Posts Tagged ‘television’
October 19th, 2010
Egyptian authorities have continued their
pre-election crackdown on the independent media. Most recently private production companies that provide live broadcast services to independent television stations have had their
licences revoked. It is reported that they will have to
broadcast directly from studios affiliated with the state in order to receive new licences. The move follows the
sacking of an opposition newspaper editor, the refusal to allow entrance to international monitors, and
restrictions on sending out mass text messages.
Critics say this is bound to inhibit reporting in the run-up to both November’s parliamentary elections and next year’s presidential poll.
October 11th, 2010
A breakfast show anchor for Television New Zealand has
resigned after being accused of racist behaviour. Paul Henry was shown laughing at the mispronunciation of the name of the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, which should sound more like “
Dixit” in English. The Indian government lodged a formal complaint, calling the presenter’s comments “racist and bigoted”. Henry had already been suspended over accusations of racism, after suggesting that Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, who is of Indo-Fijian descent, was not really a New Zealander. The television host said he was “astonished” and “dismayed” at the uproar his comments had caused.
August 9th, 2010
The television censorship committee in Egypt has
decided to delete scenes deemed inappropriate from television dramas such as Al Aar and Al Haijah Zahra that will be aired during the month of Ramadan. Scenes considered inappropriate include those that have sexual connotations and that talk about drugs and secret marriage.
June 25th, 2010
Irena Maryniak talks to Sadeq Saba, head of BBC Persian service, about the channel’s future, signal jamming and impartiality
(more…)
June 11th, 2010
The broadcast licences of TV5 Kanal and TVi have been
cancelled by the courts. The two stations are regarded as being critical of President Viktor Yanukovych’s administration. The day before this decision was taken, journalists at TV5 Kanal released an
open letter claiming they were being harassed by the SBU, Ukraine’s main security agency. The wife of
SBU director, Valeriy Khoroshkovskiy, runs one of TV5 and TVi’s competitors.
May 7th, 2010
Journalists of the TSN news programme have issued an
open letter yesterday accusing the 1+1 TV station of
censoring their bulletins. According to the 15 journalists who signed the letter, the “last straw” was the station’s decision to edit out footage of
a fight between the opposition and ruling majority in parliament, during a broadcast on 2 May.
Oleksandr Tkachenko, general director of 1+1 has denied the charges and accused the journalists of lacking “professionalism”.
April 20th, 2010
A Paris court
has fined the France 24 news channel for repeating rumours that first lady Carla Bruni was having an affair with a French pop singer. Judges ordered the publicly-funded channel to pay 3,000 euros to the singer in question, Benjamin Biolay, following a ruling that the coverage violated his privacy. On April 6, it was reported that President Sarkozy has ordered a
“campaign of terror” to punish those responsible for
rumours which circulated last month on supposed extra-marital affairs by the French first couple reported in Britain and Switzerland. Lawyers for France 24 argued that it that exceptional level of international coverage made it a legitimate story to include in their press review. The court rejected this defence.
April 9th, 2010
Two of China’s most important state television networks, China Central Television (CCTV) and Beijing Television (BTV)
confirmed on Tuesday that the government have issued new guidelines to stop journalists using English acronyms during broadcasts. Terms such as GDP and WTO are to be substituted for their Chinese equivalents in an attempt to maintain the
purity of the Chinese language.
