Briefing Notes: BBC World News

Contacts

tulip.mazumdar@bbc.co.uk, global health correspondent, BBC World News

Jane Dreaper, health correspondent, radio

Adam Brimelow, health correspondent, online

Sophie Hutchinson, health correspondent, TV

Fergus Walsh, medical correspondent, TV

Hugh Pym, health editor, TV

Carol Rubra, head, science and environment editor

Helen Miller, health producer

Eimear McNamara, health producer

James Gallagher, health editor, online

Caroline Parkinson, health editor, online

Michelle Roberts, health reporter, online

Philippa Roxby, health reporter, online

Smeeta Mundasad, health reporter, online

Alex Bolton, assistant editor, World News, planning

Kristina Block, World News, planning

Alastair Elphick, World News, editor/journalist

Rachael Buchanan, medical producer

Naomi Grimley, global affairs correspondent

Briefing

Tulip started in radio at Radio Merseyside then worked for Radio 1 Newsbeat and Radio 1 Extra, before moving to Pakistan to cover Pakistan/Afghanistan.  She became global health correspondent in 2013. It’s a new position so she doesn’t have a specific brief. She interprets her brief quite widely but is committed to bringing untold global health stories to the screen. She’s keen to do something on neglected tropical diseases and also on snake bites. She travels abroad once every 1-2 months to do a piece. Her pieces run on World News TV, the World Service and – if they’re taken up – on the Today programme, the Six and the Ten. She also does longer docs for the Our World strand. She has a film coming up soon on Sierra Leone and the aftermath of Ebola. Much of her time has been spent covering Ebola. She is now free to look for new stories and encouraged everyone present to send her any suggestions. Some subjects such as malaria and HIV are a hard sell. She has to come up with a new angle or a compelling reason to run this story now. But she is lucky to be able to do features and depart from the news agenda. Sometimes she will respond to a running story – for example she is keen to do something on the health and mental health of migrants.

There are many health stories she could do but she must persuade her editors that a story is worth covering especially given the cost of sending her abroad to cover it. World News are very supportive and generally when they commit they do not change their mind. The domestic news bulletins are harder to pin down as her story may be dropped on a busy news day.

When you pitch an idea to Tulip, be very clear on access, what is new about the story and why it is important. Finding a hook is key – even if it just a UN announcement or a new piece of research. If you’re publishing a report and you are giving it to her before it goes in the newspapers, then that is a big plus. When you write to Tulip, spell things out clearly in bullet points – it’s much easier for her to digest that way. Be aware of what the BBC has done and mention any other BBC coverage in your email to her. There is no point in her pitching an idea if someone else has already done something similar.

It’s best to pitch ideas to correspondents and copy editors in to emails. Editors like to keep across what is going on but a story needs a champion and that is most likely to be a correspondent.

Tulip is keen to do more seasons and spoke enthusiastically about a day in which all news outlets focused on death. The day was called ‘Dealing with death‘ and Tulip went to Uganda to report on community responses to death.

Tulip recently did a piece on Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and filmed in Saudi Arabia. The editors liked this because it was a ‘new’ story and also because Tulip had access to Saudi (which is hard to get apparently and quite rare). BBC World also did a branded day of programming around MERS with buy in from Today, the Six and the Ten. World News does this sort of thing well as there are several slots during the day on the tv channel where they can bring in studio guests to talk about a running story.

BBC News is keen to do more off agenda days like this – IBT has been talking to James Harding, the BBC’s Director of News, who said that he is keen to stop the news juggernaut occasionally to focus on an issue that is important but which doesn’t normally get exposure on the news. He spoke about the difficulty of covering the process of development  – we will be talking to him further about this.

There is a big move for BBC news to raise its game online so the health team are particularly keen on any suggestions for online stories, animation or interactive pieces. Tulip spoke about the body clock piece produced by Rachael Buchanan as part of the dealing with death season. http://ksj.mit.edu/dispatches/2015/03/05/inside-bbcs-award-winning-body-clock-project-medic-3/

Tulip said there is no definitive way to get a story commissioned – in her experience each time has been different. She is keen to find more stories on innovation in sub Saharan Africa; to look at the pharmaceutical industry; to focus on obesity, diabetes and more consumer type stories. She did a piece on body image which went down well. She will be filming in Japan in March and is keen to find another story to do whilst she is out there. She also wants to tackle ‘difficult’ subjects and responded well to a suggestion that she should look at menstruation.  She has already reported on fistula. Tulip said that Naomi Grimley is another person to try if you have a development story or one with a women’s angle.

Mark Galloway

24.11.15

November 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s November newsletter with an update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

Next briefing will be with Tulip Mazumdar

Our next briefing will take place later this month with Tulip Mazumdar, the BBC’s global health correspondent. Tulip reported extensively during the Ebola epidemic and she is currently back in Sierra Leone reporting again on Ebola. She will explain how she decides which stories and issues to cover and how she pitches to editors. This briefing is aimed at media officers and others who have an interest in how BBC News covers global health issues. It will take place from 10-11.30am on Tuesday November 24^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. If you’d like to attend, please register via the members’ page of the IBT website.

Our last briefing was with MailOnline

Last week we heard from Marianna Partasides, deputy news editor at MailOnline. She explained how the site has grown in popularity to become the biggest newspaper website in the world. Although it carries the name of the newspaper, it is run as a separate entity, with its own editorial team and it does not promote the political agenda of the Daily Mail.  The site is best known for its coverage of celebrities, but news features often receive more hits. It has a wide range of stories, usually accompanied by pictures or video. The site is keen to receive story ideas from IBT members. If you missed the briefing, notes on what Marianna said can be downloaded from the members’ page of the IBT website.

Training session on Instagram and Snapchat

Our next training event will cover the use of images in social media, particularly Instagram and Snapchat. These two platforms are growing rapidly but many NGOs have failed to take advantage of the opportunities that they offer. The session is aimed at users who are familiar with social media but have limited experience of these two platforms. It will take place from 9.30-12.30 on Thursday December 10^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. This is a free event – if you are receiving this newsletter, you are and your colleagues are eligible to attend. Places are limited and can be booked via the IBT website. This training session will cover:

• An introduction to Instagram & Snapchat and their capabilities
• Why to use Instagram & Snapchat and how to identify an audience
• Case studies from the charity sector
• Hands-on exercises including image editing and writing captions
• Measuring and managing techniques

IBT gives evidence to peers

Last month we gave evidence to the House of Lords Communications Committee on its inquiry into the future of the BBC. In a special session looking at the BBC’s international coverage, Sophie Chalk, our Head of Advocacy, spoke about the important contribution that the BBC makes to our understanding of the wider world – through news and other genres including current affairs, documentaries, drama and entertainment. You can watch the evidence session here:

http://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2b1a1b7d-eebe-4751-91e6-fe6c229ec8b5?in=16:38:14

Launch of Public Voice

The future of the BBC and the possible privatization of Channel 4 are important issues for civil society, and we believe that it is vital that civil society organisations make their voices heard. We understand that this may not be a priority issue for many IBT members but we urge you to lend your support to Public Voice. This is a coalition which existed a decade ago to lobby on broadcasting issues and which we have relaunched to enable us to bring together a wide range of organisations, both IBT members and non-members. To find out more please take a look at the Public Voice website.

http://publicvoice.org.uk/

Public engagement 1 – how to change attitudes towards development

Bond has published a briefing on current attitudes towards development – it shows that the public is more concerned about poverty in the UK than about poverty globally, has a low tolerance for corruption and little awareness of the sustainable development goals. The briefing argues that it is useful to divide the public into segments so that NGO resources can be more targeted, to increase support for development. The aim of Bond’s work in this area is to learn something new about how to change public attitudes.

https://www.bond.org.uk/resources/uk-public-attitudes-towards-development

Public engagement 2 – how to reach young people

Livity, the youth marketing agency, has authored Engaging Generation Z, a report commissioned by Bond, which may be of interest to IBT members. It looks at ways of motivating young people to engage positively with international development and draws evidence from a number of successful initiatives that have come from a range of sectors. The report’s findings indicate that NGOs need to be more effective at collaborating with young people and taking the conversations to the digital spaces that they occupy.

https://www.bond.org.uk/resources/engaging-generation-z

Humanitarian News 1 – launch of research network 

The Humanitarian News Research Network has been launched – with the aim of bringing together researchers and practitioners interested in humanitarian media and communications. If you’d like to find out more about the network, contact Mel Bunce at City University melanie.bunce.1@city.ac.uk or fill in this online form:

http://city.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6103254adcc6a6d072723c281&id=610d6c09f9

Humanitarian news 2 – new book on humanitarianism and communications

Last month saw the publication of Humanitarianism, Communications and Change, a series of essays by practitioners and academics. The book considers how communications is changing and the impact of these changes. Authors include Glenda Cooper, Richard Sambrook, Liz Scarff and Alice Klein.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Humanitarianism-Communications-Change-Global-Crises/dp/1433125269

Humanitarian news 3 – new research paper on broadcasting in emergencies

BBC Media Action has published a briefing paper on broadcasting in emergencies, drawing lessons from a number of case studies, including the Ebola epidemic. The briefing evaluates the research that has already been conducted in this field, looks at the challenges of carrying out effective research and makes recommendations for the future. It concludes that whilst mass media is effective in reaching large numbers of people with potentially life-saving information, it is less effective at providing more context specific localised information that people also need. Social media is particularly effective at giving audiences a voice and responding quickly to emerging issues.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction/publications-and-resources/research/reports/Humanitarian-broadcasting-in-emergencies-synthesis-report-2015

Film Africa

Film Africa has now opened and over the course of the next week or so will show dozens of films and documentaries – and will feature panel debates on migration, democracy, LGBT issues and the ethics of making documentaries.

http://www.filmafrica.org.uk/

Best wishes

Mark

Briefing Notes: MailOnline

IBT briefing with MailOnline  October 2015

Speaker:

Marianna Partasides  Deputy News Editor

Key contacts:

Marianna.Partasides@mailonlne.co.uk  deputy news editor

Anna.Hodgekiss@mailonline.co.uk health editor

Rachel.Reilly@mailonline.co.uk science and technology editor

Daniel.Sanderson@mailonline.co.uk global editor

Lisa.Snell@mailonline.co.uk head of video

Louise.Saunders@mailonline.co.uk show business editor

Carol.Driver@mailonline.co.uk femail editor

The key point to remember is that MailOnline is not The Daily Mail. Although they share a newsroom and the site runs Daily Mail stories it does not have the Mail’s political agenda; it is not anti-aid; it is not sceptical about climate change. It has a huge readership and is not just read by Daily Mail readers.

