Russian regulator protests to Google on RT YouTube restrictions

Russian regulator protests to Google on RT YouTube restrictions

Russian regulator protests to Google on RT YouTube restrictions

Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor says that it has written to Google demanding all restrictions on the YouTube channel of RT to be lifted.
 
The regulator says that YouTube has blocked a range of items from the site, and restricted RT’s ability to upload new videos.
 
The letter from Roskomnadzor notes that such actions by the YouTube video hosting administration violate the key principles of free dissemination of information, unhindered access to it and are an act of censorship against the Russian media.
 

The Russian regulator has demanded that all all restrictions be removed “as soon as possible,” as well as providing an explanation for the reasons for their introduction.

In its statement on the issue, Roskomnadzor says that according to Russian law, if Internet companies ignore warnings “about violations of the rights of Russians on the Internet, including censorship of the Russian media,” it has the power to impose “administrative fines” of up to one million roubles (about US$13,640). The regulator goes on to say that repeated refusals to comply with its requirements will result in a multiple increase in fines – up to three million roubles.

The RT YouTube channel, checked by the AIB on 29 April, shows no uploads have been made since 24 April 2021.

Univision partners with Google to become media company of tomorrow

Univision partners with Google to become media company of tomorrow

Univision partners with Google to become media company of tomorrow

Google and Spanish-language media company Univision have announced a new, multi-year, strategic partnership that the US-based broadcaster says will accelerate growth across its portfolio of media and content properties, “providing solutions that will enable it to build the media company of tomorrow.”

Google Cloud will help drive Univision’s digital transformation, deepening the media company’s relationships with Hispanic audiences and communities, and enabling it to continue creating market-defining content for the next generation of Spanish-speaking viewers. Univision will also collaborate with other Google product areas, such as Android, Android TV OS, YouTube, Google Play, Google Ad Manager, and Google Search to enhance its capabilities and improve the overall viewer experience.

“At Univision, we’ve set out to be the most important global Spanish-language media company, and our partnership with Google is a critical piece of our transformation,” said Wade Davis, CEO of Univision Communications Inc. “By leveraging Google’s technology platform and expertise, we will transform our infrastructure to bring our customers an enhanced media experience.”

Google will help Univision consolidate its multiple digital distribution platforms, modernise its production systems, create a new customer data warehouse, and migrate key enterprise applications to Google Cloud. This will allow them to apply artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) across its content libraries to provide customers with proactive, personalised recommendations. It will also enable the company to forge stronger advertising relationships with its audiences via insights derived from data.

“Increasing demand for digital media and streaming content is a huge opportunity for media companies to connect with audiences in new ways,” said Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet. “We’re excited to partner with Univision to use Google Cloud’s technology and platforms like YouTube, Play and Android, to inform, entertain, and engage the next generation of Spanish-speaking viewers around the world.”

As the media landscape evolves, Google will also help Univision expand its growing streaming offerings, allowing the company to reach more consumers on the devices of their choice, wherever they are in the world. For example, Univision will expand its global YouTube partnership in the coming years and will integrate with entertainment features on Google Search that help people discover TV shows and movies. The company will also use Google Ad Manager for ad decisioning globally and Google’s Dynamic Ad Insertion for PrendeTV and future video-on-demand offerings. Finally, Univision will distribute its content and services on Google Play across Android phones and tablets, as well as Google TV and other Android TV OS devices.

Plug pulled on international media conferences

Plug pulled on international media conferences

Plug pulled on international media conferences

UPDATED 9 March 2020

The media industry is a people business and for many years that has meant getting together at key events to meet colleagues, exchange ideas and share experiences. The coronavirus is rapidly putting a stop to this.

High profile events are falling victim to the virus as governments impose restrictions on large-scale gatherings (such as the Swiss did that led to the cancellation of the immense Geneva International Motor Show) and as organisers ask themselves whether bringing large numbers of speakers and delegates from across the world is worth the risk.

Cancellations include the 2020 International Journalism Festival scheduled to take place in the Italian city of Perugia (pictured) in early April, MIPTV in Cannes, scheduled to open on 30 March and the WSIS Forum that was due to open on 5 April in Geneva. The Journalism Festival was due to see 470 speakers gather from across Europe, Africa, North America and Asia. In a statement, the organisers said: “The health and safety of festival speakers, attendees, volunteers, staff, suppliers as well as that of the citizens of Perugia is and must remain our top priority.”

Google and Facebook have also been proactive and cancelled events they had planned, including the Google News Initiative Global Summit and the F8 conference.

We expect to see the cancellation of other events scheduled for March, April and May. The writing’s on the wall for some major trade events as companies pull out of attending to protect their staff from possible contamination. Video equipment supplier AJA has announced that it will no longer attend NAB in Las Vegas in April. Other companies will inevitably follow suit.

The Middle East CABSAT exhibition and conference, scheduled to open in Dubai on 31 March, has also been postponed. The organisers have now said that it will take place between 26 and 28 October 2019. 

ConnectAsia incorporating BroadcastAsia has been postponed from June until 29 September, when it will run until 1 October.

Indian media conclave FICCI-FRAMES has also been postponed from mid-March to an as yet undefined date in the future.

News organisations are starting to restrict travel to conferences and other discretionary trips. CNN issued a memo to staff on 2 March restricting all work travel and limiting events staff to what it describes as “absolutely critical” personnel. According to the New York Times, CNN boss Jeff Zucker has to approve any intercontinental travel by any CNN staffer.

The EBU is cancelling large-scale meetings, such as its Sport Assembly that was due to take place in Malta in mid-March.

