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January/February 2005
Vol. 24 No. 1
PP 4408/2/2005 ISSN 0127-4902
ABU members
unite in tragedy
Soldiers and civilians walking among the ruins in post-tsunami Galle, Sri Lanka – MTV Photo
The sheer scale of the tsunami
disaster – which killed about
300,000 people and tore the
heart out of coastal communities
across South and Southeast Asia –
has seen ABU members uniting at
an unprecedented level in the face
of tragedy.
As the extent of the devastation
became clearer in the grim run-up to the
New Year, ABU members swung into
action by initiating relief efforts and
organising donation drives for survivors,
as well as contributing equipment to
affected broadcasters.
The coordination and publicity for
these large-scale projects were handled
by the ABU Secretariat. Its headquarters
in Kuala Lumpur was abuzz with activity
as each department took charge of
specific functions and requirements of
the concerted efforts.
The major tasks included coordinating
relief campaigns for survivors and
pooling the resources of members to
restore broadcast operations in tsunamihit
areas across the region.
Among the first organisations to
offer aid was Commercial Radio
Australia. It mooted the idea of sending
50,000 radio sets with fresh batteries
to survivors to help them tune into
announcements of government and
international aid.
This initiative went hand-in-hand
with rebuilding damaged radio stations
and other broadcasting facilities in
Aceh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives –
three areas badly hit by the killer waves.
Towards this end, the needs of
affected member broadcasters were
relayed by the Secretariat to ABU
(cont’d on page 4)
INSIDE
NEW GA VENUE • EBISAWA TRIBUTE • STUDY TOUR LAUNCHED • ABU NEWS INTERVIEW

ABU
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Vietnam to host 2005
General Assembly
The historic and cultural city of Hanoi will host
the ABU General Assembly for the first time
The venue for the ABU’s 2005
General Assembly and annual
meetings has been changed
to Hanoi, Vietnam.
ABU Secretary-General, David Astley,
made the announcement in January after
several months of discussions with
Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV).
He said that the Secretariat had been
advised by Prasar Bharati in November
that they were unable to host the 2005
General Assembly in India as planned.
“VOV had previously indicated
interest in hosting the General Assembly
in 2005, so we immediately contacted
them to see if they could step into the
breach,” Mr Astley said.
“We were delighted to receive advice
from VOV on January 17 that they
had obtained Government approval
to proceed.”
Administrative Council meeting being
held on November 24 and the threeday
General Assembly opening on
November 26.
This will be the first time that Vietnam
has hosted an ABU General Assembly
or Administrative Council meeting.
Mr Astley said that the dates were
about two months later than last year
to avoid the Muslim fasting month of
Ramadan.
“The choice of dates for the annual
meetings also took into account that
some members would want to attend
the WSIS meetings in Tunis from
November 16 to 18, and the World
Media Environment Summit in Sarawak
from November 30 to December 2,”
he added.
The General Assembly will be hosted
jointly by VOV and Vietnam Television
(VTV) and the dates of the meetings
will be November 21 to 28, with the
The spectacular World Heritage coastline of Halong Bay
is a two-hour drive from Hanoi
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ABU News Jan/Feb 2005
Vol. 24 No. 1
Published six times a year by the
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
Publisher : David Astley
Email : david.astley@abu.org.my
Editor: Carol Murugiah
Email : carol@abu.org.my
Editorial Assistant : Lisa E. Mohamad
Email : lisa@abu.org.my
Contributors :
Alan Williams
Haruo Sakitsu
Sharad Sadhu
Vanessa Ching
Top: Survivors crowd a lorry transporting food and rations
Below: Volunteer workers unloading supplies
Guest Contributors :
Wanpen Upton
Takashi Harada
Kim Kyung Hee
Photo Credits :
MTV-Sri Lanka
RTHK-Hong Kong
Channel 11-Phuket
TVB-Hong Kong
SBS-Australia
Office:
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
PO Box 1164
59700 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel : (60-3) 2282-3592
Fax : (60-3) 2282-5292
Website : www.abu.org.my
Printed by Xpress Graphic
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58200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
PP 4408/2/2005
ISSN 0127-4902
For advertising enquiries,
please contact the Editor.
Editorial contributions are welcome.
ABU News is supplied free of charge
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(six issues) airmailed to
anywhere in the world.
(from page 1)
members that were able to spare basic
equipment, as well as engineers and
technicians to help in the rebuilding
process.
Meanwhile, major fund-raisers
organised by ABU members were given
much publicity by the Secretariat. These
include benefit concerts featuring topnotch
international entertainers such as
Germany’s “Berlin for Asia”, and “MTV
Asia Aid” in Bangkok. (see page 8)
Proceeds from these concerts, tele-
Relief
centre
operations
get
underway
in Sri
Lanka
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thons and other donation drives were
poured into various funds set up for
tsunami survivors or channelled directly
into aid organisations assisting in
troubled areas.
The efforts by ABU members were
hailed by ABU Secretary-General, David
Astley, who said that the Secretariat was
able to undertake a valuable coordinating
role in bringing together members who
needed help and those with offers of
assistance.
“As soon as the extent of the tragedy
became apparent, we were receiving
calls from broadcasters around the
world asking how they could help
members in the countries that had been
hit by the tsunami,” said Mr Astley.
“Secretariat staff worked long hours
responding to all of the requests and
ensuring that offers of assistance were
conveyed to members in the affected
countries.
“This was not an easy task in the
early stages because of difficulties in
communicating with those countries,”
he added.
The disaster was also a potent
reminder that broadcasters play a crucial
role in relaying emergency warnings to
reduce the number of casualties and
provide relief information to victims
in the wake of a major disaster.
This is the reason for a workshop on
natural disasters for broadcasters from
around the region. Strongly supported by
the ABU, the workshop was scheduled to
be hosted by Japan’s public broadcaster,
NHK, in Tokyo from 28 February to 2
March.
As economists and political experts
round the world predict that it may take
up to 10 years before things return to
normal for people in tsunami-struck
areas, the efforts by ABU members will
continue for quite a while yet.
The many faces of tragedy
Top: Debris from the tsunami being cleared in Sri Lanka
Below: The long rebuilding process begins
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ABU launches tsunami
programme exchange
The ABU has started a TV
programme exchange on the
tsunami disaster to provide
assistance to ABU members in
tsunami-hit countries to raise public
awareness on the phenomenon.
The programme exchange aims to
give the public a better understanding
of tsunamis, considering that the lack
of knowledge about the natural phenomenon
resulted in over 300,000 deaths.
It was also reported that the loss of life
would not have been so devastating if
there had been a tsunami early warning
system in place in the region.
The need for public awareness on the
tsunami was demonstrated in Timor Leste
one week after the Boxing Day tsunami
struck. Rumours were rife that a tsunami
would hit Dili, the capital, causing
widespread panic there for several hours.
ABU member RTTL-Timor Leste
later asked the Secretariat to provide
programmes that would explain
the occurrence of earthquakes and
tsunamis. This request conveys the
importance and urgency of providing
accurate information about tsunamis
to the people.
In January, the ABU Programme
Department called on members to offer
educational and documentary programmes
about tsunamis on a rights-free
basis. In response to this request, TBS-
Japan offered a 25-minute programme
titled “The Present Danger”, which was
distributed to ABU members via satellite on
24 January. NHK also offered a 25-minute
programme, called “A Complete Picture
of Tsunamis”, which was distributed a
week later. Both programmes explain the
occurrence of earthquakes and tsunamis,
the destruction that tsunamis can cause
and possible disaster control measures.
Mobile satellite units enable broadcast journalists to record
and transmit ‘live’ feeds from virtually anywhere in the world
These programmes offered by the
Japanese broadcasters were produced
based on the latest results of tsunami
studies in Japan. They are informative
and educative. By the end of January, the
ABU had received requests from 17
members in 12 countries and regions,
namely Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong,
Kazakhstan, India, Indonesia, Jordan,
Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka
and Timor Leste to air these programmes.
Apart from satellite distribution, the
Programme Department is also distributing
the TBS and NHK programmes in
Betacam SP PAL to ABU members upon
request. Other ABU members interested
in these programmes may access the
ABU website www.abu.org.my (ABU
TV Programme Exchange on Tsunami
Disaster) to download a request form.
In Indonesia, TVRI broadcast the NHK
programme on 2 February on prime
time. It aired the TBS programme the
following day.
Pipiet Irianto, General Manager of TVRI
(News), said: “These programmes are
timely as most Indonesians – especially
the Achenese – are still traumatised. NHK
and TBS showed, not only to the people
of Indonesia, but to the leaders of the
country, how important preventive
measures against tsunamis are.”
Viewers’ feedback
Among the TVRI viewers’ comments
on the programmes were:
● “They should be shown frequently to
help prepare the public when there
is a strong indication of a tsunami.
Japan’s experiences and its ways in
dealing with tsunamis – such as having
early warning systems, tsunami
education and evacuation systems –
should be learnt by Indonesians,
especially those living in coastal areas.”
● “I have never watched such a
programme before. It gave me a
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lot of knowledge on tsunamis. Now,
Indonesians will know what they
have to do if a tsunami hits.”
● “If these programmes had been
broadcast before the tsunami, many
Achenese could have escaped the
tragedy. TV stations must air this kind
of informative programmes as often
as possible.”
Radio online exchange
In February, the Programme Department
also started the “ABU Radio
Programme Online Exchange on the
Tsunami Disaster”.
ABU members are encouraged to
send their tsunami-related radio
feature programmes in MP3 format
to the Secretariat with the English
synopses and scripts by e-mail.
A Belgian TV crew conducting an interview in Phuket
in the aftermath of the tsunami
A list of the offered programmes
will then be posted on the ABU website
for ABU members to download and
broadcast. Details of this new initiative
are available at the ABU website.
The ABU Programme Department
is working on the following projects:
1. “The Asian Tsunami: Whole Picture of
Destruction” (until March 2005)
This is a project consisting of episodes, 15 to 30 minutes
long, using mainly our members’ archive footage capturing
the extent of destruction caused by the tsunami. Each
episode will feature the extent of damage in one particular
country hit by the tsunami. The project will be conducted
within the framework of the ABU “TV Programme Exchange
on Tsunami Disaster”. The episodes or programmes may,
upon request, be made available mainly to the ABU
members. The ABU aims to put up an “Asian Tsunami
Library/Archive” based on this project.