Its USP is that there is something for everyone – lots of celeb stories, lots of fun content to share, but also lots of news stories. Often the news stories have more hits than the celeb stories. Readers may come to the site initially for the celeb content but they quickly graduate onto other parts of the site. There’s a lot on the site and stories often run at some length. Videos are common too. A key aspect of the site is its use of pictures. Whilst occasionally a story will run without pictures, this is quite rare.

The MailOnline has a completely separate editorial team from The Daily Mail. You can’t pitch to both at the same time – you need to pitch to them separately, although they will take each other’s stories. The website has a global reach – although its main audience is in the UK it is widely read in English speaking countries like the US, Australia and Canada. They will see a different home page with local content but much of the rest of the site will be the same.

The site publishes hundreds of stories every day and some will just stay there for a few hours. A typical story will be removed after 24 hours. There is no beginning of the day – the site is refreshed on a 24 hour basis. Peak readership is morning, lunchtime and early evening. More readers now access the site using mobile devices.

Pitching a story – think of yourself as a reader – what would you like to read? Where is the human interest angle? Do you have great pictures? Almost any subject can be interesting if approached in the right way. Of course the site is always looking for a MailOnline take on a story but there is no set rule as to what this is. On one day the site may lead with an expose looking at conditions in Brazilian jails; on another it may lead on the world’s worst wedding cakes. It’s hard to pin down what a typical MailOnline story is. They are interested in global issues. They have devoted a lot of coverage to the refugee crisis.

The best way to pitch is to email one of the subject editors mentioned at the top of this note. Focus on the human interest angle, the personal story rather than the issue. And open your pitch with ‘we have some great pictures…’ Pictures count for a lot especially if you own the copyright. They like using video too – this can be pitched direct to the video editor.

If you have an expose or investigation, think of the UK angle and how this impacts on consumers. They ran a piece on the conditions in which pigs were kept but it wasn’t considered a story until they found out who was consuming the meat. It turned out to be Morrisons. Morrisons responded by dropping the supplier – and then the site had its story.

Global stories should be pitched to the global team. They have roving reporters who could work with you and they are thinking ahead, not just responding to the day’s news stories.

If you have a great story it will be more attractive to them if you offer it exclusively – but this is not essential.

Marianna is compiling a list of features which are not time sensitive and can be run on a quiet news day – maybe at Xmas for example. So get in touch if you have something along these lines.

Foreign stories do well on the site, particularly if there are strong pictures or video.

If you are taking a celebrity abroad contact the show business team.

If you have a female angle contact the femail team.

Climate change stories in the run up to Paris should go to the science team.

All these subject teams work exclusively for MailOnline – they are completely separate from the Daily Mail.

October 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s October newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

Next briefing will be with MailOnline

Our next briefing will take place later this month with Liz Hazelton, the managing editor of MailOnline. The site has grown rapidly in the last few years to become the biggest newspaper website in the world. Although its main focus is celebrity news it also frequently runs stories from NGOs. Liz will talk about the sort of stories and pictures that work best for them and who to pitch ideas to. The event is free and open to all IBT members. It will take place from 10-11.30am on Thursday October 29^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. If you’d like to attend, please register via the members’ page of the IBT website.

Our last briefing was with Sky News

Earlier this week we heard from Kate Sullivan who heads up the mobile team at Sky News. Kate talked about the recent changes at Sky which have brought television, radio, tablet and mobile teams together. Mobile content is growing rapidly and Sky is building its online audience. Short videos work particularly well on the mobile site and Kate encouraged those present to pitch ideas to her and her colleagues.

Twitter training

We have two Twitter training sessions coming up later this month, one is for beginners and the other is for more advanced users. The sessions will take place on Wednesday October 7^th. There are a few places left. For more information and to book a place see the IBT website home page.

IBT dinner with James Harding 

Last week we held our annual dinner for CEOs. The guest speaker was James Harding, the BBC’s Director of News. James spoke about the threat that the BBC faces, with many seeking to use charter renewal as a way of reducing its size and scope. He encouraged us to speak out in support of the BBC and in particular its commitment to international content. James spoke about changes that he was making at BBC News to create opportunities to stand back from the news cycle and cover key issues that might not otherwise make it on air. He agreed that international development was a challenging issue for tv news to cover and said he would be happy to look again at this issue. He suggested that we co-host a brainstorm for BBC journalists to hear from a range of experts working in the international development sector.

Opportunity for IBT members to have their say on BBC charter renewal

IBT will be responding to the Government’s Green Paper which outlines the key issues which it believes the BBC is facing in the coming years. A key aspect, as James Harding pointed out, is the scale and scope of the BBC. Critics of the BBC would like to see an organization that is much smaller and doing a lot less. Our view is that the BBC needs to be of a scale that enables it effectively to deliver its public purposes, including providing international content for UK audiences. If you would like to have your say, we have drafted a short submission that IBT members can adapt and submit in in their own names: https://ibt.org.uk/2015/09/bbc-charter/  The deadline for submissions is Thursday October 8^th. If you have any queries about this please get in touch with our head of campaigns, sophie.chalk@btinternet.com

Here is more information on the consultation and how to have your say: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-07-20/how-do-i-have-my-say-on-the-future-of-the-bbc

Privatisation of Channel 4

It was recently revealed that the Government, despite earlier denials, is seriously considering the privatization of Channel 4. The channel is a commercial public service broadcaster, a publicly owned corporation with no shareholders, and all its profits go back into programme making. IBT is very concerned about the Government’s plans. If Channel 4 were to be privatized this would pose a serious threat to is non-commercial content including Channel 4 News, Unreported World and the rest of its international output. We’ll be working to draw attention to this threat in the coming months. The views of Conservative MPs and peers are likely to be highly influential. If you or your colleagues are attending the Conservative Party conference, please raise this issue with any politicians you meet.

Unreported World

The new series of Unreported World launches next week, in its usual 7.30pm slot, on Friday October 9^th, with a shocking report documenting the use of ECT in Chinese hospitals as a so called cure for homosexuality. Other programmes later in the series cover eye surgery in Malawi, acid attacks in Bangladesh and families being reunited after years apart in South Sudan. Many of these films were made in close collaboration with NGOs including UNICEF, Sightsavers and Save the Children. Filming for the next run of Unreported World is currently planned for January/February.

Reframing climate change

Earlier this year we hosted a panel debate at the Sheffield Documentary Festival to discuss how tv could improve its coverage of climate change. We brought together commissioners from the BBC, Channel 4, a climate scientist and an academic – with the active participation of an audience of producers and filmmakers. That session is now available to view online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nmdLhHh_cA&feature=youtu.be

Film festivals

It’s truly film festival time – here is a round-up of several which may be of interest:

• Raindance Film Festival, September 23-October 4. The last few days of this festival which celebrates and supports new and alternative filmmakers from around the world http://raindancefestival.org/
• London Film Festival, October 7-18. Bookings are now open, with the chance to see 240 films from 72 countries http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff
• Cambridge African Film Festival, October 16-24. The longest running African film festival in the UK, this year includes screenings of documentary and feature films from South Africa, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Senegal, workshops and Q and As with filmmakers http://www.cambridgeafricanfilmfestival.org.uk/
• Global Health Film Festival, October 30-31. This is being held for the first time – its primary aim is to use film and media as a catalyst for discussion and change on global health issues:  https://www.rsm.ac.uk/events/events-listing/2015-2016/groups/global-health/ghg01-global-health-film-festival.aspx At 6pm on Saturday October 31^st, at the Royal Society of Medicine, there will be an opportunity to watch filmmakers pitch their ideas to an expert panel which includes IBT. The winning pitch will receive a development award of £5,000 https://www.rsm.ac.uk/global-health/global-health-crossover-lab.aspx

• Film Africa, October 30-November 8. The full programme will be announced shortly http://www.filmafrica.org.uk/

Best wishes

Mark

September 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s September newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

Reflecting a Changing World?

Today we publish a new research report Reflecting a Changing World?which looks at how UK television covers global stories and issues. This is the latest instalment of a unique study which we have been undertaking since 1989. It examines in detail how much non-news international content there is on which channels, covering what topics, through which genres, in what countries and how this has changed over time. Our hope is that this provides the basis for an informed debate about the contribution such content makes to our understanding of the wider world. The latest findings also underline the important role of BBC television and provides us with an evidence base for our lobbying over the new BBC Charter. The channel with the most international content is BBC2. The report can be downloaded from the IBT website

https://ibt.org.uk/reports/reflecting-a-changing-world/

Next briefing will be with Sky News

Our next briefing will take place later this month with Kate Sullivan from Sky News. There have been many changes at Sky in recent months, which has been restructuring its news operation around story teams rather than time slots. It has merged TV and online so that one person is in charge of a story across all platforms. Kate is an output editor and she will talk us through these changes and the best way to pitch to Sky. She has worked extensively on Sky online so she will explain how that works. The event is free and open to all IBT members. It will take place from 10-11.30am on Wednesday September 30^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. If you’d like to attend, please register via the members’ page of the IBT website.

Annual IBT dinner for CEOs of our member organisations

Our annual dinner for CEOs will take place later this month and the guest speaker will be James Harding, Director of News at the BBC. We’re delighted that he will be joined by Tulip Mazumdar, the BBC’s global health correspondent. This is, of course, a crucial time for the future of BBC News. Many of the BBC’s latest proposals, in response to Charter renewal, include changes to its news operation – the introduction of a streaming news service; hiring 100 regional reporters who will share their content with local newspapers; expansion of the World Service to include new services for Ethiopia, Eritrea and North Korea, and an expansion to its Middle East service. It promises to be a fascinating evening. Most CEOs have already confirmed whether or not they are coming to the dinner but if you have any queries regarding the event do get in touch. A full briefing for those attending will be sent out later this week.

