MEDIABLAB DAILY DIGEST JAN 16: AUNG SAN SUU KYI HEZBOLLAH INDIAN CRICKET LEAGUE TOM CRUISE MADONNA
January 16th 2008 04:41
A compilation of MediaBlab items published over the last 24 hours
GOVERNMENT ORDERS MYANMAR TIMES TO FIRE FOUR OF ITS EDITORIAL STAFF
The Myanmar Times has been ordered to suspend publication for one week and sack four of its Myanmar-edition editors after carrying a report that had not been authorised by the government’s censorship board.
According to the Irrawaddy Journal, the report in the current issue told readers that satellite TV fees were to be increased from the equivalent of US $5 annually to $800.
The news provoked wide public criticism. The government appears to be having second thoughts about introducing the rise and has not yet implemented it (see MediaBlab archives.)
If this news is correct, it will be a big blow to the Myanmar Times because the four employees are among the paper’s most senior and most talented journalists.
Nwe Nwe Aye, for example, has been with the Myanmar Times almost since its beginnings in 2000. She worked for several years as a reporter on the paper’s English-language edition, covering mainly health and women’s issues.
She is one of the few journalists to have travelled extensively as part of her job, having flown to Japan and Australia, and most recently Germany.
Recently she was promoted to deputy editor along with Win Nyunt Lwin. Win Kyaw Oo was chief of staff, and Myint Soe was chief sub-editor.
The order suspending The Myanmar Times for one week comes amid signs that the regime is clamping down still further on the Myanmar media. Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan – dubbed ‘Comical Ali’ by the Thai daily newspaper The Nation in a reference to former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf – warned editors, writers and publishers that the censorship board would “take action” if they wrote “news which can discourage the national interest.”
Kyaw Hsan, right hand man of junta leader Senior General Than Shwe, is described as one of four ‘super hard-liners,’ along with Culture Minister Major General Aung Khin Myint, Industry Minister-1 Aung Thaung and Minister of Science and Technology Maung Thaung.
ITALIAN FILM DIRECTOR GIUSEPPE TORNATORE TO MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT MYANMAR HEROINE AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Italian film director Giuseppe Tornatore will make a film about the Myanmar pro-democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mizzima News reports that it will be an English film with an estimated budget of US 30 million.
The film’s producer is Naofumi Okamoto, one of the very few foreigners who have met the detained Myanmar leader. She has been under house arrest for the last 12 years of the 18 years she has spent in Burma.
Okamoto told Mizzima, "The purpose of producing this film is to honour Noble Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, because she chooses to be a mother to a nation instead of being a mother to a family, it is a very difficult thing for women to do."
The film's script will be completed in May and shooting is likely to begin by September or October this year. It would be the first movie depicting the life and times of the Nobel Laureate.
"We are still working on the script, it may be finished by May and after that we will start shooting," Okamoto told Mizzima.
According to the producer, the film would be shot in Southeast Asia, with Thailand and Vietnam being the most likely venues. Malaysia could also be considered. However, he added that nothing had been confirmed yet.
Okamato said Italian award winning director Giuseppe Tornatore was chosen because he is famous for making women-centric films.
Meanwhile, following up MediaBlab’s recent report that Myanmar director and comedian Zargana is writing script for a movie about Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San, Zargana has now revealed more details to Mizzima.
He said two film producing teams directly approached him about the movie. “The first one is from Europe and another one is from UK which produced 'Beyond Rangoon' before. And also the Hollywood producer Beckman, the producer of ' Charlie Wilson's War', approached me to produce this film.
“They want to produce this film in high budget and in grand scale as 'Gandhi'. I have appointment to meet with them this evening.”
Zargana said the film script has been finished as a draft and added, “My friend Vicky Bowman helped me in translation since very beginning.”
Zargana has been posting the film script on his web site bit by bit, but potential producers have asked him to stop doing this.
HEZBOLLAH-BACKED LEBANESE TV CHANNEL BROADCASTS INTO AUSTRALIA AGAIN
The Hezbollah-backed Lebanese television channel al-Manar has been picked up by the Thai satellite communications company Thaicom, and is currently being broadcast across Australia, Africa, Europe and Asia.
The Australian newspaper this morning reported that the al-Manar “is once again broadcasting into Australia, despite a tightening of laws that prohibit programs supporting terrorism.”
The paper said that a spokeswoman for the Australian Communications and Media Authority said yesterday it would commence inquiries to "determine whether and how the service is being broadcast in Australia, and will then consider any appropriate action".