2. “Tsunami Aftermath: The Road to Recovery”
(June & December 2005)
It is said that it will take at least 10 years for the
affected areas to fully recover from the tsunami tragedy.
Against this backdrop of catastrophe, how will the
reconstruction of the affected areas proceed and how
will the survivors carry on with their lives? Broadcasters,
especially from the tsunami-hit countries, are encouraged
to participate in this documentary co-production.
Each participating broadcaster will produce a documentary
which will focus on long term and in-depth coverage with
detailed accounts of peoples’ efforts to recover. RTHK-
Hong Kong has appointed an Executive Producer for this
project.
3. “The Tsunami Tragedy: One Year Later – live”
(26 December 2005)
How has the reconstruction process progressed one year
after the tsunami hit Asia? Have smiles returned to peoples’
faces? This programme will offer a live relay report focusing
on the real situation at affected areas and the living
conditions of the victims. The programme will also include
a live report of memorial services for the victims as well
as a relay message to survivors from people in non-affected
countries. Both ABU and non-ABU members are
encouraged to join this project, which will be broadcast
simultaneously on TV and radio.
For further information, please contact Haruo Sakitsu,
Director of Programme Department.
(E-mail:sakitsu.h@abu.org.my)
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The ‘humanitarian’ side of broadcasters
It severely tested the physical
strength and emotional
endurance of broadcast
journalists and technical staff,
who were thrown into the fray to
provide continuous news coverage
of the world’s worst disaster in
living memory.
But the Asian tsunami disaster also
presented broadcasters with the
unexpected opportunity to showcase
their ability to diversify in times of
crises, such as becoming large-scale
fundraisers and relief coordinators.
Fundraising radio and TV specials
were aired, telethons got underway and
donation drives were organised to collect
as much money, medicine and supplies
as possible for an estimated one million
people made homeless by the tsunami.
Through such goodwill initiatives by
broadcasters, millions of dollars were
pledged, collected and handed over
to humanitarian organisations and
governments of the affected countries
to be channelled to those needing aid.
RTHK’s Operation Santa Claus for child survivors of the tsunami
gets underway
first lorry-load of goods was being
transported to affected coastal areas.
“I was on my way for a holiday with
my family that morning. I got a phone
call about the tsunami and I immediately
turned back to Colombo to meet my
senior managers to see what we could
do to help,” SLRC Director-General
Nishantha Ranatunga said.
humanitarian aid movement by
organising benefit concerts, telethons
and disaster funds for survivors.
One of the first ABU members to
stage fund-raising events was TVB-Hong
Kong, which spared no effort in helping
the city’s donation appeals along with
other media organisations to reach
HK$700 million (US$90 million).
It was also the broadcasting fraternity
in most tsunami-hit countries that
responded first to the immediate needs
of a stricken population, getting news of
the devastation out to decision-makers
and others in a position to help the
victims.
With most government offices
closed over the Christmas-Boxing Day
period, it was up to broadcasting and
other media organisations to kick-start
relief operations in affected areas while
waiting for aid from government and
humanitarian organisations to arrive.
Elsewhere, broadcasters and
broadcasting-related organisations
rallied to support the international
The TV broadcaster organised two
fund-raising events in the space of 56
hours for victims of the tsunami.
SLRC-Sri Lanka, for instance,
immediately began collecting food,
clothing and dry rations after news
broke of the 9.30am disaster in its
homeland. By 6pm the same day, the
RTHK’s Apple Countdown raises funds for tsunami relief efforts
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tsunami survivors. A repeat broadcast
will be held on 22 June.
The event was supported by the ABU,
the European Broadcasting Union,
UNICEF and Deutsche Welle-Germany. It
featured Asian and European artistes
such as Ramesh B Weeratunga &
Friends, Jocelyn B. Smith, Wu-wei and
Son Doro.
But the biggest benefit concert
organised in support of tsunami relief
operations was the MTV Asia Aid. It
featured international artistes such as
Alicia Keyes, Hoobastank, Jennifer Lopez,
Sting, and Simple Plan.
Telephonists at SBS-Australia’s ‘radiothon’ busily attending to
phone-in pledges
Proceeds were distributed through
international humanitarian bodies
such as the Red Cross, Oxfam, UNICEF
and the Salvation Army.
Another ABU member which quickly
put together a special ‘live’ programme
on the disaster was MBC-Korea, which
aired the show on 12 January to raise
funds in support of relief efforts for the
tsunami tragedy.
RTB also launched a charity CD to
raise money for the victims featuring
four songs specially composed by Brunei
songwriters. Each CD is being sold for
BN$7.00 (just over US$4.00).
Germany’s RBB-radiomultikulti
organised a benefit concert called
“Berlin for Asia” which was webcast
‘live’ on 22 January by broadcasters
worldwide to garner support for the
Top Asian artistes who performed at
the event, which was held in Thailand,
included India’s Asha Bhosle, Thailand’s
Bird Thongchai McIntyre, Malaysia’s Siti
Nurhaliza, Indonesia’s Slank and Japan’s
Namie Amura.
With the help of the ABU, member
broadcasters were able to air the concert
rights-free and cost-free in their
respective countries. The show also
premiered on all MTV channels
worldwide to a potential audience of
over one billion people.
SBS-Australia organised a ‘radiothon’
from 2 to 10 January to get its listeners to
pledge donations for survivors that would
be sent through World Vision, CARE
Australia and the Vietnamese-Australian
Buddhist Assistance Trust.
It received donations and pledges
from over 10,000 listeners amounting
to more than AU$1.4 million (US$1.1
million) – a record amount for any
appeal conducted by SBS Radio in its
30-year history.
Other broadcasters organised
charity concerts featuring local
celebrities to raise funds for tsunami
survivors. Among them was Brunei’s
public broadcaster RTB which staged
a benefit concert on Valentine’s Day
with 60 local artistes.
SBS-Australia had its receptionists take down pledges over the phone
in 20 different languages
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The Phuket Experience
By WANPEN UPTON
Producer & Chief of News
Programmes, Channel 11 Phuket
Charn Muangsri felt the earth
trembling beneath his feet as
he washed his car at home.
The Channel 11 cameraman
dropped his cleaning rag and
rushed to the television station
which sits on Rang Hill in Phuket
town – in the heart of Phuket
Island – to get his beta camera. His
next stop was the meteorological
office near Phuket’s international
airport, some 30-minutes drive
away. His mission: to get as much
information on the phenomenon
as he could to broadcast to the
public.
This was standard procedure for
Channel 11 cameramen, as the station
was a small outfit where cameramen
doubled up as reporters during an
emergency. Upon his arrival, Charn
began receiving calls from residents in
Koh Katha, Racha Island and Patong
about a massive wave sweeping over
Thailand’s famous beaches. Charn
decided to head to Koh Katha and
dispatched junior cameraman Noppadol
A television crew ‘live’ on location at an Early Warning System meeting
in Phuket, Thailand
to Patong beach, expecting something
bad to have happened there. Little did he
expect that a giant killer wave had
pounded the island.
Following Charn’s instructions,
Noppadol and a driver rushed to Patong
Beach, a 15-minute drive from the
television station. Their path was
obstructed by a ‘wave’ of cars and people
running up the hill in a panic. With help
from the police, the news vehicle
managed to inch its way forward.
Noppadol decided to hitch a ride with
a motorcyclist to Patong Beach to save
time.
The first footage Noppadol filmed that
morning from Patong Beach was
subsequently used over and over by Thai
and international media. It showed a
tiny Thai man carrying on his back an
older man – a foreigner – who was
injured. The footage not only showed
Wanpen Upton (right) prepares for a ‘live’ interview
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Cameramen getting ready for a ‘live’ feed

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the devastation and chaos caused by the
tsunami, but it also told the world how
Thais cared about other people in the
event of a crisis.
Realising how bad the situation was at
sea-level, many people scrambled to the
television station as it was on a hill.
Therefore, after the news items were sent
up to Bangkok for the main station to
broadcast, the Rang Hill station decided
to switch to its local programmes to calm
the public down, help them release their
frustration, inform them of what was
happening, and reunite families torn apart
by the disaster.
Assistance and
relief centre
As most mobile communication lines
were down, the station relied on its two
land lines which rang non-stop.
Hospitals brought in lost children in the
hope of reuniting them with their
parents. Hundreds of missing persons’
names were announced until the
programmes ended each day. Relief
centre activities were carried out
between four and five hours each day,
after which other related programmes
were broadcast nationwide. Even though
staff were busy with their own work, the
station director asked them to take
foreigners seeking refuge at the station
to the airport once it was reopened.
They were also told to do whatever they
could to relieve the foreigners of their
fears and sorrows.
Working
round-the-clock
From 26 December until 15 January,
staff at the station – especially the news
teams – worked 24 hours, seven days a
week. Thai and English programmes
were broadcast nationally and on the
Internet worldwide for several weeks.
The news unit made sure that rescue
work, relief operations, and the
restoration of people’s lives were
covered. The generous donations,
emotional memorials, Thai and foreign
dignitaries’ visits, and the identification of
those killed were covered alongside the
government rehabilitation programmes.
The station also made sure that
accurate information on the island’s
tourist resources were broadcast to the
world, such as the near-complete
restoration of Patong Beach on Phuket
Island. The situation on the beaches of
Kata Karon was also back to normal.
What was not normal was the dramatic
drop of tourist arrivals to these beaches,
which has hit the local tourism industry
badly and made many workers jobless.
Being stationed in Phuket Town, it
was not difficult for the crew to work
throughout the crisis, as the facilities and
infrastructure were of a good standard.
News teams managed to hop onto
helicopters of various aid organisations
to get aerial shots of places like Phi Phi,
Racha and Khao Lak. At the same time,
the station had been busy providing
footage for visiting international media
and links to foreign-based media.
Manpower constraints
The biggest challenge, however, was
finding enough time and manpower to
cover every event since Channel 11 is a
small unit with limited budget and airtime.
Despite these physical challenges, it
has managed to cover – live and
nationwide – international meetings on
tsunami early warning systems and even
an emergency meeting of the World
Tourism Organisation. The station was
also busy working on political
programmes for the Thai general
elections which were held on 6 February.