The new BBC Charter

The BBC has now responded to the Government’s Green Paper and has begun to flesh out its vision for how the corporation will evolve in the coming years. There is a strong emphasis on openness and partnership, and responding to technological changes. The latest proposals include a new children’s service called iPlay, and a partnership to create an Ideas Service which will bring together what the BBC does across arts, culture, science, history and ideas and add to it work done by other arts, cultural and educational institutions. What the BBC has not yet made clear is where cuts will take place. There has been much talk of the axe falling on BBC4, the BBC News Channel and some children’s services. We will continue our lobbying effort to ensure that international content is not an area that is cut back any further. If you’d like to lend your support to our lobbying efforts please get in touch with Sophie Chalk, IBT’s Head of Campaigns, who is leading on this sophie.chalk@btinternet.com

You can also read Sophie’s blog, about why we need the BBC, on the Bond website

https://www.bond.org.uk/news/2015/08/bbc-and-international-understanding

Best wishes

Mark

August 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s August newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

New BBC Charter

The debate about the future of the BBC has moved forward with the Government’s publication last month of its Green Paper. This is a consultation document which asks a number of questions about the size and scope of the BBC and its governance. There is now a public consultation to which IBT will be submitting evidence. The deadline for submissions is October 8^th. We will be arguing that in order to fulfil the global purpose, of bringing the world to the UK, the BBC need to have the sort of scale and scope which it currently has. However, with the licence fee settlement having already taken place in the run up to the Budget, it’s clear that the BBC faces further cuts in the years ahead. A copy of the Green Paper can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445704/BBC_Charter_Review_Consultation_WEB.pdf

Meeting with Tony Hall

Last month a group of IBT members met Tony Hall, the BBC Director-General. The aim of the meeting was for us to talk to him about the importance of the global purpose and of the BBC’s commitment to high quality international content across a range of genres and services. We had a useful discussion with Tony and other BBC executives who were present. He encouraged us to make our voice heard in the Green Paper consultation.

Launch of Public Voice

Next month, IBT will be launching a new group, Public Voice, which will bring together a number of civil society organisations to lobby on issues related to public service broadcasting, including the future of the BBC and the possible privatization of Channel 4.  If you are interested in joining this group, please contact Sophie Chalk, IBT’s Head of campaigns: sophie.chalk@btinternet.com

Autumn events

We will continue with our briefings for IBT members in the Autumn. Details will be available in early September. We hope to hear from Sky News, Mail online, Telegraph online and CNN. We are also planning a number of training events which will be free to IBT members. On October 7^th there will be two Twitter training sessions, one for beginners and one for more advanced users. The trainer will be Mary Mitchell, a social media expert, who has run some excellent sessions for us in the past. On December 10^ththere will be an Instagram training session. Although these training events are principally aimed at media officers, other NGO staff who wish to develop their skills on social media will also find them useful. The training events can be booked via the IBT website.

Happy holidays!

Mark

July 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s July newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

Last month’s briefing – with BuzzFeed and New Statesman online

Paul Hamilos from BuzzFeed told us how the UK site is expanding and hiring new specialist correspondents. There’s a strong appetite amongst its audience for both short, pithy news pieces and longer in-depth reports. Buzzfeed does both. Caroline Crampton from New Statesman told us how the website is run – completely separately from the magazine – with its own team of reporters and its own agenda. In terms of commissioning content, there was an emphasis from both on original journalism and stories with a strong human interest element. It was also clear from both editors that NGOs need to think carefully, when pitching, about the sites and their particular audiences. A detailed note on the briefing can be found on the members’ page of the IBT website.

IBT AGM

Our AGM took place last week. Those present noted the wide range of IBT’s work over the last year – covering climate change, HIV/AIDS, media attitudes to aid and development and much more. It was agreed that IBT should lobby in the coming months for a clear commitment in the next BBC Charter to the global purpose ‘bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK.’ IBT was instrumental in securing this global purpose when the present Charter was being negotiated.

The future of the BBC

In a letter to IBT, John Whittingdale, the new Secretary of State at DCMS has promised that the Charter renewal process will be (in his words) ‘as open as possible.’ He said he would welcome input from IBT. This is good news, although since writing to us, it appears almost certain that the Chancellor will use this week’s Budget to try to transfer the cost of free licence fees for the over-75s from the Exchequer to the BBC. This is a huge blow for the BBC as it will now have to find a further £650m of savings. This sum represents roughly a sixth of the BBC’s current licence fee income. In other developments, the BBC Trust has approved plans for BBC3 to move online and Tony Hall, the BBC Director General has announced that 1,000 jobs will go so that the organization is ‘simpler, leaner and more effective for the future.’ We will be meeting Tony Hall later this month to talk about the future of the BBC.

Channel 4

Channel 4 has been told by Ofcom, the media regulator, that it needs to make efforts to enhance its international coverage. Ofcom has just published its review of Channel 4 in which it praisedChannel 4 News for its distinctive approach and its ability to attract hard to reach audiences (18-34s and BAME viewers). The review also noted that the number of hours of international content outside news has fallen, and the range of genres covered has narrowed. Channel 4 has responded by saying ‘we are continuing to explore ways in which we can further harness our international credentials.’ IBT has been in discussions with Channel 4 about its international content and we hope to meet the Chairman of Ofcom to discuss this further. In the meantime, Channel 4 has announced the launch of a new foreign language drama channel to be called 4WorldDrama. And, if you missed the recent Channel 4 series The Tribe, it’s well worth watching on All4:

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-tribe/on-demand/58364-001

Changing viewing habits

Ofcom’s recently published public service broadcasting review has noted some significant changes to viewing habits. Although live television remains hugely important, catch-up TV watched over the internet and content premiered online is increasingly important, particularly to younger audiences. For 16-14 year olds only 50% of their viewing is live TV, compared to 69% for the population as a whole. Viewing of TV news has dropped considerably. 45% of young people now consider the internet to be their primary source of news. One of the major sources of news for young people, according to Ofcom’s analysis, is short form video content from media organisations such as Vice News.

The changing role of UK-based NGOs

Bond has published a useful think piece, analyzing how the aid and development landscape is changing and putting forward proposals for how NGOs should respond.  The proposals include a call for greater efforts at public engagement with ‘a more nuanced narrative around development.’ The report’s main conclusion is that ‘British INGOs have a crucial role to play in promoting global development – but to do this they must change their strategies and approaches.’ The report notes that the legitimacy of NGOs is increasingly being challenged and argues that ‘securing better public understanding of aid and development is a key element driving the legitimacy of UK-based INGOs with their home audience.

http://www.bond.org.uk/data/files/reports/Fast_Forward_0515.pdf

Best wishes

Mark

Briefing Notes: Buzzfeed UK and New Statesman Online

Speakers

Paul Hamilos, World Features Editor, BuzzFeed UK paul.hamilos@buzzfeed.com

Caroline Crampton, Web Editor, New Statesman caroline.crampton@newstatesman.co.uk

BuzzFeed

Founded in the US 3 years ago as an entertainment site, they discovered that audiences had an appetite for quality news reporting so they started hiring reporters to write news stories and they now have a team of correspondents around the world and freelancers too. They also have themed correspondents like Jina Moore, who writes about women’s rights and is based in Nairobi – and Saeed Jones, who is their LGBT editor. They are due to hire many more reporters and open new bureaux. They have bureaux in Canada, Mexico, Paris, Delhi, Berlin. These bureaux cater for local and global audiences. They are thinking of hiring new reporters who will specialise in migration, climate change and sexual health.

Climate change is a particular challenge and they are giving serious thought to how BuzzFeed should approach this important subject. They need to find a new way of talking about climate change that engages readers.

Miriam Elder is the Foreign Editor based in New York; they have another foreign editor in Washington DC and Paul in London.

The UK site was set up 18 months ago and its tone is different from the US site – the US site is very jolly and upbeat. Janine Gibson has been hired as Editor in Chief in London and she has money to hire 25 more reporters.

Paul is in charge of commissioning long pieces (5-7,000 words) – he says that audiences either like short pithy pieces or longer, in depth ones. Their main aim at BuzzFeed is to produce content that people want to share. Not many readers go to the home page – most come via social media recommendations. Of course BuzzFeed is known for its lists, but Paul is equally happy to produce longer pieces that are read by a few key policy makers or others with influence. It’s not all about the numbers.

They want to tell new stories not comment on other people’s stories so there is a big emphasis on original journalism. They are not trying to do everything – other sites such as the BBC do that very well. A key for them is human interest – personal first person testimony. This should be at the heart of every news story which BuzzFeed does. A news peg will help draw people in.

Paul says the best way to pitch is to get to know the reporters and pitch to them – don’t go to the editors and don’t send generic press releases. Make the effort to understand what BuzzFeed is about and what works for them. A good recent pitch came from Human Rights Watch which was highlighting human rights abuse in Uzbekistan. They chose to do so by pitching a story highlighting ’10 ways you can fall foul of officialdom.’ This went down well as it felt novel. Paul’s advice to NGOs is to look for novel approaches and to find characters that audiences can relate to.

BuzzFeed doesn’t normally take content directly from NGOs. On a wider point, he said most of what comes from NGOs is in similar vein and he is always looking for an angle or tone that feels different – hence why he liked the Human Rights Watch story.

BuzzFeed have 200 million readers worldwide – half in the US and half elsewhere. 75% of their content is accessed via social media – Facebook mainly – and 70% on mobile phones. Mobile phone access is growing. Every story needs to be laid out so that it works on mobile. 50% of their readers are under 35.

Paul is a big advocate of the written word and he says that this – combined with graphics – works well on mobile. Stark, beautiful images work well too – and images that have something new to say for example they ran some images of oil being transported across the Syrian-Turkish border and no one had captured this on film before. They also run video but it tends to be short clips that capture a moment. Clips need to be succinct and punchy. They like lists of course – an efficient way of telling a story according to Paul.

Paul highlighted reports by Hussein Kesvani, their Muslim affairs correspondent, based in London and Ellie Hall who is based in New York and writes about the Catholic Church, the British royal family and ISIS online. Foreign stories are a challenge – they need to stand out. The tone needs to feel fresh and different. Paul criticised the flatness of tone of much foreign reporting in the UK.

Ideas should be pitched by email not by telephone to Paul but preferably to individual reporters.

New Statesman

NS is a small, political magazine with weekly sales of around 30,000. In 1993 the website was established – it was expanded in 2008 and Caroline joined in 2012 as the first dedicated web editor. She has her own team of reporters and commissions her own content. There is very little overlap between the magazine and the website. There are 5 full time staff working on the site and 20 contracted freelancers. Around a third of their coverage is of Westminster politics; the rest is made up of features and news pieces on familiar subjects like human rights, injustice, oppressed minorities. The NS pursues a broadly left wing agenda.