The virus presents headaches for media companies large and small. Should news crews be deployed? Can location filming of drama series continue? How can sport coverage continue at large-scale international events? These are challenges that have a real impact on the ability of broadcasters and production companies to operate as normal and serve audiences today and for the rest of 2020.

It is clear that precautions need to be taken to protect staff from infection. Simple steps for anyone in an operational environment can be taken to minimise risk, as we noted in our briefing to AIB Members issued on 2 March. The AIB continues to build a central database of advice that’s being given to staff in a number of large-scale media companies to help ensure that best practice is shared by all AIB Members. Not every organisation has well-resourced occupational health and HR departments, so they welcome practical assistance.

INSI, the International News Safety Institute, has also issued a briefing on coronavirus, available here.

Meanwhile, a glimmer of hope emerges. In February, the Splice Beta conference that brings together journalists, entrepreneurs and others involved in media start-ups in Asia was postponed. Now the organisers have said that it will be going ahead in late September.

 

The AIB shares their optimism that the situation will normalise over the next few months – at the AIB we’re continuing to plan our events for the second half of 2020.

France 24 launches a new Android TV application

France 24 has launched a new Android TV application compatible with the Nexus player and all the devices equipped with the Google operating system (OTT boxes, smart TVs, etc.).

 

Available for free on Google Play, this new service is already available in North America, France, Germany and the UK. It will be accessible in the rest of the world by the end of 2015.

 

Adapted to new practices in news consumption, this new trilingual application (French, English, Arabic) has been completely designed for navigation on television. It features streamlined design and fast video loading for greater user comfort.

 

This application offers access to France 24 livestream in three languages as well as the latest news bulletins on demand (World news, Africa news, Business news, Sports and Weather). In addition to these short programmes, all the channel’s magazines and debates are also available for free on VOD.

 

In addition, users can also get access to articles and personalize their navigation thanks to a new ‘Favourite’ function that lets them create a catalogue of content.

 

This new development is part of France 24’s innovative multi-platform distribution strategy on connected devices. Thus, the channel renews its presence on Android operating systems on which it is available since 2010.

 

 

 

This new application can be downloaded from: http://f24.my/AndroidTV

 

For more information on France 24 applications: http://f24.my/1HrdQkV

 

DW Global Media Forum debates the future of journalism

In the age of big data, Google critics say online services come at the price of freedom. Opponents say old business models for journalism are being redefined by the Internet and the people who use it.

Mathias Döpfner, CEO of media publishing house Axel Springer SE and U.S. Internet expert Jeff Jarvis locked horns in the first main debate at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany. Döpfner says that people pay for seemingly free online services with their freedom, while Jarvis says he’s glad “that Google knows where I live.”
The “Media summit” on the first day of conference focused on the future of journalism and the role of international broadcasters. Also participating in the debate were Salah Negm, Director of News at Al Jazeera’s English channel, Jawhar Sircar, CEO of Indian public broadcaster Prasar Bharati and Peter Limbourg, Director General of Germany’s international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle.

Jarvis accused Döpfner of calling for state funding to save the faltering business model of paid journalism, rather than concentrating on developing new ideas. In response, Döpfner said his publishing company had already changed radically, and that digital content generates two-thirds of the business’ profits. He said that Axel Springer SE wants to become a leading digital publisher. Speaking to an international audience that included many journalists, Jarvis pointed out that “It’s far too soon to know what the Internet is and  that we should define it in analog of our ways in the past.”

In a keynote speech just prior to the panel discussion, Döpfner predicted that “a culture of paying for digital journalism will take root over the next few years. Content that is less valuable will continue to be free, content that is particularly relevant, exclusive or entertaining will be paid for.” He also said it was a misperception that people can access online content for free. “The services which are perceived to be free of charge have a much higher price than money. Those who pay with their behavior, pay in the end with their freedom.”

“My newspaper can’t do that”
According to Jarvis, anyone who wants to be successful online needs to be Google-oriented. Google isn’t a gatekeeper who decides what information reaches people, he said. “It is a platform that enables anyone and everyone to speak.”  Jarvis also pointed out that Google has a strict service commitment to its users and the personalized online experience it is developing will be a big part of the future of journalism. “I am happy that Google knows where I live and where I work because I get relevant data back in return. My newspaper has no idea who I am and where I live and where I work and can’t give me relevance.”

Journalism is a mission, not a profession
Debate moderator Tim Sebastian pointed out that not only the business model of journalism faces insecurity, but that journalists themselves are too often in danger, citing the three Al Jazeera reporters sentenced to prison in Cairo without fair trial. On the topic of security for journalists, Salah Negm, called for more solidarity from the international journalism community. Negm said that for him, the future of journalism is less of a technical question. “The most important factor is trust,” he said, “and we have to earn that trust everyday and every minute. I would like to think of journalism not as a profession but as a mission.”
Peter Limbourg, Director General of Deutsche Welle agreed, adding that international broadcasters have a duty to stand up to their responsibility as information providers when national media outlets only show one side of a story. “I think it’s good that we have the Russians, the Chinese and the Gulf states in the market and they should come to us and they should bring their opinions,” he said, “but it’s a vice versa thing. Let me try to broadcast Deutsche Welle in Saudi Arabia. This would be a difficult thing. Let me try to go in and broadcast in China. Or let me go in and broadcast in Russia – everywhere with everything.”

International partners and co-hosts
DW’s national and international partners for the 2014 Global Media Forum include, among others, Amnesty International, Deutsche Telekom, the Grimme-Institut, NATO, the United Nations, the Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications and Voices of Africa.
The conference is co-hosted by the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse Savings Bank in Bonn. Support is also provided by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the City of Bonn. Cooperation partner is The Right Livelihood College Campus Bonn.

For more information about the conference, go to www.dwgmf.de