Channel 11 has pledged to continue
its local Thai programmes highlighting
the rehabilitation of the economy so that
life will return to normal for the Thai
people as soon as possible, even though
it will certainly take some time before
that can happen, and an even longer
time for their minds to recover from
such a devastating phenomenon.
Technical crew monitoring data inside an OB van
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A Swedish TV crew reporting ‘live’ from Phuket

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The broadcast journalist’s perspective
“
It was just terrible. I didn’t
know that the power of the
waves could be so strong. I
was crying in my heart.”
These were the words of Joyce Fung,
a TVB reporter from Hong Kong, on
the horrors she saw at Patong Beach
on Phuket Island, Thailand. Having
vacationed there three times before,
she was saddened to see the beautiful
beach, resorts and souvenir shops
destroyed by the tsunami.
Not even spending eight years in print
and broadcast journalism could prepare
her for the harrowing events that
unfolded after the 26 December tragedy.
Ms Fung said this was, by far, her most
difficult assignment.
Shops along Phuket’s famed Patong Beach were not spared
by the force of the tsunami
“I was used to seeing dead bodies
before, but I haven’t seen so many. It
was horrible just looking at the bodies
of children and babies,” she said in a
telephone interview from Hong Kong.
Facing a dilemma
Ms Fung had been constantly exposed
to the devastation since Boxing Day,
having been recalled on her day off to
fly straight to Thailand to cover the
tragedy. She came back to Hong Kong for
a short break on 31 December before
resuming work in Thailand from 4 to 10
January. Being subjected to the grim
scenes up to 18 hours every day took
its toll on her emotions.
“I was depressed to see so many
beautiful beaches and resorts destroyed.
So many people had lost their lives. The
hospitals were overcrowded with people
sleeping on the lobby floors. The dead
were just left to rot by the roadside in
the hot Thai weather. The rotting corpses
gave out a very bad smell.”
Ms Fung felt as if she was blindly
going forward with her reporting
every day, amid all the confusion and
uncertainties. She had encountered
problems the minute she received a
call from her editor assigning her, a
cameraman and a technician to cover
the tragedy in Phuket. For starters, there
was no direct flight available to Phuket
from Hong Kong as the airport in
Thailand was closed.
“We decided to take a flight to
Bangkok and rent a car or helicopter.
But shortly after landing at Bangkok
at 6pm, we were told that the Phuket
airport had reopened. The connecting
flight to Phuket was delayed two hours.
By the time we arrived there, it was
10pm.”
Her news team decided to head
straight to the biggest hospital to
interview survivors. However, their
arrival was greeted with anger and
suspicion.
“There were some survivors and
tourists who were unhappy and angry
at seeing us. They tried to stop us from
recording our footage by pushing the
camera away. But one British tourist
approached us and asked us to help
him contact his missing wife by
broadcasting her name on TV. But I
couldn’t give him false hopes so I told
him apologetically that our news was
meant only for Hong Kong, not Thailand
or the rest of the world.
“I felt so helpless at that time. I really
wanted to help him out. I was torn
between doing so and getting on with
my job,” Ms Fung said.
Humbling scenes
The next morning, Ms Fung visited
Patong Beach, a popular haunt for
tourists from Hong Kong. A once thriving
tourist spot now reduced to a desolate
wasteland.
“I met a Thai woman who had a
travelling bag in one hand. She was
holding onto her father with her other
hand. I asked her what was inside
the bag. She opened it and showed
me it was empty. She said it would be
used to carry anything useful she
could salvage from the heaps of
rubbish lying around.
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“Then she said that her father – in his
seventies – was the only thing she had
left in the world. I immediately thought
of my own father and my heart went out
to her,” Ms Fung said.
Stumbling blocks
Ms Fung and her team had plenty of
challenges thrown their way from Day
One. They did not have time to pack
their clothes before leaving for Thailand
or even book their accommodation in
advance. Getting a driver to take them to
the tsunami-hit areas was tough as an
alert had been issued of a second tidal
wave and the locals were fearful of going
back to the beaches.
“It was also hard to get a driver who
could speak Chinese and we also needed
a translator to help us understand what
was going on. To make matters worse,
we had technical problems and could
not transmit our footage to Hong Kong
as the Internet connection and mobile
communications were down. Luckily, we
managed to make a pact with local TV
stations and used their satellites to
transmit our footage.”
Ms Fung said the most difficult
aspect of her job was the uncertainties
she faced each day. “We woke up each
morning wondering what to do for the
day. We also did not know whom to
contact for news stories. My boss did not
give me any day-to-day instructions.
Worse still, we had to dial between 20
and 30 times before we could get
through to Hong Kong as the phone lines
in Thailand were jammed.”
Coping with the trauma
Ms Fung confirmed that constant
exposure to the devastation and the long
work hours took its toll on many
journalists.
“Some other Hong Kong-based
journalists went through depression. One
colleague said that when he got back to
Hong Kong, he was gripped with fear that
all the high-rise buildings there would
suddenly collapse!
“It took him about three days to
recover from that fear and get back to
his normal self.
“As for me, I relied on my faith in
God to get through it. I felt very sad for
the victims and I prayed to God to take
them to heaven,” she said. “That helped
me to carry on with my reporting.”
Top and below: Joyce Fung
reporting from Phuket
It was a humbling experience for Ms
Fung. She said she had taken life for
granted previously, but after the tsunami
disaster, her perspective on life has
changed.
Lessons learned
“So many people lost their lives
because they were too weak to fight the
power of the waves. The tsunami has
taught me that we cannot fight nature
even though we have the technology to
do great things and build skyscrapers.
We have to just sit back and let nature
take its course. And at the same time, we
have to cherish our lives and loved ones.
Idyllic turned eyesore: a scene of devastation in Phuket
“However, the experience has made
me a lot braver. It has also renewed my
passion for the job,” she said.
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AVF to help children bond
with nature
The planning for the first ABU
Voyage to the Future (AVF) is
well underway, with the event
organisers picking out suitable sites
in the Malaysian state of Sabah on
Borneo island for environmental
study by 30 participating schoolchildren.
Some 30 people including
representatives of participating organisations,
the AVF Secretariat, host
organisation RTM and its Kota Kinabalu
station converged in Sabah on 25 and
26 January for this purpose.
Among the study sites they identified
is the Klias peat swamp, which is lined
with mangrove and palm trees and
teeming with unique wildlife such as
fireflies and proboscis monkeys.
The organisers hope to expose the
children to the rich biodiversity found
in Sabah’s peat swamps and rainforests
over the 10-day study, which will kick
off on 22 July at the state capital of Kota
Kinabalu.
For the first three days, the children
will be split into four groups to study
AVF 2005 committee members taking in
the idyllic setting at the Klias peat swamp
which will be studied by participating
children come July
AVF 2005 committee members admiring the mangrove trees while
cruising down a river at the Klias peat swamp in Sabah
the ecosystems of different areas,
namely mountains, forests, rivers and
swamps.
The groups will get together at
Danum Valley and spend the last five
days examining and exchanging their
results.
On the last day, the 30 children will
wrap up the project, present their
findings and raise environmental issues
with the relevant authorities.
The organising committee members
had gone on an excursion to Klias on
the second day of their tour to view its
suitability. They were convinced of the
eventual success of AVF 2005 judging
from the sights they saw while cruising
by boat.
They also discussed the project
scheme, organising committee
regulations, execution plans for the
event, and programme production
and broadcasting plans.
RTM Director-General Dato’ Abdul
Rahman Hamid said he was happy that
RTM had been chosen as the host
organisation for the first AVF and Sabah
as the destination.
He added that the project will help
foster a collaborative spirit among
members on educational programmes,
and provide a good platform for
children to come together and learn
about the environment.
The 10-day study process will be
recorded in detail using hi-definition
cameras operated by filming crews
jointly formed by RTM and NHK-Japan.
Each participating organisation
will then transmit the co-produced
programme in its own country or
region.
The committee hopes that AVF 2005
and its related programmes will be
used not only by ABU members but
by other broadcasters as well.
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Study tour on new media technologies
It is all about helping the top
brass of ABU member broadcasting
organisations understand
‘new media’ technologies and take
informed decisions on venturing into
new broadcasting fields.
This is the purpose of the first ABU
Study Tour, where 40 chief executives,
chief operating officers and senior
managers of ABU members will be taken
to Korea which is enjoying a technologygenerated
boom in its broadcasting
industry.
Hosted by the Korean Broadcasting
System (KBS), participants will get a
first-hand look at strategies and business
models for new types of media, including
terrestrial Digital Mobile Broadcasting
(DMB) services.
The three-day study tour beginning 25
April will focus on content production,
media convergence and challenges
affecting broadcasters in an era where
telecommunications companies are
emerging as broadcast industry players.
The ABU Secretary-General, David
Astley, said the study tour was not a
technical one.
“It is designed to assist chief
executives of broadcasting organisations
in taking informed decisions on
venturing into new areas of broadcasting
activities,” he said.
With the study tour, the organisers
hope that participants will be able to
understand and experience:
● A world where the on-demand
consumption of audio and video
content is taken for granted;
● The opportunities for video contentmakers
created by this world; and
● The other implications of a universally
networked environment.
An interesting itinerary has been
planned for the three-day study tour.
Participants will visit major KBS multimedia
service facilities as well as listen
to a presentation on the broadband/
mobile broadcasting business model by
a commercial broadcasting station.
Tour highlights
Among topics to be covered include
the realisation of ‘One Source Multi Use’
broadcast contents through new media
channels such as mobile phones, market
research into audience take-up, and the
application of tariffs and royalty issues.
The study tour will also focus on the
topics of media convergence and mobile
broadcasting based on two Korean
models.
Korea’s SK Telecom will give a
presentation on its EV-DO based
multimedia service “June” which is a
successful multimedia service offering
vivid streaming video multi-media
services such as Voice-On-Demand,
Music-On-Demand, video phone
functions and other communications
services.
Satellite-based mobile television
service provider, TU Media Corp, will
also give a presentation on its satellite
DMB service which has started its trial
run on 10 January 2005.
Digital convergence technology will
also be featured during the study tour.
Samsung Electronics will showcase its
mobile network business based on
wireless handsets, its next generation of
telecommunications systems and its
mobile phone networks for multimedia
product delivery.
Broadband Convergence Network
(BCN) and Wireless Broadband (WIBRO)
services will also be featured. Participants
will also be acquainted with consumer
behaviour and trends in Korea.