The site has an average of 3m readers a month. 60-70% are returning so they are reaching a familiar audience. 75% of the readership is female and under 35s is the biggest demographic. 55% come to the site via social media. No one comes to the home page so they are redesigning the site with this in mind.

Caroline receives around 100 pitches every day from freelancers, charities etc. She may be interested in 15-20 and end up commissioning 3 so the bar is set high. She is not interested in comment pieces but, like Paul, wants original journalism with a strong focus on first person testimony. The website is not part of what she calls ‘the media food chain’ where writers constantly comment on what others have written elsewhere.

Caroline received a good pitch from an organisation called Refugee Women – they had access to women in Yarlswood Detention Centre and the result was that the NS online ran a series of interviews with these women over a period of weeks. She liked this fresh approach.

They mainly run written articles – pictures work well too, but they don’t use video. They do have an audio podcast once a week. Pictures need to be surprising and evocative and feel a bit unusual. For example they used a picture of a bombed out Homs and in the centre of the picture was a small child playing in the ruins.  This was widely shared via social media.

Ideas should be pitched to Caroline by email – not by phone.

Mark Galloway

26.6.15

June 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s June newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.     (Print this Newsletter)

Our next briefing – with BuzzFeed and New Statesman online

We have a few places left at our next briefing, which will focus on two online platforms that have both achieved considerable success – in different ways. BuzzFeed is one of the fastest growing and most influential news and entertainment sites, known for its shareable content and now committed to spending more money on original journalism. NewStatesman.com is the online site of the weekly political and current affairs magazine – its stories and features are also widely shared online. The speakers will be Paul Hamilos, World Features editor at BuzzFeed UK and Caroline Crampton, Web editor at the New Statesman. The briefing will take place from 10-11.30am on Thursday June 25^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. You can book your place now, in the usual way, via the members’ area of the IBT website.

Last month’s briefing – with Radio 5 Live and Radio 1 Newsbeat

Our last briefing was with Radio 5 Live and Radio 1 Newsbeat. It was a very useful session with the speakers giving lots of tips on the best way to pitch ideas to the two radio stations. It was also clear that it is no longer feasible to send generic press releases to news editors and expect them to respond. Both Chris Hunter, assistant editor of the Radio 5 Live Drive show and Anna Doble, online editor at Radio 1 Newsbeat, made it clear that each pitch should indicate the angle that makes the story relevant to their audience. Both stations have very different audiences of course, with Radio 5 appealing to an older mainstream audience that does not consume much news and Radio 1 appealing to a much younger audience.  Both speakers also emphasized how quickly the news cycle moves on nowadays and the need for NGOs to be more opportunistic by seizing the moment when a relevant issue is in the news. A more detailed briefing note on this event is available via the members’ area of the IBT website.

New contacts for BBC News Online

Earlier this year, at our briefing with BBC News Online, Steve Hermann, the Editor of the BBC News website, promised to give us contact details and phone numbers for all the section editors, in response to criticism that finding the right person to pitch to was very challenging. Steve has now supplied these names and contact details. I have updated the notes for this briefing to include this information. The notes can be found in the members’ area of the IBT website.

The future of the BBC

Over the next few months, IBT will be lobbying over the future of the BBC whose Charter expires at the end of 2016. The current licence fee settlement expires early in 2017.We will be arguing that the BBC needs to be properly funded in order to continue to contribute effectively to UK society. Its budget has been reduced considerably in recent years whilst it has been asked to deliver more services. The BBC’s critics will be arguing for further cuts which could have major consequences for all of us. The BBC’s international coverage plays an important role, on tv, radio and online, in informing people in the UK about global issues. We are concerned that some of this coverage is under threat. We will be preparing a briefing for IBT members. If you’d like to support this strand of work, please get in touch with Sophie, our head of campaigns sophie.chalk@btinternet.com  Broadcast magazine, which covers the television industry, has launched an online campaign to support the BBC, asking everyone to sign a statement of support. You can sign the pledge here: http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/SPIN2.aspx?navCode=5535 You can follow the campaign on Twitter using the hashtag #BackingTheBBC

Reframing Climate Change at Sheffield DocFest

If you are planning to go to the Sheffield Documentary Festival, please look out for our two session which both take place on Tuesday June 9^th. The first is a panel debate on the theme of Reframing Climate Change with speakers from the BBC, Channel 4, the British Antarctic Survey and the Open University. More details here:https://sheffdocfest.com/events/4173

The second session will feature 5 filmmakers pitching their documentary proposal to a panel of commissioning editors from Sky, Discovery and Channel 4. The best idea will win development funding. More here: https://sheffdocfest.com/events/4179

IBT AGM

Our AGM is coming up soon and all IBT members are welcome to come along and make their views heard. It will take place at 5pm on Thursday July 2^nd at the IBT offices. Please let me know if you would like to attend.

Coming soon…

In addition to Sheffield, there are several documentary festivals coming up:

Open City Docs takes place from June 16-21:

http://opencitylondon.com/programme?_ga=1.149231924.38363632.1433176752

Seret 2015, the Israel/Palestine Film Festival runs from June 11-21:http://www.seret.org.uk/

Bertha DocHouse is currently running a series of international documentaries:http://www.dochouse.org/

This month also sees the release of The Look of Silence, Director Joshua Oppenheimer’s sequel to his multi award winning film, The Act of Killing, about the Indonesian genocide:

http://www.curzoncinemas.co.uk/comingsoon/2015/6/14/the-look-of-silence-15-plus-qa-via-satellite

Best wishes

Mark

Briefing Notes: Radio 5 Live and Radio 1 Newsbeat

Speakers

Chris Hunter, assistant editor, 5 Live Drive show Christopher.hunter@bbc.co.uk     @mrchrishunter

Anna Doble, online editor, Radio 1 Newsbeat anna.doble@bbc.co.uk     @annadoble

5 Live

Radio 5 Live is a 24/7 radio station specialising in sport and news, particularly breaking news. The weekends are dominated by sport but the rest of the week has far more news than sport. The two  shows with the biggest ratings are:

Breakfast 6-9am (9-10am phone in show: YourCall) Runs Monday – Friday. Peak time is 7.30am

Drive 4-7pm Monday – Friday. Peak time is 5-5.30pm. For Breakfast and Drive items usually run 3-5 mins.

There is also:

10am-1pm 5 Live Daily – this runs mainly human interest stories and has space for much longer form in depth interviews running up to 20 minutes.

1-4pm Afternoon Edition – this is where they run features from the world of arts, books. Much less news based unless there is a breaking story.

10pm-1am Late – very free ranging and anything goes, no set agenda. Guests from the US. Tomorrow’s papers.

1am onwards Up All Night – surprising number of insomniacs and night workers tune in. Has no agenda. Recently ran a piece on biker culture in the US, for example, following the biker killings.

5-6am Wake Up to Money – this is edited by the Business team and is a good place to target.

5 Live is based in Salford and their preference is to have live guests in the studio. Failing that then the priority would be live guests down a quality line or in a local BBC studio. Ordinary phone line or pre-recorded much less good. They are a live radio station so their preference is always to do interviews live. Foreign language can be pre-recorded and then a voice over added. These are rare so the interviewees would need to be special.

Their main interest is in finding the people at the heart of a news story – so that they can give detailed first person testimony. They have their own team of reporters but if it is a breaking story (especially abroad) they will rely on the BBC News reporters initially until they have had time to send their own reporters. They do more UK than international news but cover all the major international news stories and any other hard news stories that would interest a UK audience.

5 Live’s audience is 72% male and 32% ABs, 34% C1s. It’s slightly older – average age around 44. Interestingly, most of its audience is not made up of news consumers – they don’t listen to Today etc. The regular news listeners will come to 5Live when there is a big breaking story. They have a loyal audience that likes the way they cover news. 38% of listeners are in the south; 26% in the north. The northern audience is growing now that they are based in Salford. They have 6m individual listeners per week. Their peak audience for Breakfast -across the week – would be 3.5m at 7.30am and 2.5m+ for Drive.

Newsbeat

It’s the news service on Radio 1 and so is targeted at 16-25 year olds. There are two 15 minutes news bulletins each day, at 12.45pm and 5.45pm. The average age of the Radio 1 listener is 23. They also have short news bulletins on the hour every hour. Anna was brought in from Channel 4 News to develop Newsbeat as a digital brand so the online content is growing rapidly and includes lots of specially commissioned video content. They have a team of 35 journalists who have all now been trained to shoot video, stills, record sound, write copy and use social media.

They do a lot of explainers to explain complex news stories and key issues – for example during the election they did explainers on the first past the post voting system, on a hung parliament etc. They are keen to use animation. They have their own YouTube channel. Some of the pieces they commission can be up to 12 mins long. They are keen to run stories that have substance but are relevant to their target audience. They do a lot of music and entertainment but serious issues also feature in the mix.

One way of covering an international story – like the riots in Baltimore – might be to pair a young person in the UK who is protesting with a young person on Baltimore who is doing the same. They want to find different ways of covering international stories. With Nepal, they commissioned an artist to draw a comic strip. This was very popular and found its way onto the main BBC news website.

They also run feature items online if they think their audience will be interested – for example they have done pieces on self-harm, cannabis addiction, drag kings.

Newsbeat’s online coverage is not necessarily covering the agenda of BBC news –they are constantly looking for an angle that will appeal to young people or to find a young person at the heart of a story. They work on a daily news agenda – their main newsgathering effort is from 8am to 12.45pm.

Climate change – they are thinking about how they should cover it but certainly it is on their agenda given that the Paris summit is coming up in November.

Pitching

For 5 Live, Chris suggested pitching to Stephen.Mawhinney@bbc.co.uk He is the head of news for 5 Live and will pass your email on to the relevant person. He also said phoning up may be more effective than emailing. Be clear on your top line and be opportunistic – responding to a story that’s in the news asap. Phone numbers are as follows:

Breakfast 0161 335 6501

Daily/Afternoon Edition 0161 335 6504

Drive 0161 335 6503

Late/Up All Night 0161 335 6502

If it’s not a story for that day then just ask to speak to the programme’s forward planning producer.