The Israel-based Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre issued an alert regarding al-Manar, saying the broadcasts "compromised the efforts of the international community to limit the spread of Hezbollah's incitement programming".
The former federal government proscribed the militant arm of Hezbollah, calling it a terrorist group under the nation's new counter-terrorism laws.
ACMA, Australia's telecommunications watchdog, has received complaints in the past that al-Manar was available in Australia, allegedly raising funds for Hezbollah and inciting hatred of Jews.
SONY AND SINGAPORE’S WORLD SPORTS GROUP BUY INDIAN TWENTY20 CRICKET RIGHTS FOR US$1 BILLION
Sony Television network and Singapore-based World Sports Group have bought the media rights for the star-studded inaugural Twenty20 Indian Premier League for the next 10 years from the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The Sony-WSG combine outbid the ESPN-STAR Sports network, and news and entertainment broadcaster NDTV. Nimbus Communications, which owns the domestic rights of all international matches played in India till 2010 (for $612 million), did not participate in the bidding.
Exchange4Media said the “touted price is US$1.026 billion, comprising $918 million as rights money and $108 million for compulsory promotional activities.”
The deal, the biggest telecast deal in Indian cricket history, gives Sony exclusive audio visual rights to all the matches in the inaugural Indian Premier League season this year.
Business Standard reported, “Indian Premier League, which will kick off in April, will host 56 matches in the Twenty20 format and will have international and domestic cricketers playing in eight teams.
”The tournament is based on the annual soccer competition the English Premier League and each team will be owned by a company. The company will have to buy team ownership rights from Board of Control for Cricket in India for around $50 million. This apart, the company will have to deal separately with each cricketer it wants in its team.”
The league faces competition from the Zee group which floated the India Cricket League, but has faced poor response from advertisers.
Exchange4Media said test captains Ricky Ponting of Australia, Graeme Smith of South Africa, Daniel Vettori of New Zealand and Shoaib Malik of Pakistan are among the 80 cricketers contracted for the Indian Premier League.
The Australian today reports that the national cricket team could face "club versus country" struggles for its best players, following the Indian deal.
The Australian said, “It is understood Australian Test players - including Brett Lee, Mike Hussey, Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds - have signed memorandums of understanding to play” in the new Indian league.”
The Australian added, “They will not be permitted to play in the Indian Premier League this year or next year because of touring commitments with the national side, but will still receive lucrative fees for promoting the league and sponsors of teams they represent.”
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TO GO GREEN WITH NEW QUARTERLY MAGAZINE
America’s Mediaweek reports that National Geographic will convert its Green Guide bimonthly newsletter to a full-fledged quarterly magazine in early March.
National Geographic Green Guide will have tips for leading an eco-friendly life, home improvement advice, product news and reports on environmental issues.
The premiere issue will examine ways American homeowners can reduce their carbon footprint.
Seth Bauer, editorial director, said the magazine is written for general consumers, not for enviromaniacs, and added “is chock-full of simple, useful ideas, broken down into achievable steps that make going green a gradual and affordable process rather than an all-or-nothing plunge.”
The initial rate base guarantee is 100,000 and the magazine will sell for US$4.95 at outlets like Barnes & Noble, Whole Foods Market and Hudson News, with an annual subscription rate of US$15.
National Geographic bought the Green Guide newsletter and web site in March 2007 from founder and publisher Wendy Gordon. The newsletter was discontinued last month, but the web site is still updated weekly
NORWEGIAN JOURNALIST KILLED IN KABUL HOTEL TALIBAN ATTACK
Carsten Thomassen, a Norwegian journalist employed by the Oslo-based daily Dagbladet, who was fatally injured in the armed Taliban attack on a luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul.
Thomassen sustained serious stomach injuries in the suicide attack on the Serena Hotel and died in a field hospital near Kabul.
He was part of a group of journalists accompanying Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Stoere on a visit to Kabul. Stoere, who was in the hotel at the time of the attack, was not hurt but a Norwegian diplomat was seriously injured.
The attack, which has been claimed by the Taliban, left a toll of eight dead and six wounded. It was carried by several men armed with grenades and AK-47 rifles, one of whom blew himself up in the entrance to the hotel, which is in the centre of Kabul near the presidential palace and many foreign embassies.
Thomassen, 38, was based in Oslo and covered foreign affairs for Dagbladet, which is one of Norway's leading dailies. "We feel great sorrow and powerlessness," editor Anne Aasheim said.
Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reported that colleagues of the journalist frantically tried to save his life in the lobby of a blood-splattered Kabul hotel.
