of 400 miles during the nighttime and 600 miles during the day." UPI, 17 December 2008. Posted: 03 Jan 2009 Permalink

More Gaza media notes. "Israeli Captain Avichai Adarai, who conducted an on-air interview with al-Jazeera just hours after the attack began ... chastised al-Jazeera, much as Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni did in her appearance, for broadcasting images of the dead and dying people of the Gaza Strip. Captain Adarai demanded to know why al-Jazeera didn’t devote as much time to the suffering of Israelis during the war. But al-Jazeera’s ability to do that in Israel, where the government is carefully managing media coverage, is unclear at best." Antiwar.com, 1 January 2009.
     "The media is reporting how the Arab world is outraged by Israeli actions, but this is also not a complete account of the facts. First, most of the Arab world does not get its news from the Western media, which at least claims a measure of objectivity; the leading source of news for most Arabs is Al-Jazeera. This network has no pretensions that it is balance and presents non-stop coverage from a Palestinian perspective with the aim of generating hostility toward Israel. Al-Jazeera has not been reporting on the incessant rocket fire on Israel or its impact on the population." Mitchell Bard, News Blaze, 1 January 2009.
     "After a week of Israeli strikes on Gaza, whose savage nature has been highlighted by the reporting of the Arab satellite TV stations like Qatar-based Al Jazeera, which show much more gory footage than western equivalents like the BBC, popular anger is sharpening against Egypt in particular." Christopher Walker, Yorkshire Post, 2 January 2009.
     "The images broadcast on the Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera since the start of Israel's operation are graphic and at times, seemingly uncensored. ... Analysts say that these and similar images broadcast around the world have played an important role in mobilizing the Arab street to protest by the tens of thousands, burn effigies and Israeli flags and demand action from their governments. ... Israeli officials, along with the Palestinian Authority, have long accused the station of being pro-Hamas. They say its treatment of Israel's current military operation is no different." Jerusalem Post, 31 December 2008.
     "Dr. Tal Samuel-Azran, a researcher at Ben-Gurion University's Communications Department ... tracked some 1,600 broadcasts on major American networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, and the use these agencies made of the footage being shown in the largest Arab network, Al-Jazeera. His findings: Al-Jazeera has not been able to 'inject' its perspective - including its more liberal use of bloody images and video footage - into American news broadcasts because it is perceived as too one-sided." Jerusalem Post, 31 December 2008.
     "The leader of Iran has used his very effective Press TV channel to convey Iran as the moderate voice of the Muslim world and to organise international opinion against Israel." Editorial, London Daily News, 2 January 2009.
     "A group of Palestinian activists have reportedly jammed Israel Army Radio signals in southern regions of the occupied Palestinian territories. Palestinians, who according to Israeli officials took control of the airwaves from the Gaza Strip, broadcasted statements in Arabic, Press TV's Beirut bureau reported. Jaffa-based Israel Army Radio, commonly known as Galatz among Israelis, is operated nationwide by Israel Defense Force and is mainly funded by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. Palestinian resistance groups had earlier disrupted transmission signals of two other Israeli radio stations - South Radio and Radio Darom - and managed to air programs targeting audience in south Israel." Press TV, 31 December 2008.
     "Israel has been standing by its claims that the air strikes in Gaza have been surgical and that any claims to the contrary are an attempt by Hamas to manipulate the media." Belfast Telegraph, 2 January 2009.
     "Israel believes its has won broad international support in the media for its actions in Gaza thanks to its PR strategy, which through a new body has for months been concerned with formulating plans and role-playing to ensure that government officials deliver a clear, unified message to the world's press. The body, known as the National Information Directorate, was set up eight months ago following recommendations from an Israeli inquiry into the 2006 Lebanon war. Its role is to deal with hasbara - meaning, in Hebrew, 'explanation', and referring variously to information, spin, and propaganda. ... Last week the directorate started a YouTube channel showing Israeli bombings in the Gaza strip. 'New media is a