The main thing to remember is not to send generic press releases or emails. Give some thought to what would work for a particular programme. With 5 Live they want -where possible- people at the heart of the news. But you may find that they will interview different people on the same story at different points in the day – for example they may want your CEO on Wake Up to Money to talk about the financial aspect of a story or crisis; then at Breakfast they may want an aid worker giving their point of view; then on Daily they may want a killer guest who can sustain a 20 minute interview. Think about all this before you phone them up and pitch a story or guest. Also bear in mind that they are always looking for more guests who are female or who are young. Diversity is another issue to bear in mind.

If you want to target one show go for Breakfast – the show is the best resourced on 5 Live and the producers have a brief to think across the station not just to think about their own show. You will find that all the producers on 5 Live are more collaborative than on Radio 4 where the different news programmes are competing against each other.

Email pitches should have a strong top line and include named interviewees that you are proposing and who you know are available and easy to contact on the day. It’s useful to include a sound taster on MP3.

5 Live sometimes does a day devoted to a theme – GP day for example. They could do a Charity or Aid day.

When to pitch – avoid Mondays. They get a huge amount of emails from NGOs on a Monday. Also think about Saturday or Sunday – it’s easier to get on air on these days, and your story may run through the day.

For Newsbeat, Anna said email is a nightmare – best to tweet her or call the Newsbeat newsdesk on 020 3614 1110. Key contacts are:

Debbie Ramsay  Debbie.Ramsay@bbc.co.uk @Deb_ramz

Daniel Rosney Daniel.rosney@bbc.co.uk @Daniel Rosney

With Newsbeat, the key is to find the young person’s angle or point of view on a news story – or a strong feature that will speak to their audience.

May 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s May newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.     (Print this Newsletter)

Next briefing – with Radio 5 Live and Radio 1 Newsbeat

Our next briefing focuses on radio. Radio 5 Live has established a strong reputation for its coverage of breaking news and some of the best broadcast interviews. We’ll be hearing from Chris Hunter, assistant editor of the breakfast show. Radio 1 Newsbeat has successfully targeted young audiences and is reinventing itself as an online brand. We’ll hear from Anna Doble, assistant editor (and former digital editor of Channel 4 News where she won awards for her innovative approach to online news). The briefing is scheduled for 10am on Wednesday May 20^th – subject to final confirmation from the speakers. Both have been heavily involved in election coverage. This is a free event open to all IBT members subject to availability. Book your place now via the IBT website.

Last month’s briefing – tips from travel law experts

Last month we heard from two lawyers specializing in accidents abroad. The overriding message was that UK based employers have a duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their staff at all times. This is an onerous duty and the courts expect an employer to check all the arrangements that are in place when employees undertake foreign travel. If a helicopter is being hired, for example, the employer will be expected to check the safety record of the company, verify its insurance cover, check the pilot’s licence etc. The employer’s duty is much less onerous with freelance staff. IBT will be working with the law firm Leigh Day to draw up a protocol for NGOs to incorporate into their risk assessments. A detailed note of this briefing is available now in the members’ area of the IBT website.

HIV stigma – the media challenge

Last month we also hosted a round table discussion to explore the opportunities for the media to play a bigger role in helping to tackle HIV related stigma. It was an impressive group, with representatives from the drugs companies and funders including the Global Fund, Comic Relief, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Rush. Victoria Macdonald, health correspondent on Channel 4 News, was in the chair. Special thanks to Solenn Honorine from MSF who travelled from South Africa to take part. There was general agreement that stigma does exist and remains a major barrier – but there was no appetite for a mass media campaign challenging stigma. The preferred route was more targeted use of media, particularly community media, with a focus on access to treatment – getting more people tested and onto medication. The funders said they would welcome funding applications with more of a focus on media which they felt was often lacking from the HIV proposals that they usually received. There was agreement that IBT could play a role in working in partnership with NGOs to improve the media element of their funding applications. Further details of the discussion can be obtained from Sophie Chalk sophie.chalk@btinternet.com

Reframing Climate Change

As part of our Reframing Climate Change project, we have a number of events planned for the next couple of months. Later this month we will be co-hosting a round table discussion with the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, inviting producers and commissioners to hear how a number of organisations which could be said to represent middle England – including the National Trust, Women’s Institute, RSPB and the Church of England – are responding to the challenge of climate change. In June we will be co-hosting a brainstorm with the BBC’s Natural History commissioning team, enabling producers to hear from a range of experts talking about key issues connected to two subject areas, oceans and weather. Also in June we will be at the Sheffield DocFest hosting a panel discussion on the morning of Tuesday June 9^th when we will be challenging broadcasters from the BBC and Channel 4 to take a more creative approach to their coverage of climate change. In the afternoon we will hear the five shortlisted filmmakers, from our film competition, pitching their ideas to a panel of commissioners. More on Sheffield DocFest can be found here https://sheffdocfest.com/

Post-election media policy

After the election we will be preparing a briefing for IBT members on media policy. The future of the BBC Charter and the licence fee will be on the agenda for the next Government. The parties have very different policies, with Labour and the LibDems broadly committed to the status quo and the Conservatives and UKIP arguing for a smaller BBC with a narrower remit. The future of Channel 4 will also be an issue. There were fears that privatization might be back on the agenda but no party has officially committed itself to taking Channel 4 into the private sector.

One World Media Awards

Tickets are now on sale for this year’s One World Media Awards, which take place on the evening of Thursday June 18^th at BAFTA in Piccadilly. IBT is supporter of the awards and we have always worked closely with One World Media. Hosted by Jon Snow, these are the only awards that celebrate outstanding media coverage of developing countries. Tickets can be booked online at http://awards.oneworldmedia.org.uk/tickets

UK Green Film Festival

This annual film festival which promotes films about environmental issues has started in cinemas across the UK. Films to look out for include H2Omx which examines attempts to maintain drinking water supplies in Mexico City and Bikes vs Cars which looks at the clash between bikes and cars around the world. More on the festival can be found here http://www.ukgreenfilmfestival.org/

Best wishes

Mark

Briefing Notes: Travel for NGOs

Speakers:  Christin Tallon, partner, Leigh Day and Marie-Louise Kinsler, barrister, 2 Temple Gardens

The overriding lesson from this briefing was that UK based employers have a duty to take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of their staff at all times. This is an onerous duty and the courts expect an employer to check all the arrangements that are in place when employees undertake foreign travel. If a helicopter is being hired the employer will be expected to check the safety record of the company, verify its insurance cover, check the pilot’s licence etc.

The employer’s duty is much less onerous with freelance staff. For freelancers, an employer must be deemed to have taken ‘reasonable care‘.  Selecting a competent person to discharge this responsibility is deemed to be adequate. But the courts may take the view that a freelance on a long term contract has the same rights as an employee.

Marie-Louise explained the complexity of pursuing a legal claim as a result of an accident abroad. If it is possible, it is preferable to hear the case in the UK, under UK law; alternatively a case can be heard in the UK under foreign law; the third option would be for the case to be heard abroad. Claimants, when pursuing claims against UK-based NGOs, are much more likely to want to have the case heard in an English court.

Lawyers will advise on jurisdiction (where the claim can be heard) and applicable law (whether English or foreign law applies). It is easier to bring a claim in the UK for many reasons, including the fact that disclosure always applies here but not in all other countries; here costs are paid which again is not always the case abroad; here the court’s decision is enforceable which is also not always the case outside the UK.

If the court case follows an accident which has taken place in an EU country then it has to be heard in that country under its law. If the accident occurred outside the EU the case can only be heard in the UK if the papers can be served physically here. If a UK resident is injured abroad but the injury continues on his/her return to the UK then the case is more likely to be heard here.

Liability varies according to country. In most EU countries, for example, liability for an accident lies with the driver of the vehicle. This is not always the case in other countries – in Costa Rica, for example, liability rests with the owner of the vehicle.

Christine spoke about the importance of doing a detailed risk assessment before a foreign trip. She will help draw up a protocol for us to distribute to IBT members. She advised not to cut back on insurance – for example, make sure that your policy includes repatriation as this can be very expensive. Make sure it applies to the country you are travelling to. This is a surprisingly common mistake. When you hire a driver and vehicle make sure that the company and the driver are insured and that he/she has a valid licence. Make it clear that when they drive there is a no alcohol/no speaking on the phone rule, regardless of local customs.

If you are involved in an accident collect as much information as possible whilst you are still in the country – for example, the name of the police officer, the case reference number, a copy of the police report, names of eyewitnesses, driver’s name and licence details. Take photographs of everything – the scene of the incident, damaged vehicle, licence plate, your injuries etc. It is almost impossible to obtain any relevant information once back in the UK. Keep copies of your medical records. Keep receipts for all expenses you incur. Phone your travel insurer as they can be very helpful. Ask for help – it is hard to deal with these incidents on your own. Contact the British Embassy or Consulate -staff will be very helpful. Don’t hire a local lawyer – wait until you are back in the UK. Don’t accept offers of compensation – wait until you have sought legal advice.

Mark Galloway

April 2015

April 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s April newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

Accidents abroad – tips from travel law experts

Later this month IBT will be co-hosting an evening event with the leading law firm Leigh Day. There have been a number of recent legal cases involving NGO staff working abroad, which have raised some important issues. At this event we will hear from Christine Tallon a partner at Leigh Day who specialises in travel law and Marie-Louise Kinsler a barrister who has dealt with some of these recent cases.  They will be offering important travel tips for NGO staff who go on foreign trips or send colleagues or freelancers abroad. There is a checklist of measures that you should take before leaving the UK to ensure that you are well prepared in case an accident or injury occurs. This event will be at 6pm on Tuesday April 28^th at Leigh Day’s offices in Farringdon. The briefing will be followed by a drinks reception. It’s open to IBT members and non-members. Please share details with your colleagues. If you’d like to attend, please sign up for the event on the IBT website.

Reframing Climate Change – film competition

IBT has launched an open competition in association with the Sheffield Documentary Festival to find the best idea for a tv programme that helps to reframe climate change. Five entries will be shortlisted and producers will be given the opportunity to pitch their idea before an audience at Sheffield. A panel of commissioners will select the best idea which will be awarded development funding of £4,000. The closing date for applications is Thursday April 16^th. Further details and an application form can be found on the Sheffield DocFest website:

https://sheffdocfest.com/articles/262-ibt-pitch-reframing-climate-change

HIV stigma – the media challenge

We will be hosting a round table discussion later this month to explore ways of encouraging funders to make a bigger commitment to funding media initiatives aimed at tackling HIV related stigma. This discussion follows on from the report we published last year, HIV and stigma – the media challenge. Our round table will take place in conjunction with Channel 4 and will be chaired by Victoria Macdonald, health correspondent on Channel 4 News. Victoria has a longstanding interest in HIV and reported from the international AIDS conference which took place in Melbourne last year. Attendees at our round table include representatives from the drugs companies and funders including the Global Fund, Comic Relief, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Rush.

