The newly appointed Zimbabwe Media Commission has promised to issue new licences to private newspapers, following years of restrictive media regulations that sent numerous publications out of business.
According to Reuters, the Media Commission’s actions will fulfil one of the requirements of the power-sharing agreement between Zimbabwe’s main three political… Continue Reading >>
International Media, Journalism March 20th 2010 — 10:06 am
CNN’s respected foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour will be moving to ABC later this year, with the announcement that she will be George Stephanopoulos‘ replacement on the Sunday morning show This Week.
Amanpour’s move to ABC ends a 27-year association with CNN, including eighteen years as an international correspondent for the… Continue Reading >>
Appointments, International Media March 19th 2010 — 2:44 pm
In a development which will have policy wonks and comedians alike licking their lips, the American cable broadcaster C-SPAN is putting the finishing touches on its online video archive: over 160,000 hours of non-stop government proceedings, legislative debate and other public affairs programming.
C-SPAN has been dedicated purely to the… Continue Reading >>
International Media, Politics March 16th 2010 — 11:14 pm
The New York Times Company has revealed that its two top executives received sizeable pay increases in 2009, despite a tough year for the publisher marked by austerity and widespread layoffs.
The company disclosed the compensation for its chairman, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., and its chief executive Janet Robinson at the weekend,… Continue Reading >>
International Media March 15th 2010 — 10:20 am
The British subscription television provider BSkyB is readying itself to fight the television regulator Ofcom over sports broadcasting, claiming that Ofcom is misusing its position to break down Sky’s market position.
It is expected that Ofcom’s super-review of the British pay TV market – which has gone on for three… Continue Reading >>
Industry, International Media March 14th 2010 — 7:19 pm
A television network created panic in Georgia this morning, after airing a fake news report claiming that the country’s president had been assassinated and Russian forces had stormed the capital Tbilisi.
According to Reuters, the national network Imedi TV aired the report, which lasted half an hour, with the fleeting… Continue Reading >>
International Media, Politics March 14th 2010 — 6:32 pm
Afghanistan’s administration has backed away media rules which could have stopped the media from broadcasting footage of Taliban attacks or security operations by Afghan forces.
Washington and media freedom watchdogs in Afghanistan had expressed concern with respect to the new directives, as previously reported in TSR. The directives would have… Continue Reading >>
International Media, Journalism, Politics March 14th 2010 — 4:25 pm
The dispute between the BBC World Service and Bob Geldof over the diversion of aid money raised in the 1980s Live Aid concerts has continued to escalate, with Ethiopia’s top diplomat to Britain calling for an official apology from the broadcaster.
Ethiopia’s ambassador to Britain, Berhanu Kebede, said today that… Continue Reading >>
International Media, Journalism, Politics March 14th 2010 — 3:10 pm
The ex-wife of Nelson Mandela has created confusion after claiming that a British newspaper “fabricated” an interview with her, in which she claimed that the former South African president had “let us down”.
On Monday, the Evening Standard published an article featuring comments by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela describing Mandela’s name as “an… Continue Reading >>
International Media March 13th 2010 — 4:46 pm
Britain’s Daily Mail faces possible legal action from Facebook over a story which suggested that teenage girls who signed up to the website could receive obscene messages from older men “within minutes”.
The Guardian reports that Facebook fears permanent damage to its reputation due to the piece, which details how a… Continue Reading >>
International Media, Legal March 11th 2010 — 11:52 pm
A coalition of US cable and satellite companies have jointly approached the Federal Communications Commission in order to gain their assistance as they continue to battle free-to-air broadcasters over carriage fees.
Normally business rivals cable companies Time Warner, Verizon and Cablevision have joined satellite providers Dish Network and DirecTV in… Continue Reading >>
International Media March 11th 2010 — 6:29 pm
Television coverage of the 82nd Academy Awards attracted an estimated 41.3 million viewers in the US earlier this week, giving the broadcaster ABC its best ratings for the Oscars since 2005.
The audience reported by Nielsen represents a 14 per cent increase on last year’s result, and follows changes made… Continue Reading >>
International Media, Ratings March 10th 2010 — 8:35 pm
The man accused of attempting to blackmail late night chat show host David Letterman has pleaded guilty to the attempt in the New York State Supreme Court yesterday.
Robert Halderman, a producer at CBS’ 48 Hours was charged last year after attempting to extort $2 million (US) out of… Continue Reading >>
Celebrities / Personalities, International Media, Television Programmes March 10th 2010 — 5:18 pm
Rupert Murdoch has urged countries in the Middle East to open their markets to foreign media companies, and to avoid the temptation to move toward a model of “creative protectionism”.
Speaking at the first Abu Dhabi Media Summit this morning, the News Corporation chairman said that liberalisation of media markets in… Continue Reading >>
Industry, International Media March 10th 2010 — 3:59 pm
Cablevision’s stalemate with Disney ended on Sunday, with both parties reaching agreement over the payment for Cablevision’s carriage of New York station WABC.
Tri-State Cablevision subscribers ended up only missing the first 14 minutes of the Oscars as an agreement was finally reached. In separate statements, both parties heralded the… Continue Reading >>
International Media, Television March 10th 2010 — 7:02 am