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Should Georgia Be Censoring Russian Broadcasts?
Since August 9 when Russian troops entered Georgia the Georgians have been blocking Russian radio and TV broadcasts (the majority of Georgians speak Russian) probably figuring it has enough problems on its hands without having to deal with what it obviously believed would be Russian propaganda. But the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York has urged Georgia to stop the censorship.
“In a democracy such as Georgia the public has a right to hear a broad range of opinion and news, especially at this critical juncture in its history,” said CPJ Deputy Director Rob Mahoney. “We urge the authorities to allow RTVi (Russian Television International) to resume transmission and to unblock other Russian-language broadcasts and Web sites.”
Mind you maybe Georgia has good reason to censor Russian TV, if this report from Moscow News is any indication of what is going on: “As he waited for a BBC interview to begin, Mikhail Saakashvili took a call on his cell phone, absentmindedly stuffed the end of his red silk tie in his mouth and began to chew it in an apparent attack of nerves.
“What he did not know was that the cameras were already rolling and the BBC would broadcast the footage on Friday, with a joking comment about the Georgian leader chewing over his next move.
“The clip was soon picked up by Russian news sources, which gave it a more sinister spin, calling in criminal psychiatrist Mikhail Vinogradov to comment on Saakashvili's mental state.
“Vinogradov, who specializes in serial killers, told the Vesti news channel on Saturday that Saakashvili "shows the highest degree of anxiety" and that he is "psychologically inadequate.”
With such goings on, the Georgian censorship will likely continue for a while longer.
NBC Expands Overseas Production
NBC Universal has bought Carnival, a major UK TV production house whose programs are well known on commercial television as well as the BBC. It’s all part of NBC’s stated policy of more than doubling its non-US revenues by 2010.
NBC recently bought a 26% share of NDTV Networks in India, and has launched Sci-Fi Channels in Japan, Russia, Asia and Eastern Europe.
It was back in 1993 that NBC bought Super Channel based in London and began pan-European broadcasting of its domestically-produced programs such as Today and Dateline. There was even Notre Dame football. But in March, 1996, NBC converted the station to CNBC Europe, available on most European cable systems, and most NBC produced domestic programming disappeared.
But one of the neat programming remaining is that CNBC Europe runs the Tonight Show with Jay Leno as a 30-minute no commercial program at midnight CET as a lead-in to the live NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. To see Tonight boiled down to just 30 minutes without commercial interruption is pure Heaven!
It Doesn’t Pay To Steal Newspapers!
The Straits Times of Singapore reports that a construction worker who stole more than 500 copies of its newspapers has ended up with a week in jail in lieu of paying a Singapore $1000 fine (€480, $700).
The thief admitted to stealing 547 copies of the newspaper that had been left bundled on a street in preparation for next day distribution. But when the distributor went to pick up the stack it was gone.
A man was later spotted trying to sell newspapers to a junk yard and the jig was up. The thief could have received a sentence up to three years plus a fine.
China Also Has Problems With Illegal Olympics Web Coverage
So much attention has focused on NBC Internet traffic cop policies to ensure Americans don’t see anything from the Olympics before NBC wants them to see it, that it has been lost in the shuffle that even the host nation has its problems, too.
The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) says that within the first three days of the Olympics there were more than 1,600 illegal online broadcasts of Olympic content available in China. State Television has exclusive Olympic broadcast and Internet rights in China.
Yan Xiaohong, GAPP Vice-Director, said 100 of those sites originated in China and were quickly closed down. But the rest were located on servers outside China and while GAPP couldn’t close them down it could and did limit their accessibility within China.
GM Is Serious In Cutting Its TV Ad Spend -- Drops Two Major Sponsorships
General Motors is putting action behind its words that it is reviewing its TV advertising spend says it is dropping two big live television events sponsorships – the Emmy awards next month but more importantly the Oscars next February. This year GM is said to have spent some $14 million on its Oscar activities including making 75 cars available for stars to travel to the various parties afterwards. Now they’ll have to hitch-hike?
Prompting GMs decision may well have been that the Oscars this year had the lowest viewership since 1974, 32 million, down from 40.2 million the year before. Even so, ABC is looking for a 7% rate increase for 2009, to around $1.8 million for a 30-second ad and GM may well be saying at those rates with lower viewership the value received is questionable.
And this will be the last year that GM has such a prominent marketing and advertising role with the Olympics. GM is ending its long sponsorship of the U.S. Olympic Committee and its NBC Olympic sponsorship.
Voice of Russia increases service to Georgia
…planning is everything…
Russia’s well-planned campaign in Georgia included, unsurprisingly, media.
Russia’s international broadcaster Voice of Russia (VOR) is increasing “its broadcasting for Georgia by increasing the number of short and medium-wave transmitters,” said a press statement, reported by Interfax. VOR also has taken an FM frequency in Abkhazia.
VOR’s transmitters in the Georgian capital Tbilisi were closed August 8th, the Georgian government banning all Russian radio and TV the next day.
Domestic Russian State radio channels Vesti and Mayak began broadcasting in South Ossetia last week on FM and medium wave.
Reuters reported (August 17) a Georgian spokesperson saying that Russian troops had “blown up” the Georgian broadcasting center in Gori and that transmitting equipment had been trucked in. The Russian Defense Ministry also started trucking in the Russian State newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.(JMH)
Where Is The BBC World Service News In Georgian? Where Is VOA in Russian?