Future training events

We are currently organizing some training events for later this year. It would be good to know which of the following would be of interest to IBT members so that we can see where the demand lies:

         Twitter training for beginners

         Twitter training for advanced users

         Stills photography for media officers and campaigners

         Shooting/recording sound on an iPhone or iPad

         Shooting/recording sound on Android devices

Given their popularity, we are also looking to expand our range of training events so if you have any suggestions please get in touch. These events are free to IBT members.

SciDev.Net

SciDev.Net, which specializes in news about science and technology for development, is launching a new initiative and would welcome feedback from IBT members. They plan to launch a customized email news alert aimed at journalists and editors in their network, which includes the BBC, Huffington Post, Guardian, Asian Scientist, All Africa and Africa News. They are keen to know whether NGOs would be interested in advertising in this space. If you’re happy to help please fill in this survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GD9B2SP or get in touch with marketing@scidev.net

Best wishes

Mark

March 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s March newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.     (Print this Newsletter)

IBT dinner with Tony Hall

The BBC Director General, Tony Hall, has been speaking this week about his plans for the future of the BBC in the run up to Charter renewal. We are delighted that he has agreed to be the guest speaker at our annual dinner for CEOs, which will take place on Thursday September 24^th. This dinner is open to all CEOs of IBT member organisations – if your CEO would like to attend, please let me know. Places are limited. If you have already been in touch regarding this, there is no need to make contact again.

IBT annual review

Last month we published our annual review for 2014 – it was a busy and productive year for us. The review describes the full range of activities that IBT undertakes, including briefings and training events for members, lobbying of media organisations, regulators and parliamentarians and the publication of research. Once you’ve read the review, please feel free to give us feedback so that we can be more effective in  responding to our members’ needs.

https://ibt.org.uk/documents/IBT-internal-reports/ibtannual2014-15.pdf

Last month’s briefing with BBC News Online

Last month we heard from Steve Herrmann, the editor of BBC News Online, and Jon Zilkha recently appointed to the senior management team at BBC News where he is responsible for 24/7 and Digital News. It was a very useful session as both speakers explained how online content differs from traditional news reporting. The BBC News website is the most popular news website in the UK and it has a strong public service ethos. The editors make their own choices about which stories to prioritise – they don’t just replicate the content of other BBC News outlets. According to Steve and Jon, there is a particular appetite amongst online audiences for immersive features about global issues and for stories that cover science, health, technology, innovation, lifestyles etc rather than the traditional geopolitical news agenda.

This month’s briefing with Sky News

Later this month we will hear from Tami Hoffman, Interviews editor at Sky News. Tami and her team are responsible for recruiting all the studio guests that appear on Sky – and they have been making serious efforts to recruit more women in response to the criticism of broadcasters for the under- representation of female experts. Tami will talk about how they decide who to have in the studio or to interview remotely and she will also talk about how to pitch stories to Sky. This event is free and open to IBT members only – please register via the IBT website.

 Reframing Climate Change

We are working with Blakeway, a leading factual independent production company, to develop some ideas for future tv programmes that feature issues related to climate change, as part of our Reframing Climate Changeproject. They are particularly keen to investigate instances of corporate misbehavior or rule breaking and to expose poor business practices. If you are aware of any issues related to climate change that you feel would merit further investigation please let me know. More about Blakeway can be found here:http://www.blakeway.co.uk/

 Submitting evidence to media regulators

We have been busy in recent weeks submitting evidence to the two principal media regulators, Ofcom and the BBC Trust. The Trust has been looking at the future of BBC3 in response to a management proposal to turn it into an online only channel; it has also been reviewing all the BBC’s speech radio output including Radio 4 and 5 Live; Ofcom has been examining the future of public service broadcasting and investigating whether Channel 4 has been fulfilling its remit. The fact that all our public service broadcasters cover global issues is in strong part due to regulation so it’s important that IBT responds to these inquiries on behalf of our membership.  If you’d like to take a look at our submissions they can be found on our website.

https://ibt.org.uk/lobbying/

 The Aid Industry – what journalists really think

Our report on the aid industry and how journalists feel about the work that development agencies do, has received widespread publicity in recent weeks. It was mentioned at a Frontline Club event which debated whether journalists and NGOs have become too close – and it was also the subject of an article and online Q and A on the Guardian’s development website. The Frontline Club debate is worth listening to if you missed it.

http://www.frontlineclub.com/embedding-with-aid-agencies-editorial-integrity-and-security-risks/

Best wishes

Mark

Briefing Notes: BBC News Online

Speakers

Jon Zilkha – head of 24/7 and digital
jon.zilkha@bbc.co.uk

Steve Herrmann – head of BBC News online
steve.herrmann@bbc.co.uk

Jon is in charge of the BBC News Channel and BBC World News and all the online content produced by BBC News – he is a member of the senior management team at BBC News. He was previously head of the business and economics unit. Steve is the editor of the news website and manages BBC News online. He is responsible for editorial content and works closely with the future media team of developers, designers and product managers.

Both spoke about the big changes that are taking place to strengthen the BBC’s online offering and make it accessible via mobile and tablets. Demand is shifting in this direction – currently, 45% of users access the site via desktops; 40% via mobiles and 14% via tablets. Mobile is growing massively and tablet is also growing but not so fast.

They confirmed that there is widespread interest from the UK audience in international content. Features are popular not just the main story of the day. BBC News is the homepage for many people and also a favourite of many – so it gets a higher percentage of its traffic directly rather than through recommendations on social media. The website has a public service ethos and so will promote off agenda features and stories that the editors believe in – it won’t just replicate the news agenda of other BBC outlets.

They are looking at new ways of presenting video – 15% of users watch video content. There is a lot of experimenting to see what works and what doesn’t. Lots of background explainers, using graphics, statistics, short interview clips etc – content designed for sharing.

Both speakers talked about what makes a story popular – they agreed that there is no ideal running time. Vice News has shown that longer pieces can work well online. Authenticity is important and good storytelling – good use of visuals too. Pieces should be concise and get to the point quickly. Reporters should not just reproduce their tv pieces – they should think about what would work online. There is an appetite for more immersive content.

An example of a recent popular feature which ran on the site is David Shukman’s piece on the disposable syringe. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31537847

Science stories are popular and those that cover health, technology, innovation, the workplace, lifestyle, achievement etc. Both speakers said that the agenda of BBC News was moving away from traditional geopolitical stories. They suggested that we make contact with Tulip Mazumbar, global health correspondent, who is based in London.

Other pieces that were mentioned included the A Richer World strand looking at the impact of rising incomes in some countries http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30335136

And a report on the drying up of the Aral Sea – this featured prominently on the home page and had 1.2m hits:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-a0c4856e-1019-4937-96fd-8714d70a48f7

There was a report from Fergus Walsh based on a UNICEF story on child mortality in Malawi.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-29045065

Fergus Walsh is regarded as being good at delivering quality online content as well as traditional tv pieces.

BBC News has a ‘digital first’ policy which means that stories run online first and also that digital is not just an add on – the digital element is there from the beginning. This requires advance planning and thought.

Steve spoke about the stories that had done well recently – 5 out of the top 6 stories were international: Paris drone mystery; US sniper case; Cliff Richard; Waiting for the sea; cold calling; and Austria’s new Islamic laws.

The site is also running more live feeds – in response to audience demand.

In June the BBC is launching a new 9pm news show called Outside Source which will be simulcast on the BBC News Channel and on BBC World News. Presented by Ros Atkins from World Have Your Say, it will have an innovative format (using social media prominently) and a global agenda, including sport and business. The BBC Trust asked BBC News to broaden its offering to audiences – to feature a wider range of international stories (in response to lobbying by IBT) – and this is what they have come up with.

Steve and Jon spoke about pitching. What are BBC News looking for? They want to tell audiences something they don’t already know. The ideal pitch will include some or all of the following: access, expertise, personal testimony, new data – content that provides a proper understanding of an issue. Strong storytelling that grabs people’s attention and a strong visual component will help a lot. There is space on the website to run a broad range of stories so they are always on the lookout for something that it a little eclectic – and for light and shade. They are also on the lookout for pieces with a different tone (they have noted how Vice News does this well) – something that feels rougher and less polished – that will appeal to younger audiences. James Reynolds and Matthew Price are two reporters who can pull this off.

They said the key to pitching is establishing relationships with commissioners but agreed that BBC News online is hard to penetrate from the outside. They advised that correspondents could be approached directly (Fergus Walsh, Tulip Mazumbar, David Shukman, Pallab Ghosh etc).

For BBC World, Jon provided a few names of planning editors:

Anna Williams – Planning editor at BBC Global News anna.williams@bbc.co.uk

Kristina Block – BBC World Assignment editor Kristina.block@bbc.co.uk

Oversees planning on behalf of World News and BBC.com

Fiona Crack – Editor, Language planning, BBC World Service fiona.crack@bbc.co.uk

For the website, Steve suggests that specialist teams should be contacted direct:

Health

James Gallagher – james.gallagher@bbc.co.uk Michelle Roberts – michelle.roberts@bbc.co.ul

0203 614 1216

Science/Environment

Paul Rincon – paul.rincon@bbc.co.uk

0203 614 1182

Education

Sean Coughlan – sean.coughlan@bbc.co.uk

Hannah Richardson – Hannah.richardson@bbc.co.uk

0203 614 3172/3180

Technology

Leo Kelion – leo.kelion@bbc.co.uk

Tel – 0203 614 1224

Business

The best address, given the different people in at different points of the day is bizplan@bbc.co.uk.