VOGUE MAGAZINE FEELS THE HEAT OVER PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTION PHOTO SHOOT
MediaBistro followed up a Folio report why stated that US Vogue magazine is “feeling the heat” of religious and pro-life organisations over an article these groups say promotes partial-birth abortions with a photo shoot that makes the subject appear fashionable.
A column, which appears in the January issue, was written by Lori Campbell, a New York woman who in 1998 was advised by her doctors to have an abortion 22 weeks into her pregnancy.
AUSTRALIAN TV: NETWORK TEN AND FOXTEL SIGN RIGHTS TO 2010 COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN INDIA
Network Ten and Foxtel have secured the exclusive Australian broadcast rights to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.
The agreement will see TEN and Foxtel deliver Australian viewers the most comprehensive coverage of this blue ribbon multi-sport event ever seen on Australian free-to-air and subscription television.
Ten, who today officially won the rights from the Organising Committee for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games as part of a competitive bid process, will partner with Foxtel to broadcast the 2010 Commonwealth Games, from October 3 to 14 that year.
Under this landmark partnership agreement Ten and Foxtel will share all broadcast rights, allowing both to broadcast simultaneous live coverage of all events. Both networks will have coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies, with Ten exclusively live.
Importantly, many key events from the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games will be broadcast within Australian prime time zones.
TEN and Foxtel will also look to on sell the radio rights, with Foxtel securing the exclusive subscription television and exclusive new media rights, including mobile, internet and digital video broadcast handheld.
The 2010 Commonwealth Games will also be the first to be host-broadcast produced in full high definition.
Foxtel will compliment Ten’s extensive coverage by offering its subscribers an expanded service that will provide an unparalleled choice of Commonwealth Games competition across all 17 sports.
Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, said, “The rights for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, which are represented by Fast Track, our exclusive broadcast rights agency, were keenly sought by a number of parties, but the Ten and Foxtel partnership was compelling and will deliver the most comprehensive coverage ever for Australian audiences in the 80-year history of the Games.”
AUSTRALIAN TV: NINE NETWORK CROWS ABOUT US TERMINATOR BLOCKBUSTER RATINGS
Australia’s Nine Network television, which last year lost its long-term reign as the country’s number one channel, is now sitting on what could be the crown jewels in its reinvigorated programming schedule.
Nine Network yesterday gleefully pointed out that an American program it has signed, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, launched on Sunday night in the US and recorded the strongest debut on any network for the season-to-date with an “eye-popping” 18.3 million viewers tuning in.
Nine said, “In addition to the massive ratings, the series has received glowing reviews in both USA Today and the LA Times.”
The Aussie network added, “The phenomenal ratings for the series correlates with the pre-launch audience testing conducted by the Nine Network on Australian audiences where Terminator recorded the highest ‘likely to watch’ score of all new programs among male respondents.
The show will launch in Australia in early February.
AUSTRALIAN TV: LOST STAR MATTHEW FOX IN SYDNEY FOR TV PROMOTION
Lost star Matthew Fox will travel to Sydney next week to promote the new season of Lost on Channel Seven and his upcoming film Vantage Point, due for release on March 13 through Sony Pictures Releasing.
The fourth season of Lost premieres on January 31 in the US, and will be fast tracked to the Seven Network in Australia in February.
Seven Network said, “With only 48 original episodes left until the final episode airs in 2010, this season of Lost truly is the beginning of the end, with the promise of rescue at hand.
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AUSTRALIAN LIBEL LAWS MEANS TOM CRUISE UNAUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY CAN’T BE PUBLISHED
A partner of the Australian legal firm Minter Ellison legal firm has pointed out that that non-lease of the book, Tom Cruise: An Unauthorised Biography, in Australia, highlights the “significant differences in US libel law compared to Australia.”
Writing for Crikey.com, partner Peter Bartlett said the book is being released in the US this week, but the publisher, St Martins Press, is not being published in Australia.
Newspapers have reported that Australian bookshops have also bowed to pressure from the Church of Scientology and Tom Cruise not to publish the book. Dymocks and Angus & Robertson have confirmed that they will not stock the book due to the legal risks.
Bartlett wrote, “In the US, a plaintiff like Tom Cruise (a public figure) would need to prove that the defamatory statement was published with actual malice, which is defined as ‘knowledge that the statement was false or reckless’. Thus the onus is on the plaintiff. This is often a difficult hurdle for a plaintiff.