The three-day event will end with a
roundtable discussion on “Broadcasting
in a media-converged society”.
● The implications of such a world for
practitioners responsible for the
future of terrestrial TV and radio
channels;
The KBS headquarters in Seoul
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Industry bodies to co-operate
on convergence issues
Broadcasting industry organisations
like the ABU, and those
representing the interests of
satellite and telecommunications
operators, need to liaise more
closely in the future because of the
common issues arising from the
convergence of technologies.
This was the consensus by many
speakers following presentations by the
ABU to the Pacific Telecommunications
Council (PTC) and Pacific Islands
Telecommunications Association (PITA)
annual conferences in Honolulu, Hawaii,
in January.
The ABU Secretary-General, David
Astley, told the conferences that
convergence was finally drawing the
telecommunications and broadcasting
industries much closer together in both
radio and TV.
“The days have certainly passed
where each sector of the broadcasting
and telecommunications industries
worked fairly independently of each
other and didn’t pay a great deal of
attention to what was happening in
other sectors,” he said.
“The trend of the last 10 to 20 years
of deregulation, the introduction of
competition and major technology
changes led by digitalisation, has had a
profound impact on this traditional,
individualistic approach.”
Delegate responses
Mr Astley said a number of delegates
from telecommunications companies
had approached him after the ABU presentations
to admit that they hadn’t
realised how much the sector technologies
had converged.
“We must work more closely together
and liaise more effectively on key
industry issues” was a common response
from the telco delegates, according to
Mr Astley.
The President of PITA, Maui Sanford,
agreed that his organisation needed to
work more closely with the ABU to
expand the range of broadcast services
available to smaller Pacific nations.
In many parts of the Pacific,
telecommunications operators are
already using their transmission
platforms for both radio and TV.
“Not that the broadcasters in some
countries are necessarily happy with
telcos entering the video business but,
as we know, many Pacific Island nations
are simply not in a position to provide
a television service because of the
The PTC’05 exhibition showcased many new services and products
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Satellite operators discuss industry issues during a PTC panel session
cost structures involved,” Mr Astley told
the PITA conference.
“Many radio broadcasters in the
Pacific, as is the case in other developing
areas of the world, are struggling to
provide even the most basic local radio
services.
“We are aware that PITA members
have the infrastructure in many of these
countries that could assist the people of
the Pacific to receive and benefit from the
visual side of broadcasting,” he added.
Spectrum allocation
Another issue raised by Mr Astley,
when addressing the PTC’05 plenary
session, was the way in which spectrum
is allocated.
He suggested that the system of
allocating spectrum should be overhauled
to ensure that the value of the
commodity is better optimised, given
that telecommunications operators
are providing broadcasting services
and broadcasters are using telecommunications
platforms for new
services.
particularly in respect to spectrum
needed by carriers for mobile services.
“The availability of radio spectrum is
a fixed dimension and whilst technology
enhancement allows use of the spectrum
in more efficient ways, the boundaries
around the needs of broadcasters and
telcos are becoming blurred as the
convergence process stretches and
encroaches across our industry sectors.”
He also stressed the need for
broadcasters to ensure that regulators
are well informed of broadcasters
national broadcast development plans
and how this relates to the availability
of spectrum. to achieve this
“The relationships with regulators
are pivotal to the future of broadcasting,
not only in terms of keeping them
informed about existing use of spectrum
allocations, but also about how broadcasters
intend to develop their services
in the future and the associated impact
on spectrum,” he said.
“The availability of radio spectrum is
a fixed dimension and whilst technology
enhancement allows use of the spectrum
in more efficient ways, the traditional
way of allocating spectrum needs to be
overhauled to ensure that the value of
the commodity is optimised.
“It is essential that broadcasters and
telcos work together to maintain viable
businesses which exploit the opportunities
that political changes, deregulation and
technology enhancements offer their
respective industry sectors.”
Mr Astley told the conference that
despite the importance of spectrum to
broadcasters, they often felt they were
being treated as second cousins to
the telecommunications operators,
Maui Sanford and David Astley
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A tribute to Katsuji Ebisawa –
five years of change and
growth
KATSUJI EBISAWA resigned
as President of NHK in
January after seven years
at the helm of Japan’s public
broadcaster. Alan Williams
reflects on the vision and
accomplishments of Mr Ebisawa
during his five-year tenure as
ABU President, a position he
automatically gives up.
Mr Ebisawa looking at a copy of the ABU News held by
ABU Secretary-General David Astley at the Almaty General Assembly
Katsuji Ebisawa
During his five years as ABU
President, Katsuji Ebisawa led the
union through a period of dramatic
change for broadcasters.
At the start of his presidency he
identified three key issues for ABU
members: the huge cost of digitalisation,
the convergence of broadcasting and
communications technology, and the
soaring costs of sports rights.
Mr Ebisawa saw high-definition
television – called Hi-Vision in Japan – as
the core feature of digital broadcasting,
and under his leadership NHK became a
world leader in this area.
At ABU meetings he often addressed
this issue. At the same time he regularly
stressed the responsibility of broadcasters
to deliver high-quality programmes,
improve people’s lives and fulfill their
role as a bridge among civilisations.
Mr Ebisawa took office in January
1999, succeeding Dato’ Jaafar Kamin of
RTM-Malaysia.
‘
To a large extent
the assembly summed
up Mr Ebisawa’s
leadership – it
focused not only on
such issues as new
technologies and
newsgathering
techniques but on the
role of broadcasters
in bridging diversity
among nations.
’
18
Mr Ebisawa’s philosophy was that
“everything comes from meeting
people”. He also recognised the need
for the continuous exchange of
information among the world’s
broadcasting unions on the issues facing
their members.
From the start he put forward
memorable ideas of his own. Just a few
months after becoming President, he
proposed that the ABU run an annual
international robot contest. This was the
birth of Robocon, now one of the ABU’s
best-known activities.
More recently he proposed an
international educational co-production
called Voyage to the Future, to promote
the importance of environmental
protection. The project will be launched
later this year with a study tour to the
forests of Borneo.
It was fitting that the General
Assembly hosted by NHK in 2002 saw
one of the biggest turnouts in ABU
history, with more than 400 people from
86 organisations taking part.

ABU
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To a large extent the assembly
summed up Mr Ebisawa’s leadership –
it focused not only on such issues as
new technologies and newsgathering
techniques but on the role of
broadcasters in bridging diversity
among nations.
As he told an earlier General Assembly
in Manila in 2000, broadcasting was
“an expression of culture founded on
technology”.
“Science and technology will only be
valuable when used to help enlighten
people’s lives,” he said.
Reducing the information gap between
rich and poor was one of Mr Ebisawa’s
key goals. He actively supported an ABU
project to assist in the reconstruction of
broadcasting facilities in Afghanistan after
the fall of the Taliban regime.
At the General Assembly in Istanbul
in 2003, he spoke of the need for
broadcasters to contribute continuously
to world peace and stability. He hoped
that continued assistance from the ABU
would help enable the Afghan broadcaster
RTA to become a cultural hub of
the country.
As a career journalist, Mr Ebisawa
took a keen interest in the ABU’s daily
news exchange, Asiavision. He oversaw
its switch to a digital transmission in
2000 and strongly supported its goal of
presenting a more precise picture of
Asia to the world.
Mr Ebisawa began his career with
NHK in 1957, joining the news
department in Tokyo. Working his way
up, he eventually became President
of NHK Enterprises 21, Inc., in 1991.
Two years later he was appointed
General Managing Director, NHK,
Tokyo, and in 1994 he became
Executive Vice President of NHK. He
was appointed its President at the end
of July 1997, and held the post until
January this year.
Members’ reactions:
“ The ABU has lost a capable leader... a practical
and knowledgeable man with a vision.”
– Haji Zainal Abidin Iberahim, ABU Acting President and
Director of News and Current Affairs, Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM)
“ To me, Mr Ebisawa comes across as a very wise,
experienced and compassionate human being apart
from achieving excellence in the broadcasting sector.
His exit from ABU is an irreparable loss to all of us.”
– K.S. Sarma, ABU Vice President and Chief Executive, Prasar Bharati-India
“ As ABU President, he has done a series of creative
works to increase the vitality and cohesion of the Union, to
promote the co-development of the broadcasting industries
within the region, and to enhance the exchange and
co-operation between ABU members and broadcasting
organisations in other regions.
“ We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Mr
Ebisawa for the great contributions he has made and
we hope he continues to support all ABU endeavours.”
– Cao Yin, ABU Administrative Council member and
Deputy Director-General (Foreign Affairs),
Radio and Television of the People’s Republic of China (RTPRC)
“ Mr Ebisawa showed a lot of passion in making
good programmes. He initiated the Robocon
competition, which has become a hugely
successful annual event for the ABU.”
– Chu Pui Hing, Director of Broadcasting,
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK)
“ In the recent few years all of the assistance that
we have received from our brother nation Japan
is utterly being credited to the tireless efforts of
Mr Ebisawa, and unless of his contributions
this would not have been possible.”
– Eng. Abdul Rahman Panjshiri, Director of International Relations,
Radio-Television of Afghanistan (RTA)
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ABU appoints Acting President
The ABU has appointed an
Acting President following
the resignation of President
Katsuji Ebisawa of NHK-Japan on
25 January 2005.
He is Haji Zainal Abidin Iberahim,
the Director of News and Current
Affairs for RTM-Malaysia. Mr Iberahim
will serve in this position until a
new President is elected at the ABU
General Assembly in Hanoi, Vietnam
later this year.
Under the ABU Statutes, if a President
resigns from his broadcasting organisation
during his term of office as ABU
President, he automatically gives up
the latter role. The longest-serving Vice-
President is then appointed as Acting
President.
Mr Iberahim has been a Vice-
President since the beginning of 1999,
and was re-elected for another three-year
term with effect from January this year.
He joined RTM in 1981 as a
producer/director, and has served in
various management roles in both
radio and television.
ABU Secretary-General David Astley
expressed his confidence in Mr
Iberahim taking over the top position
of the Union.
“Zainal has been presiding over ABU
General Assemblies and Administrative
Council meetings for many years now,
given that Mr Ebisawa preferred to
delegate the chairmanship of those
meetings to him, rather than conduct
proceedings through an interpreter.