0203 614 0885/2929

Entertainment

Mark Savage – mark.savage@bbc.co.uk

Rebecca Thomas – rebecca.thomas@bbc.co.uk

0203 614 1891

For general queries if you aren’t sure which section – try Caroline Parkinson Acting Assistant Editor, Specialist Journalism BBC News website Room 02D New Broadcasting House London W1A 1AA Direct line: 020 3614 1213

Mark Galloway

March 3 2015

February 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s February newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.     (Print this Newsletter)

Social media – making your voice heard

Today we publish our new report looking at how NGOs can be more effective in their online campaigning. Social media is becoming increasingly important as a way of engaging the UK public with global issues; but it’s also an increasingly challenging area in which to operate. Social media – making your voice heard explores the changing social media landscape, looks at what works and what doesn’t, and makes a number of recommendations for how NGOs can be more effective. The full report can be downloaded from the home page of this website.

Last month’s briefing with Vice News and the Huffington Post

We had a fascinating briefing last month with Yonni Usiskin (Vice News) and Charlie Lindlar (Huffington Post). It’s clear that both these organisations are growing in size and influence and both offer great opportunities for NGOs to get their messages across. It was particularly refreshing to hear Yonni says that there is a big appetite amongst audiences for serious content that explores the complexity of global issues and stories. Both speakers said that there was a real opportunity now for NGOs to engage audiences – if they can find the right tone and content. It was also interesting to hear that much of their content is discovered through recommendations on social media. A detailed note on what was said at the briefing is available in the members’ area of the IBT website.

This month’s briefing with BBC News online

Despite the growth of new media organisations like Vice and HuffPo, the biggest news website in the UK (and globally) is BBC News. We’re very lucky this month to be hearing from Steve Herrmann, the editor of BBC News Online, and Jon Zilkha recently appointed to the senior management team at BBC News where he is responsible for 24/7 and Digital News. This session is a great opportunity to hear about the changing strategy at BBC News and also to get lots of tips on how to pitch stories to the website team. It will take place from 10-11.30am on Thursday February 26^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. Invitations will go out in the next few days but places can be booked now via the members’ area of our website. If you’d like to follow our briefings on Twitter, we’ll be introducing a new hashtag for these events #ibtbriefing

The Future of News

The BBC’s Director of News and former Times editor, James Harding, has launched a new report called The Future of News, which looks at the way in which news consumption is changing. This is the first step in the BBC rethinking its role as a news provider. The report is a useful reminder that tv news is still the main source of news for most people in the UK – but its reach is significantly higher amongst older people than younger audiences (92% v 52%). Harding’s conclusion is that there is a growing information gap between older, richer, well informed audiences and poorer, younger, ethnic minority, less well informed audiences. The internet, Harding argues, is not keeping everyone informed – it is magnifying problems of information inequality, misinformation, polarization and disengagement. The report also notes that BBC News needs to ‘broaden the tone of what we do.’ This follows criticism – from IBT and others – that the range of stories and voices is narrowing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30933261

The provision and consumption of online news

As part of the news review, the BBC asked independent consultants Mediatique, to analyse where a range of audiences go for their news consumption. If you want to understand the changing news landscape this is a useful report, rich in detail. It’s great that the BBC is making this publicly available. The report looks at where online audiences go to find their news and BBC News comes out top (47%), followed by Mail Online (14%); Sky News (12%); Guardian (9%); HuffPo (9%) and Daily Telegraph (6%). Smaller news sites like Vice and Buzzfeed are growing rapidly. BBC News is the most trusted news source with ITV News coming second. The report also reveals the growing  role played by Google, Twitter and Facebook as news gatekeepers. Asked how they discover news online, 45% said they go to known brands; 29% said they use search engines; 17% said they follow links posted on social media.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/howwework/reports/pdf/mediatique_online_news_report_dec_2014.pdf

The future of the World Service

As part of its news review, the BBC is rethinking the role of the World Service. There’s growing concern that it is being outspent by CCTV and RT (Russia Today). In The Future of News, Harding says the role of the World Service is critical and ‘the BBC needs to decide whether there should be a strategy for growth or a managed marginalization.’ Harding is clear that he wants to see more resources spent on the World Service if it is to maintain its influence and global reach.

Embedding with aid agencies – editorial integrity and security risks

Later this month, the Frontline club is hosting a discussion which examines the dangers of journalists and aid agencies working too closely. Speakers include Siobhan Sinnerton from Channel 4 and Polly Markandya from MSF. One of the examples under discussion will be the recent Panorama Ebola Frontline which saw the BBC working very closely with MSF to gain access to an Ebola clinic. The event is at 7pm on Tuesday February 10^th.

http://www.frontlineclub.com/embedding-with-aid-agencies-editorial-integrity-and-security-risks/

IBT annual dinner for CEOs

Given the success of last year’s annual dinner for CEOs, we are now making plans for this year’s. We’re delighted that Tony Hall, the BBC’s Director General, has accepted our invitation to speak at the dinner, which will take place in the Autumn. This is perfect timing for us, as the next BBC Charter will be under discussion by then, and we are keen to see the BBC’s commitment to ‘bringing the world to the UK’ (in the words of the present Charter) maintained and strengthened. IBT was instrumental in the inclusion of this as one of the BBC’s key purposes last time round.

Best wishes

Mark

Briefing Notes: Vice News and Huffington Post

Speakers

Yonni Usiskin, Supervising Producer, Vice News UK   Yonni.usiskin@vice.com

Charlie Lindlar, Assistant blogs editor, Huffington Post UK   Charlie.lindlar@huffingtonpost.com

Vice News UK

The UK site is barely a year old and in a short space of time it has achieved a huge following. The team is small, 15-20 people in the London office, made up of producers, directors, journalists, researchers. Some of these are specialists in, for example economics, environment and conflict. They have 37 bureaux across the world. Vice has the stated ambition of becoming the biggest media company in the world and has big plans to grow – including launching tv stations.

Yonni is responsible for the video content. His background is in documentaries and he has worked on a number of high profile shows such as Channel 4’s 24 Hours in A and E. Most of the people who watch Vice videos do so via their YouTube channel. They go regularly or they find videos through recommendations on social media. The Vice News site itself doesn’t work very well for video. Their most successful video was shot behind the scenes in IS territory – it currently has 14 million views, so they are capable of getting bigger audiences than mainstream tv.

There is no optimum length for a video on Vice News – the team respond to each story differently. They run many longer pieces – the IS video is an hour long. Yonni doesn’t believe that audiences have a short attention span when it comes to authentic content.

Vice’s USP is to provide a different news agenda from other news suppliers such as the BBC. They want to cover stories that are not been covered by mainstream news and to find different angles and to promote the voices of ordinary people rather than experts.

They are not a 24 hour news channel and don’t have the capacity to turn round videos within hours but they have regular weekly meetings to plan their video content. They don’t have deadlines as such or a schedule so they can be flexible. The key is topicality.

They shoot most of their own material with their crews and correspondents but they are open to using footage supplied by NGOs – provided that they are able to edit the footage to give it a Vice News approach. The key is finding good content- they are not worried about being seen to promote an NGO line.

Yonni believes there is a real opportunity for NGOs to engage audiences – if they can find the right tone and content. He believes that audiences engage differently with media from the way they used to – so this presents an opportunity for NGOs to gain supporters and future activists.

Their target audience is 14-34 year olds. They are not a ‘youth channel’. They see this group as the decision makers of the future. They say they are the fastest growing news channel in the UK. For the global site, 50% of the audience is in the US; and 50% the rest of the world.

They have given extensive coverage to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Recently they ran a series on immigration to Europe. They’ve also reported extensively from Ukraine and ran a series on the rise of anarchism in Greece.

Yonni was asked why he thought his audience was interested in foreign stories when other broadcasters have told us that there is not much appetite for foreign news. Yonni’s view is that there is a genuine interest in what is happening around the world. The style of reporting is crucial – audiences are interested in getting to the truth and not being patronised. He wants to cover aid and development as he feels this is necessary for people to understand the causes behind war and famine.

Vice News has worked effectively with NGOs in the past, notably Stonewall (on a series on gays in Russia and Jamaica) and Reprieve (on a series on Guantanamo).

They are keen to cover climate change – and have done some stories in the US on solar power and the lack of choice US consumers have when looking for an energy supplier. And stories in the UK about fracking.

They tend to steer clear of celebrities – they did shoot some material with Vivienne Westwood on the fracking story but it felt as if it was just promoting her and her opinions so they dropped it.

One weakness of Vice News at the moment is it UK coverage which he believes needs to be strengthened.

Another concern is that their audience is heavily male skewed – they are not sure why this is but they would like to attract a more mixed audience.

Plans for the future – they want to strengthen the photo section of the site – they think it’s a bit weak at the moment. Since they are only a year old, they are currently taking stock to assess what worked and what didn’t. They do feel they need more publicity for the site – not enough people know about it yet. They are also planning to explore the idea of more partnerships – as a source of additional revenue.

Yonni is happy to be contacted with story ideas and they can be topical, for now, or for the future.  His advice to NGOs pitching stories:  be ambitious, know your audience.

Huffington Post UK

The site was launched initially in the US as a news and politics blog by Arianna Huffington. The UK site was launched in 2011. They have spent the last 3 years establishing themselves – they are currently the 7^th biggest news site in the UK – bigger than The Sun and The Independent. They want to get bigger and be more ambitious – and to grow the blogs section of the site.

There are now sites in numerous countries- France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Brazil, India, South Korea. An Arabic edition is coming soon – in association with Al Jazeera. Blogs and news stories are shared between countries if appropriate and often translated into the appropriate language.

Huffington Post sees itself as outside mainstream news, trying to promote different voices, with a focus on how events and policies impact on ordinary people. Blogs for the site should be shareable and should win hearts and minds and entertain. They should be heartfelt. They encourage bloggers to put their point of view across clearly, strongly argued and using emotion! Be bold and evidence based, Charlie said. But everything is up to the blogger. The site is run as an open platform and does not edit blogs – blog editors will check for accuracy and legality and may comment but their approach is very light touch.

They have 10,000 registered bloggers – some blog frequently; others infrequently. The rule is that you blog when you choose but the editors do approach bloggers and suggest they blog at particular times about issues of the moment. Blogs need to be topical. And they don’t need to be from officials or CEOs – they can be from people at the grassroots.

They are particularly pleased with their student section which Charlie edits – this will be rebranded later in the year as Young Voices. This is a place where ordinary students can blog about the issues which concern them.