“In contrast, in Australia the onus is on the publisher to prove that the material published is true or that another defence is available to it. This is a far greater hurdle to jump than that faced by the plaintiff in the US. A publisher could not hope to know as much about the plaintiff as the plaintiff himself.
“US law places more emphasis on the public's right to know.”
Bartlett also said the book is unlikely to be available to Australian readers online: “If anyone in Australia read it online, it would be technically published in Australia for defamation purposes and the US publishers and author could be sued here.”
METRO FREE NEWSPAPERS UP FOR SALE IN US
Free newspapers are certainly successful in Europe, but the US is one market where free commuter newspapers, or freesheets, have never really taken off in big numbers
A trio of US city freesheet, Metro Boston, New York and Philadelphia are up for sale after having failed to gain new investors or partners.
FollowTheMedia said, “What happens in Boston could prove particularly interesting since the New York Times Company owns 49 percent of the newspaper, bought two years ago to court young readers who hopefully would later, as they got older, migrate to the company-owned Boston Globe.
“In those two years circulation at Boston Metro has slipped by 10,000 and revenue was down 12 percent in the third quarter, 2007, according to Metro International.”
FollowTheMedia reports “there is talk that Philip Anschutz, who publishes free Examiner brand newspapers in several US cities, may be interested in Metro New York.”
MYSPACE IN US GOVT-URGED CRACKDOWN ON CHILD SEX ABUSERS
AFP reports that social networking site MySpace and US prosecutors have reached an agreement on child protection measures to help prevent child sexual abusers and others from misusing the site.
MySpace and top US state attorneys on Monday announced a pact to make the social networking website and its rivals safer for children. MySpace agreed to develop safety enhancements that include letting parents submit children's e-mail addresses to prevent profiles from being created using them, and to respond within 72 hours to complaints of inappropriate content.
MySpace will create and head an Internet Safety Technical Task Force with a mission to find ways to better check ages and identities of those making profiles on social networking websites, according to the agreement.
Social networking websites have been accused of not doing enough to prevent sexual predators, and in October, a 13-year-old Missouri girl hanged herself after being jilted by an online ‘boyfriend’ who turned out to be a neighboring mother perpetuating a hoax on the child.
MediaDailyNews said some aspects of this agreement will be very difficult to implement. “What's more, they raise significant First Amendment concerns. Much of the pact is centered on keeping people younger than 14 off the site and limiting the ability of other teens to make their profiles public.
“As a legal matter, teens have a constitutional right to express themselves. While MySpace is a private company and can presumably ban children from the site, state attorneys general are government actors and should think twice before pressuring social networking sites to start banning people from participating.
TechCrunch reports that the “agreement between MySpace and nearly all the (US) states attorneys general to bulk up protections against sexual predators will no doubt have spill over effects on other social networks as well. No social network can afford to look like it is lagging in this area and will do whatever it can to be at par with emerging industry norms in this area.
TechCrunch received this statement from Facebook:
“Facebook has always created an inhospitable environment for predators by limiting access to users’ personal information based on real-world social connections. We have led the way in our partnership with the New York Attorney General and continue our involvement with the Attorneys General of all states and other law enforcement agencies to keep children safe from those who would do them harm. We are happy to work further with the states to develop and deploy strategies to protect kids online.”
BRITAIN’S DAILY TELEGRAPH LAUNCHES SEVEN NEW TV PROGRAMS ON WEB SITE
Britain’s Daily Telegraph announced the launch of seven new TV programs on its web site on Monday.
Editor and Publisher reports that the new line-up will include a right-leaning political talk show, a cooking program, and shows covering issues such as travel and money.
This latest addition to the Telegraph’s web site underscores its commitment to developing its web TV services. Audio linked to picture galleries and breaking news will also be provided.
The Telegraph’s political show, Right On, will offer admittedly biased commentary according to Guy Ruddle, the multimedia editor for the Telegraph Media Group. The Thursday show, featuring conservative Member of Parliament Ann Widdecombe, will air when parliament is sitting.
ITV IN UK COULD DROP BOXING FROM ITS SPORTING LINE UP FOR COMMERCIAL REASONS
Britain’s ITV could drop boxing from its lineup as part of a rethink of the network's sports coverage ordered by Mark Sharman, the director of news and sport.
But the decision isn’t a moral one, rather it’s a driven by a commercial imperative.
The Guardian reports that Sharman said ITV was faced with a tough decision because boxing was becoming commercially unviable for an advertising-funded channel.