“He is therefore familiar with all of the
ongoing issues and key activities of the
Union, so I am sure he will have no
difficulty fulfilling this role until a new
president is elected,” Mr Astley said.
NHK-Japan announces new President
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK
has appointed Gen-ichi Hashimoto,
61, as its new President
as of 25 January, following the
resignation of Katsuji Ebisawa.
Mr Hashimoto, who has been with
NHK for 37 years, has worked vigorously
for the past decade to promote digital
and Hi-Vision broadcasting in both
satellite and terrestrial services.
In accepting his appointment, Mr
Hashimoto expressed his determination
to create a new broadcasting culture,
while stressing the significance of
pressing forward with digitalisation in
order to improve the quality of public
broadcasting.
He gave his assurance that the change
in management will not affect the ongoing
contributions NHK makes to ABU
activities, which include the upcoming
workshop on natural disasters for
broadcasters.
Mr Hashimoto joined the NHK in
1968 after graduating from the Tokyo
Institute of Technology, rising quickly
through the broadcaster’s ranks to reach
the top of the organisation.
An engineer by training, he was
transferred to the Planning Division of
the Engineering Department where he
was involved in the construction of NHK’s
terrestrial television network.
Mr Hashimoto was made Deputy
Director of the Corporate Planning
Bureau in 1994 and subsequently
Director of the Planning Division of the
Engineering Administration Department
in 1998.
As Director, he was responsible for
introducing NHK’s digital satellite
broadcasting system and preparing the
organisation for digital terrestrial
broadcasting.
Three years later, he became
Director-General of the Engineering
Administration Department in 2001, and
the following year was appointed
Managing Director with responsibility
for this department.
He held the position of General
Managing Director/Executive Director-
General for Engineering from September
2004 until his appointment as NHK
President.
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Uzteleradio rejoins the ABU
The ABU has welcomed Uzbekistan
Television and Radio
Company (Uzteleradio) back
into its fold as a Full Member.
Uzteleradio rejoined the Union in
September last year.
The Uzteleradio headquarters in Tashkent
Below (l-r): Abdisait, Gaibullaevich and
Farkhod
The company is headed by
Kuchimov Abdisait, who has been
serving as President since 1997. Before
that, Mr Abdisait was the Republic
of Uzbekistan’s Media Centre head.
Uzteleradio’s Aziz Mihliev Gaibullaevich
has been appointed as
ABU Technical Liaison Officer. Mr
Gaibullaevich is a Senior Specialist with
the broadcaster’s International Relations
Department.
Ruziev Farkhod has been made
Uzteleradio’s ABU Liaison Officer. Mr
Farkhod has been Uzteleradio’s First
Deputy Chairman since 1997.
New appointments at RN
Radio Netherlands has
announced the appointments
of a new Director-General
and Editor-in-Chief.
Jan Hoek has been made Director-
General. He succeeds Lodewijk Bouwens
who retired at the end of last year.
Mr Hoek’s appointment was approved
by the Dutch State Secretary for Culture
and Media, Medy van der Laan.
Jan Hoek,
RN’s new
Director-
General
Following his appointment, Mr Hoek
said RN was taking a pro-active role in
working closely with other broadcasters.
“We’re implementing a change of
course in our strategic plan. For instance,
more focus will be placed on partnerships
in all our target areas. We’re also doing
far more co-productions with stations in
Asia these days, specifically in Indonesia,”
he said.
Mr Hoek holds a masters degree
from Webster University. He joined RN in
1994 as financial controller and became
director of finance and logistics in 1995.
Mr Joop Daalmeijer has been
appointed by RN as Editor-in-Chief.
Together with Mr Hoek, he will form
the directorship of the Dutch international
broadcaster.
As Editor-in-Chief, Mr Daalmeijer
will assume responsibility for the
programming and journalistic side of
the organisation.
“RN reaches millions of people. The
prospect of reaching a global audience
in eight languages on a range of media
platforms represents a new dimension to
the craft of journalism,” he said.
Mr Daalmeijer entered television in
1972. He worked for 13 years at the
VARA broadcasting company, later
becoming director in 1990. He went on
to work at Holland Media Group, Filmnet
and Canal+.
He became coordinator for Dutch
public television channel Nederland 1 in
1998 and moved to channel Nederland 2
two years later in the same capacity.
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The ABU News Interview
FROM an under-funded public broadcaster on the verge of collapse in 2002, Radio
Television Timor Leste (RTTL) has seen its fortunes slowly turn around with the establishment
of a Timorese government and aid from international organisations devoted to media
development. ABU News catches up with its management advisor Greg Kintz, who was
appointed by the Hirondelle Foundation in July 2002 to build up the ailing entity.
Q: What was the situation at RTTL
like when you arrived in East
Timor after the withdrawal of
the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East
Timor (UNTAET)?
GK: They had primarily one radio station
to provide information to the people
in East Timor about the transition
process, the elections, development
of the constitution, and also to
provide entertainment and general
and international news. When
UNTAET left, they handed over all of
the assets to the government, which
then handed over those assets to the
new public broadcaster. The core
staff, who were basically journalists,
also stayed on as public broadcasters.
The challenge with the
transition is that there was no
budget, no management plan or
staff in place. There was also no
administration. They kept it going
for a couple of months on their own
before I was asked to come in and
provide a human resource development
plan. My first task was to
prevent the collapse of the institution.
We had to find funding to
support the management system and
to stabilise the institution so that we
could work on developing it.
Q: How many staff did you have
at the time you took over and
how many do you currently
have?
GK: When I arrived two-and-a-half years
ago, we had 80 staff. We now have
110, which is not a huge increase,
but we are about to go up to 135
staff in the next two months. Our
total number of journalists will
probably increase up to 65.
Q: How would you describe this
growth?
GK: Slow, but necessarily so, because
we haven’t had administrative
capacity for hiring and managing
more staff. However, we are
currently going through a complete
restructuring of the institution. We
are merging the radio and TV units
into one overall institution. There
will be a news department, with
a chief editor for TV news and one
for radio news, and also a sports
department beneath it. The programming
department will have an
entertainment and music division
that will be split into radio and TV,
and also a community education
division focussing on development
programmes on topics such as
health, agriculture, nutrition and
economic development. These will
then be channelled to radio and TV.
Q: What are your funding
requirements like, and how
are they being met?
GK: The operations budget is roughly
US$650,000 a year. Approximately
half of that comes from the Timorese
government, with the other half
coming from various paid services
since we produce programmes for
other organisations. We also have
donor support.
Q: What is the size of your target
audience like?
GK: We don’t know. There has only
recently been a census which
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concluded that the East Timor
population is just under one million.
We have not done any audience
surveys to know how many listeners
or viewers there are, but through
surveys done for other reasons, we
are estimating an audience for radio
at about 600,000, and for TV
probably 150,000. Those are very
rough numbers. In the next six to
nine months, we’ll be doing a
scientific random sample audience
survey based on the new census
data and we will be able to come up
with a plus or minus five per cent
estimate of our audience.
Q: What do you hope to achieve
with the survey?
GK: There are a number of things that will
come up from the survey. One is to
determine the audience’s perceived
needs for programming. The other is
to find out geographically what parts
of the country are receiving signals,
and what parts are not. East Timor is
very mountainous. We know that
there are areas we are not able to
cover right now. So, we need to know
where those areas are and to make
plans to increase the coverage to
those areas. Ultimately, broadcasters
are all about audience. We need to
increase our capacity to deliver
programming to the audience in both
radio and TV.
Q: How many other broadcasters
are operating in East Timor?
GK: RTTL is the only national broadcaster.
It is also the largest broadcaster.
There are between 12 and 14
community radio stations, and two
religious radio broadcasters. We have
three international broadcasters –
RTP, ABC and a religious-based one.
These are basically rebroadcasting
on an international signal. They get
their feeds from terrestrial stations.
Timor, and the reason for that is
the economy is growing slowly.
As a result, there is currently
inadequate advertising revenue to
support broadcasters and their
growth. At the moment, there are
no commercial broadcasters. And
it’s unlikely that there would be
commercial broadcasters for a few
years yet. There are no major
corporations doing business there.
But we have bright hopes in 10
years to come. But we expect slow
growth between now and then.
Q: What do you rate as RTTL’s
greatest achievement to date?
GK: The fact that we’re still on the air!
But also, that the public broadcast
service is an independent media
institution. None of the news and
programming that goes on the air is
directly influenced or controlled by
the government or by anyone else.
The editorial decisions are made by
the Timorese staff. I don’t get
involved at all in editorial decisions.
They have complete autonomy and
that is an excellent thing.
Q: Is working in East Timor your
biggest challenge?
GK: Yes, it is the biggest challenge for
me because I’m dealing with public
broadcasting service involving radio
and TV, and is by far the largest
overall task that I’ve taken on.
There is a tremendous amount that
I’ve been able to learn from the
Timorese staff and I hope a
tremendous amount that they’ve
been able to learn from me. It’s
extremely enjoyable in terms that
we’re all learning.
Q: What sort of assistance would
be most helpful to you right
now, seeing as that RTTL is
still in its fledgling stage?
GK: RTTL inherited equipment from
Radio and TV UNTAET, the
transitional administration in East
Timor, and the basic journalists were
trained under UNTAET. Since then,
we have been building the rest of the
institution including the technical and
adminis-trative capacities, various
support services as well as the
transition services. But the staff need
training in every aspect, from lighting
to make-up, set design to interview
skills and to camera operations.
Their fundamental skills are good,
but these need to be augmented. We
are looking at the ABU and the Asia-
Pacific Institute for Broadcasting
Development (AIBD) to help us
(cont’d next page)
Q: Can you describe the growth
of the media scene in East
Timor?
GK: The media is growing slowly in East
Creg Kintz being interviewed during a recent visit to the ABU Secretariat
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(from previous page)
build on some of those skills and
abilities.
TV5 Mongolia bags
best TV station award
Q: What sort of role do you
foresee RTTL being able to
play in the Asia-Pacific region
in the future?
GK: Initially we’re looking to the ABU
and the AIBD to assist in the
development of the institution.
The long-term idea would be for
RTTL to be able to contribute to
supporting the development of
media – specifically broadcasting
– in the Asia-Pacific region. It will
be nice to get to the point where
RTTL can become a trainer, and
its representatives speakers at
conferences and meetings. Rather
than being a recipient, the Timorese
staff can get to the point where
they can all offer assistance.