It’s times like the Russia-Georgia conflict that international shortwave broadcasters, (these days mostly delivered via the Internet instead) such as the BBC and VOA (Voice of America) come into their own with local language newscasts giving a supposedly propaganda-free view of what is going on to listeners in the war-zone. But times have changed. While the BBC still has a Russian language service and a Ukrainian service there is no Georgian service. VOA has just dumped its Russian language broadcast service (great timing but it still has a Russian language web site) while for Georgia it still has four broadcasters working real overtime in Washington putting out a daily skeletal product for a service scheduled to end by the end of September. The emphasis today for world broadcasters is Arabic and Farsi!
Neither VOA or its Board of Governors issued any statement that it had ended Russian language broadcasts according to Ted Lipien, president of FreeMediaOnline.org and acting VOA associate director until 2006. He wrote that Congress has continually wanted to continue language broadcasts to many parts of Eastern Europe, but the Board of Governors was continually transferring those monies to other projects that since 9/11 have taken on more importance such as Arabic and Persian services.
Guess everyone thought Europe was now safe and secure and no need for western broadcasters to remain involved. Guess they got that one wrong! Incidentally those relics of the Cold War – Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty have announced that until further notice their Georgia Service will add a fourth hour of live, primetime news coverage.
McCain A TV Sponsor of Obama’s Convention!
Americans trying to get away from the upcoming elections thought they could lose themselves in Olympic sports, but they were wrong. The Obama and McCain campaigns both have been advertising during NBC’s coverage (at very advantageous rates!)
So if Democrats then thought that at least they would have a week, starting next week, of seeing all of the Obama’s attributes at the Democratic campaign without interruption from McCain then they got that one wrong, too. It seems McCain’s campaign has bought advertising time during network coverage -- and you have to admit that’s pretty smart thinking by the Republicans.
McCain has the kind of money problem everyone would like to have. Because he is accepting $84 million in federal funds there are strings attached and one of those strings is that all the monies McCain has raised up during primary season and up to his convention the first week of September must be spent by then or it is lost. McCain has some $21 million on hand so how to spend it – well why not go after those folks watching the Democratic convention? Obama, incidentally, is flush with cash, too, but he is not accepting federal money so he can spend campaign funding any way he likes.
“We continue to have record months of fundraising,” says McCain campaign manager Rick Davis. “This is now the fifth month in a row that we have exceeded the month before.” During the entire primary campaign through to the Republican convention McCain will have spent around $60 million on TV advertising.
Czech radio management continues in turmoil
It’s tough at the top
The search for “stability” at Czech public radio main channel Radiozurnal will not include chief editor (news director) Alexander Picha. Last Wednesday night (August 13) Picha informed the Council of Czech public radio that he has removed his name from consideration as the channels' General Director. He will remain chief editor.
Picha was the sole candidate for the top job a Radiozurnal. He explained that he “did not want to destabilize Radiozurnal,” in an interview with iDNES.cz (August 14). He declined further comment on his decision.
Radiozurnal has been plagued with management turmoil for several years. Picha was named Director in 2003 after ten years as chief editor. He left at the end of 2005 to become the Washington DC correspondent. Since then General Directors at Radiozurnal seem to stay about four months on average.
All the chatter about who’s in and who’s out has been played out publically. Picha returned to Radiozurnal in February as “editor responsible for management” after the director at the time melted down and was fired. Audience share for Radiozurnal shot up. (See article on the most recent Czech radio survey here) “It was a big media event, which attracted attention to Radiozurnal,” said Picha.
“People don’t want to change,” said one Czech Radio insider, implying that the Radiozurnal staff will make life hell for anybody in the top job. (JMH)
Ad for fuel efficient car upsets Arabs
“You destroyed my home! May God destroy your home!”
Nissan Motor Company is banking on its fuel efficient Tiida to interest car buyers with no interest in paying confiscatory prices at the pump. So when the Israeli Nissan distributor produced a TV ad for the Tiida’s launch the intent was to drive home that one basic thought. It obviously worked.
The ad, which only aired on Israeli TV for three days, opens with several men dressed in the flowing white dishdash surrounded by bodyguards leaving a hotel, heading for an extremely long white limousine. On seeing the unpretentious Tiida parked nearby one man became incensed, kicking tires, prostrating himself on the bonnet, screaming, “You destroyed my home! May God destroy your home! Hawks should peck at you day and night.”
“It’s clear the oil companies won’t like you,” was the voice-over tag-line.
Granted, the ad appeals to the baser instincts of stereotyping. And the Gulf Arab media jumped all over it. But that is, as one Israeli commentator put it, just like a Chinese toy maker complaining about cheap American imports.
Nissan Motor Company and its Gulf States distributor quickly distanced themselves from the ad, blaming the Israeli distributor for producing it. Automakers rarely involve themselves in advertising produced locally, astounding Gulf Arab critics. Nissan told the distributor to pull the ad and never run it again…after the fact.
Television channels in the Gulf region expressed outrage for days, featuring the ad in newscasts. You can find the ad on YouTube. Hundreds of thousands of people have seen it. (JMH)
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