The root problem according to ITV is that it spends time and money building up the profile of British fighters such as Amir Khan, only to see their biggest title fights go to pay-per-view channels once they are established stars.
Bigger fights are usually staged for the benefit of American audiences, meaning they are on in the middle of the night in Britain.
The competition for top-class fights has recently become even more intense, with Setanta fighting it out with Sky Sports for the pay-TV rights.
AUSTRALIA’S AUSTEREO RADIO GROUP SELLS ITS INTEREST IN GREEK RADIO STATION
In a brief announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday, Austereo Group Ltd advised that it has sold its interest in Greek radio station Village 88.3 FM Athens, “consistent with the board’s commitment to focus upon the core Australian radio business.”
Austereo said the he sale will have no material impact on the trading results for the current financial year or the balance sheet of the company.
No other details were provided.
A 2002 Austereo annual report stated that Village 88FM was relaunched in October 2001 and quickly grew to number one in the market. It then had a 12 percent audience share of a 10.5 million population.
Austereo said, “This region will form Austereo’s southern European base.”
Austereo has claimed to be the "largest radio broadcaster outside America" but this has been questioned.
It is however a dominant commercial network in Australia.
TOO MUCH RED TAPE IN CAMBODIA FOR MADONNA TO ADOPT BABY, SAYS PHNOM PENH POST
The Phnom Penh Post reports that “rumours are circulating wildly” that American actress Madonna and her British husband Guy Ritchie may come to Cambodia to adopt a baby sister for David Banda, the boy they adopted from Malawi in 2006.
British tabloid The Sun claimed the couple hoped the adoption processes in Cambodia would involve less red tape than in Malawi.
But the Phnom Penh Post reports…“it's unlikely there would be less ‘red tape’ in Cambodia as long as a current ban on US adoptions here remains in force. Both the US and Britain have suspended adoptions from Cambodia except under certain extraordinary circumstances.”
The US has not allowed adoptions from Cambodia since 2001 due to reports of child trafficking and concerns about fraudulent documentation. Britain followed suit in 2004.
Lawmaker Son Chhay told the Phnom Penh Post that Cambodian adoption legislation is still far away from meeting international adoption standards. "In the last two years adoptions from Cambodia have decreased significantly because of the suspensions. At present Cambodian legislation is not even half way to meeting such standards as the Hague Convention on adoption."
Madonna could however could have a loophole: her father was a first generation Italian-American, and Italy still allows adoptions from Cambodia.
LINTAS MEDIA GUIDE PREDICTS BULLISH YEAR FOR INDIAN PRINT MEDIA
Lintas Media Group has released the Lintas Media Guide 2008, a comprehensive analysis of Indian media spending in 2007, according to agencyfaqs.
According to the study, Indian ad spending increased by only 3.5 percent, compared to 2006. Print continued to hold a major share with 50 percent of the total media spending, and internet ad spending increased by 43 percent as compared to 2006.
Radio, cinema and outdoors saw an increase of 28, 16 and 17 percent. TV revenues showed a decline of 1 percent as a result of the competitive pricing offered by general entertainment channels to retain market shares.
India has 551 million literate people, and increase in literacy is proving beneficial for the print medium as more people in rural and urban areas are able to read newspapers and magazines. The print media industry still has the potential to increase by 236 million literate people in India. Print media is among the acknowledged segments for global investors who like to put the maximum foreign investment here. The year 2007 also saw the launch of various foreign publications such as Vogue, FHM and The Economist.
ZAGAT GUIDE BOOKS UP FOR SALE IN US
Zagat Survey LLC, America’s influential pocket-sized guidebook that uses consumer reviews to rate everything from Chinese food restaurants to day spas, said it is considering selling, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The company has hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc as its financial adviser, and is considering a sale or possible partnerships.
The Zagat Survey was started as a hobby in 1979 while Tim and Nina Zagat were working in Paris. Since then, the company has developed from a small review of selected restaurants in New York City, to a far-flung array of guides covering major US cities and regions as well as several international destinations, with more than 300,000 “surveyors” submitting material.
REUTERS-THOMSON DEAL SET TO FINALISE IN SECOND QUARTER THIS YEAR
Reuters reports that Reuters Group Plc and Thomson Corp said they expect Thomson's proposed acquisition of the British group to close early in the second quarter of 2008.
The pair said the US Department of Justice, which had been expected to give its decision on the US$17.9 billion deal by Tuesday, will now give its ruling around the same time as the European Commission's.
The Commission is set to give its ruling by March 10, and it could then take four to six weeks to secure shareholder approval.
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