Note: Mr Kintz has been working
in radio development for the past
20 years. He holds a Masters degree
in Development Support Communications.
He works on a contract basis
on projects by the Swiss-based
Hirondelle Foundation, which
specialises in the development of
media in conflict and post-conflict
countries.
Barely three years after its
launch, TV5 Mongolia has
been named Best TV Station
of 2004 by the Mongolian
Federation of Journalists (MFJ).
TV5, which celebrated its third
anniversary on 1 Jan, was voted the
best television station by the people
of Mongolia for the first time through
a public survey.
Fiji may cover TV quality on
new broadcast bill
The Fijian government is
considering including the
issues of television programme
quality and standards in its new
broadcasting bill.
Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase
was quoted as saying recent criticisms
on local television and radio
programmes highlighted the urgency
of the proposed legislation.
“There has to be wide consultation
in order to accommodate
local sensitivities and protect civil
liberties in this new bill,” Mr Qarase
said.
He said the drafting of the bill
was being expedited and the
government was aiming to table
it in the House of Representatives
before the end of the year.
One of TV5-Mongolia’s control rooms
The award was presented to TV5’s
Director-General Sarangerel Davaajantsan
during a special ceremony on 27
December which was attended by some
200 representatives of various media
organisations. TV5 also walked away
with four other awards that night.
“TV5 broadcast the Olympic Games
‘live’ for the first time in the history
of Mongolia. It also merited the award
due to its television production and
management skills,” said MFJ Secretary-
General D Chuluunbaatar.
Ms Sarangerel acknowledged the
important role played by the ABU in
helping the station broadcast the
Olympic Games live throughout the
country.
“With further cooperation from the
ABU, we will have more gifts for the
Mongolian audience in the coming
years,” she said.
The station has lined up community
development programmes for the new
year, including the screening of serials
on manufacturing equipment and
shows informing viewers on how to
run various types of businesses and
industries.
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AMS to promote understanding
and tolerance
THE upcoming Asia Media
Summit 2005 will address a
host of issues affecting
broadcasters today, with the longterm
view of promoting understanding,
tolerance and peace in the
international broadcasting fraternity.
To be held in Kuala Lumpur between
9 and 11 May, the conference will focus
on the role of the media in handling
religious issues, promoting “peace
journalism” and disseminating information
during a national disaster.
The recent Asian tsunami tragedy has
also prompted the inclusion of a session
on the role of broadcasters in a largescale
disaster. Representatives of
broadcasters in tsunami-hit countries
will be invited to share their views and
experience.
The AMS is being organised by the
Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting
Development (AIBD), an inter-governmental
organisation for electronic
media development hosted by the
Malaysian Government.
The conference is supported by the
ABU, the United Nations, the International
Telecommunication Union
(ITU), the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO), the United Nations Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (UNESCAP) and the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
among others.
Javad Mottaghi
The AIBD Director, Javad Mottaghi,
said the AMS aims to foster co-operation
among broadcasters through a global
network.
“It will allow broadcasters to
exchange views with their counterparts
and enable them to voice their difficulties
in covering events, producing content
and dealing with social, cultural and
religious issues.
“Besides that, it will also make for a
very important platform for networking
and co-operation,” Mr Mottaghi said,
adding that the outcome of the AMS
discussions will be forwarded to the
World Summit on Information Society
(WSIS) in Tunis in November.
The AMS will also set the stage for the
first Arab-Asia and Africa-Asia media
dialogues which will be held on the
sidelines of the main event.
“There is a lack of information about
other cultures, religions, traditions and
heritage. The media dialogues will help
us discover views from other parts of the
world,” said Mr Mottaghi.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi is expected to deliver the
keynote address at this year’s AMS to an
audience of over 400 policy makers
decision makers, scholars and media
professionals.
Judging the winner
Two days before the summit, a jury
of experts from Asia-Pacific, Arab,
European and African countries will
meet in Kuala Lumpur to decide the
winner of the World Award 2005 for
Best Television Documentary on “Conflict
Resolution”.
The winner will receive US$7,000 in
cash and a return flight ticket to attend
the AMS gala dinner to receive the
award,” said Mr Mottaghi.
He is expecting to receive more than
50 entries for the prestigious award
this year.
UN Undersecretary-General for Communications and Public
Information, Shashi Tharoor, speaking at AMS 2004
To register or get more information
on the AMS, visit the AIBD website at
http://www.aibd.org.my.
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India’s Prasar Bharati unveils global plans
The Broadcasting Corporation
of India – Prasar
Bharati – has publicised
a tender for the worldwide
distribution of Doordarshan
(DDI) and All India Radio (AIR)
channels.
Its Chief Executive Officer K.S.
Sarma said he expected “a very good
response” following his tour of
America and Britain – two regions
which have a sizeable Indian population.
“I want to take our channels to
wherever there is an Indian population,”
Mr Sarma said.
The public broadcaster plans to
deliver 13 television and 12 radio
channels in national and regional
languages through local carriers. The
local carriers were expected to place
their bids before 1 March.
The tender covers 49 countries in
North America, Asia (including the
Middle East and Central Asia), Asia-
Pacific, Europe, and Africa.
Mr Sarma said the plan aimed at
meeting the demand for DDI and
AIR programmes by millions of
ethnic Indians all around the world
who currently had access only to
private Indian television and radio.
RTHK replaces TVB in ABU
Administrative Council
Radio Television Hong Kong
(RTHK) has been elected
to the ABU Administrative
Council as an Additional Full
Member for the next three
calendar years.
It takes over the seat vacated by
another Hong Kong-based broadcaster,
Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB),
which nominated RTHK as its replacement.
The nomination was seconded
by TDM-Macau.
The balloting exercise was done via
post and e-mail as there was a lack of
quorum for Additional Full Members
at the General Assembly in Almaty,
Kazakhstan, last November.
An RTHK representative said the
broadcaster was honoured to be chosen
as a member of the ABU Administrative
Council, adding: “In the coming three
years, we will work together on policy
matters with other council members for
the mutual benefit of all members.”
He voiced RTHK’s confidence that
collaboration with all members would
enable the ABU to share fruitful insights
on broadcasting issues with the industry,
not only in the Asia-Pacific region, but
around the world.
China launches
satellite TV
service
Television viewers in Asia are
now able to enjoy Chinese
programmes through a
satellite television service recently
launched by China.
“The launch aims to meet the
growing demand of Chinese language
programmes from the English-speaking
audience in the Asian region,” said Li
Jian, president of the China International
TV Corp.
The “Great Wall TV Package”
featuring 11 channels including CCTV-4,
CCTV-9, CCTV-Chinese Opera, Beijing TV,
Shanghai TV – in English, Mandarin,
and the Cantonese and Min dialects –
are now available in Vietnam, Thailand,
South Korea, Myanmar, Hong Kong,
Macao and Taiwan.
The service was launched in North
America in October last year and is
reported to have received a positive
response from subscribers.
“We are looking to launch our
Great Wall satellite service in Europe,
Africa and Oceania in the future, ” Mr
Li said.
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New ABC Asia Pacific CEO
appointed
ABC Asia Pacific has announced
the appointment of Ian
Carroll as the Australian
international television
service’s new Chief
Executive.
Mr Carroll was the
corporation’s Network
and Programming Head
before the promotion. He
takes over the CEO role
from John Doherty who
died after a sudden illness
in December.
Announcing Mr Carroll’s appointment,
the ABC’s Managing Director,
Russell Balding, said: “I am confident
that under his leadership ABC Asia
Pacific will continue to grow and
position the network as one of the most
revered information and education
services in the region.”
Ian Carroll
Mr Carroll has worked at the ABC
for 15 years, and before joining ABC
Asia Pacific, was Head of ABC Digital
television where he
established two channels:
ABC Kids and Fly.
Some of the
programmes he has
created or led as
Executive Producer are
Lateline, Nationwide,
Four Corners, 7.30
Report, ABC News and
the Paul Kelly documentary series
One Hundred Years.
ABC Asia Pacific now reaches nearly
nine million homes in 38 countries,
and is on more than 155 platforms,
making it one of the fastest growing
international television services in the
region. The ABC has plans to launch
the service into India.
DDI-India
coverage
wins award
Coverage by India’s national
broadcaster, DDI, of a
deadly stampede and fire in the
western state of Maharashtra
has won the Asiavision January
award for best news story of
the month.
The tragedy at a religious shrine
on 25 January claimed the lives of
about 260 Hindu pilgrims, mostly
women and children. About 200
others were injured, many critically.
DDI responded quickly to the
tragedy, offering telling pictures
from the revered Mandradevi Shrine
in the remote district of Satara.
John Doherty, the man
responsible for the development
and launch of ABC Asia Pacific,
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s
television service to the
Asia Pacific region, died suddenly
in Sydney, Australia, on 29 December
last year.
The ABC had appointed Mr Doherty
project manager of ABC Asia Pacific in
2001. The service was launched on 31
December the same year. The ABC said its
success, in the three years since, owed
much to his energy and commitment.
The ABC’s Managing Director, Russell
Balding, said: “The ABC has lost a
valuable colleague and most trusted
friend for many of us.” Memorial services
were held in Adelaide and Sydney.
Top ABC executive dies
John Doherty
Before being appointed the ABC’s
state director in South Australia, Mr
Doherty worked as a journalist with
the Sydney Morning Herald in Sydney
and the Advertiser in Adelaide. He also
served as news director at Channel 9
in Adelaide.
Meanwhile, ABC Asia Pacific has set
up an annual journalism intership in
memory of Mr Doherty. The scheme was
initiated by Australia’s Minister for
Foreign Affairs and Trade, Alexander
Downer.
Under the scheme, the ABC will
sponsor two broadcast journalists from
the Asia-Pacific region every year to go
to Australia for intensive two-week
internships with the aim of helping them
build better relationships and enhance
their media skills.
The journalists will also be exposed
to reporting on various aspects of
contemporary Australia.
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Summit to rope the media into
environment conservation
The city of Kuching in Sarawak,
East Malaysia, will play host
to the International Media
Environment Summit, to be held
from 30 November to 2 December
2005.
The event is being organised by News
World International. Key supporters
include the ABU, the United National
Development Programme and the World
Wide Fund for Nature. The summit will
bring together media practitioners,
environmentalists, academics and
journalists from all over the region.
“Nature can be cruel, as the tsunami
shows, but it is most of the time
benevolent and when it is benevolent
it should be cherished more and
understood better. That is one of the
greatest challenges facing this planet’s
media whether in print, broadcast or on
the World Wide Web,” said Richard Peel,
Chairman of News World International.
Green issues
The summit will tackle ‘green’ topics
such as human development and wildlife
conservation, the media’s role in
conservation, ecotourism, and corporate
and social responsibility.
It will also provide a platform for
debate and the examination of how
communications can best be used to
disseminate today’s most pressing
environmental issues to the widest
possible audience.
On the agenda for the week-long
summit are two days of community
outreach projects, educational seminars
and media training workshops in conjunction
with Curtin University Campus in
Sarawak, and the Asia Media Information
and Communication Centre (AMIC).
A breathtaking view of a national park in Sarawak
The summit also includes a three-day
conference, a series of screenings of the
world’s best award-winning wildlife
documentaries, and field trips in
Sarawak.
The conference will have four main
sessions each day, covering a range of
global environmental issues and how
the media approaches such issues, with
a particular focus on Asia.
It will also feature an internationally
recognised keynote speaker. Each
conference day will end with local cultural
performances and a hosted dinner.
Key bridges
Alexander Thomson, Managing
Director of News World International,
said the event will bring together the
media and the environment. It will
also engage the participation of both
the public and private sectors.
“There are three key bridges we
are trying to strengthen: media and
environment; east and west; public and
private sectors. This is already reflected
in our list of confirmed speakers,” Mr
Thomson said.
The panel acting as Advisory
Committee for the Summit include ABU
Secretary-General David Astley; Dr Richard
Leete, Representative, United Nations
Development Programme, Malaysia; and
Dr Noodin Sopiee, Chairman and CEO,
Institute of Strategic and International
Studies (ISIS), Malaysia.
Renowned conservationists Professor
David Suzuki from Canada; Haroldo
Castro, Vice President, Conservation
International, USA; Professor Sharon
Beder, University of Wollongoing, Australia;
and Dr David Lavigne, Science Advisor to
International Fund for Animal Welfare,
USA are also on the advisory board.
News World International, the
conference organiser, is a major media
event company providing a forum for
dialogue and promoting understanding
across all parts of the media worldwide.
For further information on the
media summit, please visit www.
newsworldnature.com.
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Introducing a new radio conference
RadioAsia 2005 is a new
event on the annual
calendar of radio broadcasters
which focuses on the impact
of emerging and converging radio
communications strategies in the
Asia-Pacific region.
It will be held from 15 to 17 June
in Singapore in conjunction with
BroadcastAsia 2005. RadioAsia is being
organised by the ABU and the Asian
Media Information and Communication
Centre (AMIC), in partnership with
Singapore Exhibition Services (SES).
Two days of conference sessions and
a one-day workshop have been allocated
for the inaugural event. Speakers and
participants will be drawn from across
Asia as well as from the US and Europe.
The organisers are in the process of
finalising the list of speakers for the
event, having already called on those
interested to present papers to submit
abstracts on topics relevant to the
development of radio.
radio are still important mediums which
offer new opportunities and challenges
for media practitioners through
technological advancement.
The recent Asian tsunami disaster
was also testimony to the importance
of radio communication, especially
shortwave broadcasts. With telecommunication
lines down, radio was
the only means of contact
RadioAsia seeks to address these
issues and make radio as relevant to
listeners as ever.
Delegates to the conference will be
able to access networking sessions,
focusing on areas such as research,
technology, methodology, education
and alliances.
As an incentive to sign up early for
RadioAsia, ABU members will receive
a 20 percent discount off regular
conference rates if they do so by the end
of April.
ABU Technical Director Wayne Heads
said the conference recognised the
importance radio plays in the Asia-
Pacific region as well as the other parts
of the world.
“There is no doubt that there is still
strong interest in the radio media, and
its reach to the most isolated parts of
the world is extensive and should not
be overlooked,” he said.
Mr Heads added that the ABU was
keen to help its members take advantage
of the developments in radio amid
a boom of cross-media technologies
such as the digital mobile broadcasting
(DMB).
Those interested in signing up for the
conference can go to www.radioasia.org
or www.abu.org.my for more details.
Relevant topics
Among the topics to be discussed are
public service radio; audience research;
crisis and conflict communication; radio
and youth; radio regulation; community
radio; radio advertising; and digital
radio/audio broadcasting.
Selected papers will be compiled into
a book and published by an international
publisher.
Radio has continued to reinvent
itself time and again, even though it has
been virtually written off by some
observers in the advent of newer media
technologies such as digital mobile
broadcasting and webcasting.
But with rapid globalisation,
commercial, public and community
The city-state of Singapore is the venue for this year’s RadioAsia
and BroadcastAsia conferences
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ABU-HFC meeting improves
shortwave transmissions
Representatives of 18 shortwave broadcasters at the recent
ABU-HFC meeting in Kuala Lumpur pose for the camera
Good news for shortwave
broadcasters: shortwave
transmissions across the
Asia-Pacific region are expected
to improve by 13 percent
following the success of the recent
High-Frequency Coordination
meeting organised by the ABU in
Kuala Lumpur.
Before the meeting which was held
from 24 to 28 January, some 26 percent
of more than 6,800 daily shortwave
broadcasts were suspected of colliding
with each other and causing interference.
But five days of negotiating by some
40 frequency managers of 18 shortwave
broadcasters has managed to slash the
level of interference for the upcoming
broadcast season which begins on 27
March 2005.
Newcomers attend
An annual affair, the ABU-HFC also
welcomed the participation of newcomers
Bhutan Broadcasting Service
(BBS) and Khabar Agency (KA) by
integrating the broadcasters into the
coordination process.
BBS currently provides eight hours
of shortwave radio for domestic
audiences while KA is planning to start
its service soon. The broadcasters were
assigned the codes BBS and KAK
respectively.
The meeting was a productive
platform for participants to resolve their
interference woes through coordination
methods which are backed by complex
software tools.
‘
We solved 80
percent of the
collisions we had
with the other
broadcasters who
attended.
– Gary Stanley
’
In line with the rapid advances in
technology, the participants also did away
with the conventional method of using
floppy disks and e-mail to transfer data
this year. All data exchange was done by
directly uploading them onto the Web.
Participants’ feedback
Many of the participants gave the
event the thumbs up. Among them
was Gary Stanley of VT Merlin
Communications, who said it was a
very successful conference as far as
his company was concerned.
“We solved 80 percent of the
collisions we had with the other
broadcasters who attended. I was very
impressed with the organisation of the
meeting and would like to thank the
ABU for all its hard work,” he said.
First-timer Thinley Dorji, a
maintenance engineer at BBS-Bhutan,
had this to say about the meeting: “It
was excellent and rewarding. Among
other things, I was also exposed to
ITU-HFBC software which is very
30

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beneficial to the development of our
new shortwave network project.
“I feel every broadcaster should take
part in this meeting and coordinate their
broadcasting schedules and coverage
areas to eliminate mutual interference. In
this regard, a series of coordination
meetings should be held.”
Anurag Parashar of the International
Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) in New Delhi
said the meeting was a great opportunity
for his company “to coordinate with all
broadcasters from the Asia-Pacific region,
especially those who do not attend other
coordination meetings.”
Committee decisions
The ABU-HFT Steering Committee also
met twice during the meeting to review
its coordinating functions. The committee
members decided that greater
participation should be encouraged in
future meetings.
Towards this end, it was decided that
for shortwave broadcasters who are
reluctant to send their frequency managers
to the meetings, audio samples of their
interference-prone services should be
collected and provided to them.
Frequency managers trying to solve frequency collisions
Apart from showing them the true
picture of the quality of their transmissions,
the committee members also
decided to calculate the cost of attending
the annual meeting and show the reluctant
broadcasters that it is only a fraction of
the total cost of their services.
A new Steering Committee was also
appointed at this year’s ABU-HFC
meeting. Outgoing Coordinator Ling Li
Wen (RTPRC-China) was replaced by
Yousef Ghadaksaz (IRIB-Iran). Mr
Thinley Dorji travelled to
Kuala Lumpur all the way
from Thimphu where he
works in the shortwave radio
frequency management of Bhutan
Broadcasting Service (BBS). Mr
Dorji and his colleagues had often
wondered why their shortwave
radio service turned into loud
noise at seven every evening.
It was only at the ABU-HFC
Shortwave Coordination Meeting that
Mr Dorji – a newcomer to the
meetings – discovered the reason
for this.
Stanley, Chang Yong (RTPRC-China)
and Sedef Somaltin (TRT-Turkey) were
made the new vice-coordinators.
However, the Coordinator and Vice-
Coordinators have been re-designated as
Chairman and Vice-Chairmen respectively,
in line with the designation of office
bearers of other groups of the ABU
Technical Committee.
A Journey of Discovery
discovered that at 7pm a powerful
shortwave transmission from one of
the broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific
operates at the same channel
frequency as his own and this severely
interferes with the BBS signal.
Having finally discovered the reason
for the loud noise, Mr Dorji took the
remedial action of planning to move
from this frequency to a clear channel.
Once the move is implemented by
BBS, the Bhutanese will no longer need
to switch off their radios at 7pm every
day.
Gary Stanley, one of the new
vice-coordinators
While looking at the frequency
schedules during the meeting, he
Now that’s shortwave coordination
for you.
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ABU Prizes to get bigger,
more prestigious
The Working Party (WP) for
the reform of the ABU
Prizes is working hard to
make the awards one of the
largest and most prestigious TV
and Radio programme festivals
in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meeting for the first time this year in
Kuala Lumpur in February, the six-person
WP decided that apart from improving
the organisational aspect of the event,
the ABU Prizes had to be marketed
and promoted more effectively.
Towards this end, the WP will
consider the possibility of raising funds
which will be used to design better
quality flyers and to establish an archive
of the materials sent in by participants.
Erol Eldem making a point at the meeting. Looking on is Kim Kyung Hee
The WP is also looking into
appointing permanent staff to organise
the annual affair.
The meeting, held on 3 and 4
February, also sought to continue with
the reform process initiated in 2004
when the WP was formed as well as
find a mechanism to help sustain the
development of the awards.
Since January last year, the WP has
implemented a series of reforms that
included refining the categories to
reflect the realities of programme
trends, creating the “Special Jury Prize”
to recognise creative and innovative
programmes with limited resources,
and introducing the “ABU Prizes
Workshop” to share the results and
encourage greater participation among
the members.
The reforms are working out
successfully, judging by the number
of entries for the ABU Prizes 2004
which increased by about 50 percent,
with active participation from smaller
ABU members.
This time around, the WP reviewed
last year’s amendments and set new
guidelines. They include eliminating
confusion, especially in the definition of
categories; promoting innovation; and
increasing stability and accountability.
Based on these guidelines, the WP
had an extensive discussion and came up
with a series of recommendations for
the ABU Prizes 2005:
● introducing pre-selection for radio;
● refining the definition of categories;
● fixing judging rules, such as a points
system based on four criteria and
compulsory screening/listening times
for both pre-selection and final
judging; and
● standardising the required period for
the first broadcast of the entries and
the deadline for submission.
The WP was also of the view that the
ABU Programme Department should
discuss with the Sports Group, the
News Group and the ABU Technical
Department the fine-tuning of the sports,
news and engineering awards as well
as getting their input on the organisation
of the ABU Prizes awards ceremony.
The competition rules will be revised
based on the recommendations by the
WP. All changes will be included in the
competition brochures to be distributed
by the Programme Department by the
end of March.
The WP was formed in January 2004
to formulate reforms for the annual ABU
TV and Radio programme competitions
for 2004, 2005 and 2006.
It is chaired by Kim Kyung Hee of
KBS-Republic of Korea. Other members
are Dorji Wangchuk, BBS-Bhutan;
Nawiyah Chelah, RTM-Malaysia; Setsuko
Koizumi, NHK-Japan; Jun Ogawa, TBS-
Japan; and Erol Eldem, TRT-Turkey.
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Possible ABU-KBC pact to
promote DMB
The Korean Broadcasting
Commission is keen on
forming a partnership with
the ABU to promote its digital
mobile broadcasting (DMB)
technology throughout the Asia-
Pacific region.
KBC representatives, on a recent visit
to the ABU headquarters in Kuala
Lumpur, made known their intention
to enlist the ABU Secretariat’s help in
taking their technology abroad.
Currently, DMB is offered in Korea by
TU Media, a joint venture between South
Korea’s SK Telecom and Japan’s Toshibaowned
Mobile Broadcasting Cort (MBCo).
The parent companies launched the
MBSat satellite last year to support their
DMB initiatives.
TU Media has started a pilot run of
the satellite DMB service in January
without subscription fees to those
purchasing DMB terminals. It is expected
to begin charging fees once the full-circle
commercial service is launched in May.
During the hour-long meeting at the
ABU Secretariat on 18 January, the two
sides agreed to further discuss the DMB
issue on the sidelines of the ABU Study
Tour to Korea in April.
Delegates briefed
The Korean delegation to the
Secretariat was received by ABU
Technical Director Wayne Heads,
standing in for Secretary-General
David Astley who was away travelling
on business.
KBC chairman Dr Noh Sung-Dai led
the delegation, which included KBC
Director-General (Broadcasting Policy
Bureau) Dr Kim Choon-Shik, KBC
Assistant Director (International Affairs
Division), KBS Executive Vice-President
Dr Anh Dong-Su and TU Media Vice-
President Hong Sung-Kyu.
The delegates were also briefed on
the function and activities of the
ABU Secretariat by Mr Heads, ABU
Programme Director Haruo Sakitsu,
Asiavision Senior Editor Humayun
Choudhury and ABU Legal Officer
Fernand Alberto.
Dr Noh thanked the ABU for its
efforts to help broadcasters in the
region, adding that he hoped the
secondment scheme involving two
Korean broadcasting experts on a
year-long stint at the Secretariat has
been beneficial.
Exchanging information
Mr Heads said this first visit of
the KBC to the ABU Secretariat enabled
both organisations to exchange information
about their respective roles in
the development of the Asia-Pacific
broadcast industry.
He said: “This was an opportunity
to directly develop a relationship with
South Korea’s broadcasting regulator to
assist ABU members in developing
countries with advice on broadcasting
policy frameworks.
“The ABU believes that by building
closer relationships with regulators
in each country, issues such as
copyright protection, spectrum
management, and broadcasting policy
can be discussed with a fuller
understanding of expectations on
either side of the industry.”
Dr Noh Sung-Dai (right) presenting a token of appreciation to Wayne Heads
during the KBC delegates’ visit to the Secretariat
Apart from the DMB system, issues
such as the transfer of technology
and content between ABU members
and the popularity of Korean drama
serials were also discussed, with Dr
Anh providing input on the latter
subject.
33

ABU
News
N e w s &
E v e n t s
EAMF 2005 to focus on
thought-provoking issues
Extreme terrorism. Global
disaster. AIDS and sex
on television. Trauma and
journalism.
These are just some of the heavyweight
topics to be discussed during
the upcoming Eurasian Media Forum
2005 (EAMF 2005) to be held in Almaty,
Kazakhstan from 21 to 23 April.
The organisers of the annual event
have lined up a series of thoughtprovoking
plenary sessions over the
three-day affair which attracts politicians,
business leaders, academicians and
senior journalists from many countries.
Organising chairman Dr Dariga Nazarbayeva
addresses an earlier Eurasian Media Forum
The 2005 conference will be chaired
by television journalist Riz Khan, who
shot to fame as senior news anchor for
CNN. Mr Khan has chaired the previous
three EAMF conferences held in Almaty,
Kazakhstan’s commercial capital.
The welcoming address will be
presented by the President of the
Republic of Kazakhstan, Nursultan
Nazarbayev.
The forum aims to answer the many
ethical questions faced by journalists in
pursuit of page-one stories and breaking
news, apart from providing insights into
investigative journalism through modern
tools such as the Internet.
The recent Asian tsunami disaster and
the global news coverage it received will
also be featured in a plenary session.
The method and style of coverage by
international journalists will also be
assessed by media experts during the
session.
The tsunami tragedy has also
brought to the fore the trauma faced
by journalists covering the grim scenes.
This issue will be addressed by Mark
Brayne of the Dart Centre for
Journalism and Trauma in Europe, who
is an expert in this field.
The rise in the number of terrorist
incidents post-911 has raised the
question of whether the visual media
tends to focus on the dramatic and
the sensational at the expense of sober
and responsible analyses of these acts
of violence.
Media ethics
Apart from that, the forum will
examine if it is ethical to show video
footage of hostages provided by their
captors, and if the media is guilty of
promoting political blackmailing of
this kind.
The EAMF will also take a look
at the rise of Arab media, such as
Al-Jazeera and other channels in
the Arabic language, and how it
is providing stiff competition to the
Western media. The age-old issue of
the freedom of the Press will also be
discussed.
On a lighter vein, the forum will also
uncover how satirists and cartoonists get
away with political humour, as well as
highlighting the challenges that image
branding by political figures have on
the media.
EAMF objectives
The EAMF is an annual professional
event serving the interests of the
international media community. It also
helps promote the role of the Eurasian
media and continent in the global
arena.
Its objectives include expanding
the information circle of Eurasian
countries, studying and analysing
development trends in modern
journalism, exchanging knowledge and
experience, and creating opportunities
for education and training at leading
Eurasian media organisations.
A representative of the EAMF
organising committee said news releases
and updates on the event will be
published on its website: http://www.
eamedia.org
34

ABU
News
F r o m T h e S e c r e t a r i a t
ABU CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Events of interest to the ABU and its members in 2005
MARCH
2 ASTRA Conference Sydney
7 FutureTV Seminar on Interactive Motion Media Technology Dubai
7-18 ABU/IABM Training Course on TV Studio Equipment New Delhi
8-10 11th Middle East International Cable, Satellite, Broadcast &
Communications Exhibition (CabSat) 2005
Dubai
8-13 APT Preparatory Meeting WRC-07 Bangkok
14-15 AVN Coordinators’ Meeting Penang
14-16 Sportel Asia Hong Kong
16-18 World Broadcaster Meeting for XVIII Commonwealth Games Melbourne
21-23 China Cable Broadcasting Network Exhibition (CCBN) 2005 Beijing
APRIL
4-22 DWRTC/ABU Low-Cost Software Based Modular Radio Stations –
Follow-up Workshop to 2004
Penang
16-21 NAB2005 Las Vegas
20 ASTRA Awards Sydney
20-22 ABU Copyright Committee Meeting and Seminar Seoul
21-22 WBU-TC Meeting Las Vegas
21-23 Eurasian Media Forum Almaty
25-27 ABU Study Tour 2005 Seoul
30-May 14 ITU-R Study Group 6 Meetings Geneva
MAY
2-13 IPDC (International Programme for Development Communication) & ABU Workshop
on Low Cost Digital Radio Production Systems
Vientiane
5-6 78th ABU Administrative Council meeting Islamabad
9-11 Asia Media Summit 2005 Kuala Lumpur
16-18 NABA Annual Meeting Toronto
25-27 NATPE 05 Las Vegas
30-June 4 ABU Documentary Exchange Meeting and Workshop Hong Kong
31-June 1 WBU/ISOG Broadcasters’ Meeting Geneva
JUNE
13-17 BroadcastAsia 2005 Singapore
15-17 RadioAsia 2005 Singapore
25-29 ISBT 2005 Beijing
JULY
3-9 International Olympic Committee Session Singapore
4-10 ABU Children’s Programme Item-exchange Meeting & Workshop tbc
18-21 14th AMIC Annual Conference – “Media and Society in Asia: Beijing
Transformations and Transitions”
22-Aug 1 ABU Voyage to the Future 2005 Borneo
26-30 4th AIBD General Conference and Annual Meetings Brunei
AUGUST
27 ABU Robocon Beijing 2005 Beijing
SEPTEMBER
8-13 IBC 2005 Amsterdam
26-27 APSCC Satellite Conference & Exhibition Singapore
OCTOBER
12-14 PBI Conference Oslo
24-27 SPORTELMonaco Monaco
NOVEMBER
12-19 1st Asian Indoor Games Bangkok
21-28 42nd ABU General Assembly and Associated Meetings Hanoi
30-Dec 2 News World Nature Media Environment Summit Kuching
35