If you’d like to become a registered blogger, then approach Charlie, with a sample of what your first blog might look like. It should be 500-800 words. Blogs should appeal to a wide audience – Charlie believes that is the reason for the success of the site. There is something for everyone here. They do not measure traffic and they do not judge their success by traffic on the site. They do, however, look at social statistics – likes and shares on Facebook and Twitter. The site appeals to a youngish demographic – 18-34 year olds. It’s owned by AOL and is ad funded.  They have 8 million monthly readers coming to the UK site.

If you want to get attention for your blog then social media is the way to do it.

They haven’t yet harnessed the power of video on the blog section but this will come in the future. They can embed video that already exists online but they can’t upload new video into a blog.

There are around 25 people working on Huffington Post in London – there people dealing with blogs and the rest with news. They are a small team and all talk to each other so send any ideas for the site to Charlie and he’ll pass them on to the right person.

Some blogs can be very popular – Charlie gave the example of a student blog responding to anti-Islam sentiment that was shared 34,000 times on Facebook and had 93,000 likes.

Huffington Post has no deadlines – blogs can be pitched at any time, for now or for some time in the future. It’s up to you. But they advise against posting at the weekend – they have few readers over the weekend. They generally upload between 80 and 100 blogs every day. There are 30 slots on the home page. They will pick the ones they feel are the most topical or relevant for the home page but if something does well it may get promoted to the home page. They will typically upload 10-15 first thing in the morning and then the rest throughout the day. There is no best time of day but traffic is heavier at the times you’d expect it to be – lunchtime etc. But they also find that people are reading the blogs at all hours – early mornings, late at night.

Who is the audience for HP? Charlie says its audience is made up of readers of the Guardian, Independent etc and many of them will be consuming news and opinion from a variety of other sources. The site is best known for its coverage of politics and current affairs but welcomes blogs on any subject.  They work with celebs as their access to social media gives these blogs a bigger reach – Lenny Henry, Hugh Dennis, Prince William. But in the end it’s the quality of the content that counts. A blog from a famous person who doesn’t really know the issues is not a good idea. Photos and images do well too.

Mark Galloway

28.1.15

January 2015 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s January newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.   (Print this Newsletter)

The Lobbying Act – implications for social media

Today we publish a new briefing paper for IBT members. There’s growing concern amongst NGOs about what exactly can and can’t be said in online communications, in light of the new Lobbying Act (and charity law in general). In our briefing note The Lobbying Act – implications for social media, we offer clear guidance for ways of ensuring that online campaigns comply with the restrictions placed on charities by the new legislation. The briefing recommends that all NGOs review their social media campaigning activities on a regular basis even if they decide not to register under the Act. All staff should be provided with social media guidelines and a named person within the organisation to contact for advice. The briefing does not constitute formal legal advice. A copy is attached to this newsletter – it can also be downloaded via the IBT website.

https://ibt.org.uk/documents/reports/LobbyActBriefing.pdf

Charity Commission rules on Oxfam ‘Perfect Storm’ tweet

The Charity Commission has ruled on the Oxfam tweet which was posted in June and contained a picture of a mock poster for an imagined film called ‘The Perfect Storm’. A number of policy areas were cited and the text of the tweet suggested these were forcing more people into poverty. A complaint was made to the Commission. In its ruling it recognizes that charities are entitled to campaign and undertake political activity, but only in furtherance of their charitable purposes. Campaigning should not be party political – or perceived as such. The Commission accepted Oxfam’s argument that it had no intention of acting in a party political way but nevertheless ruled that the tweet ‘could be misconstrued by some as party political campaigning.’ The Commission said  Oxfam ‘should have done more to avoid any misperception of political bias.’

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389617/ocr_Oxfam.pdf

Upholding charities’ independence and reputation

The NCVO has published an excellent paper, Upholding charities’ independence and reputation, with recommendations for best practice by the charity sector. The paper references the important role that charities play in campaigning and influencing public policy but says that they need to take steps to maintain public trust. One of the points made in the report is that charities should ensure that their campaigns have broad appeal to a range of political interests. The report also notes the importance of addressing public concern about charities’ financial management and the public appetite for more information about how charities spend their money.

http://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/elizabeth-chamberlain/independence-ncvo-best-practice-report.pdf

Dissolution of Invisible Children

Invisible Children, the charity behind the Kony 2012 viral video campaign, has announced its dissolution. Most of the staff will leave and a small team will stay on, eventually handing over its African-based activities by the end of the year. Despite the initial success of the Kony 2012 campaign, the charity came under increased scrutiny. Much of its funding came from school tours in the US, but this funding model proved unsustainable, as the organization was frequently challenged to demonstrate where exactly it was spending the money that it raised.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/12/30/why-did-invisible-children-dissolve/

Making Waves – media’s potential for girls in the Global South

BBC Media Action has published Making Waves – media’s potential for girls in the Global South, a review of the nature and impact of media portrayal of girls in developing countries. The report makes for fascinating reading and concludes that the media plays both a positive and negative role in terms of influencing girls’ behaviour. It recommends that media interventions designed to enhance girls’ well-being should to be better targeted.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction/publicationsandpress/policy_girls_media.html

Changing role of BBC3

The BBC has now published its detailed plan to make BBC3 an online channel. IBT has praised BBC3 in the past for its innovative record in covering current affairs, particularly in developing countries. We are concerned that the move online will mean that fewer people watch these programmes. However, in the published plans, the BBC confirms its commitment to global current affairs on BBC3 and says that, when the channel moves online, all long form current affairs programmes will be shown on BBC1 or 2 as well as on the online channel. This is good news. In future, the new BBC3 will focus on two principal genres: current affairs and comedy. It will no longer make factual entertainment shows such as Don’t Tell the Bride – these will either be cut or moved to another tv channel. There will also be new money for short films to be shown online only. The BBC Trust will undertake a public consultation on these proposals, to which IBT will be submitting evidence. At the same time, the Trust has announced a review of its network speech radio stations – Radio 4, 4 Extra, 5 live and 5 live sports extra. If you have any views which you’d like us to put forward, please get in touch.

Next briefing will be with online news and comment websites

Our next briefing will focus on online news and comment websites. We’ll be hearing from a panel of 4 editors – from Buzzfeed, Vice News, Huffington Post and New Statesman online. The editors will talk about how to pitch stories and blogs – and they’ll give advice on how online material can achieve greater exposure. This event will take place from 10-12 on Tuesday January 27^th. It’s now fully subscribed – if you have booked a place and are unable to attend please let us know so that we can offer your place to someone else.

ESoDoc 2015

ESoDoc, the European Social Documentary project, is open for applications for this year’s scheme. It’s an innovative programme that brings together filmmakers, new media professionals and NGO film practitioners, from across Europe, who want to work collaboratively and develop new projects. The course is subsidized by the EU and includes three residential sessions in three European countries taking place over a six month period.

http://www.esodoc.eu/

One World Media Awards

Entries are now open for this year’s One World Media Awards, which will take place on Thursday June 18^th at BAFTA. Now in its 27^th year, the awards recognize excellence in media coverage of developing countries. This year, two new categories have been launched, the Refugee Reporting Award (sponsored by the British Red Cross) and the Women’s Rights in Africa Award (sponsored by the African Development Bank). Other awards cover television, documentary, radio, press and digital media.

http://oneworldmedia.org.uk/awards

The Sandford St Martin Awards

The Sandford St Martin Awards have also issued their call for entries, with the announcement of a new Children’s Award. These awards celebrate tv, radio and online coverage of religious, spiritual and ethical issues.

http://sandfordawards.org.uk/the-awards/2015-awards/

New members

This month we welcome two new members, Mercy Corps and Handicap International. If you know of any other organisations that may wish to join, please let me know.

Best wishes

Mark

December 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s December newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.     (Print this Newsletter)

HIV and stigma – the media challenge

Following the launch of our research report in September in the House of Commons, we have been exploring what IBT can do to ensure that media content which aims to  reduce the stigma of HIV has greater impact. We have had meetings with funders, NGOs specialising in HIV treatment and care and pharmaceutical companies to discuss how best we can contribute to ensure that current work in frontline treatment is supported by impactful media. We are hoping to present some concrete proposals to HIV specialists in the New Year. We have also continued to disseminate the research which has been sent to many frontline HIV organisations around the world. If any IBT members with networks in developing countries affected by HIV can assist in this process we would be grateful for your support. We want to ensure that our recommendations are as widely read as possible.

https://ibt.org.uk/reports/hiv-stigma/

Bond Transparency Group to discuss IBT report on media coverage of aid

Last month we published our new report The aid industry – what journalists really think in which we quoted journalists and their personal views about NGOs and aid. The report raised a number of issues for NGOs but its aim is to enable IBT members to be more proactive in the face of media criticism. Later this month, I’ll be presenting our findings to members of the Bond Transparency Group. This is an open event, which will take place on Friday December 12^th, at 2pm at the ActionAid offices in Clerkenwell. If you wish to attend, please contact the organizer judith.davey@actionaid.org

Last month’s briefing with Today

Last month we heard from Adam Cumiskey, acting planning editor on Today. Adam gave us a very useful insight into how a planning editor deals with ideas coming in from NGOs and others. In one week, he deals with around 150-200 potential stories. Adam  emphasized the importance of establishing a personal relationship and advised that press releases should be much more carefully targeted and contain a clear top line, named experts available for interview and case studies. Notes from Adam’s briefing can be downloaded from the members’ area of the IBT website.

Next briefing will be with online news websites

Our next briefing will focus on online news websites and have a slightly different format from normal. We’ll be hearing from a panel of 4 editors – from Buzzfeed, Vice News, Huffington Post and New Statesman online. The editors will talk about how to pitch stories and proposed blogs to them – and they’ll give advice on how online material can achieve greater exposure. This event will take place from 10-12 on Tuesday January 27^th. Further details about the speakers can be found on the IBT website and places can be booked now.

iPhone and iPad training session

Later this month, we will run our first training session on how to shoot, record sound and edit using an iPhone or iPad. The trainer will be Mark Egan. This event is now fully subscribed but we hope to run another session next year. If there’s sufficient demand, we will also run a session for android appliances. The iPhone training will take place from 9.30-1 on Thursday December 18^th. If you have booked a place and are no longer able to attend, please let me know, so that I can offer your place to someone else.

CEOs and Twitter

Last month we held a training event aimed at helping CEOs to be more effective on Twitter. The event was run by our regular Twitter trainer, Mary Mitchell.  There’s a useful new guide for CEOs which is now available online. Written by Zoe Amar and Matt Collins, the guide is aimed at CEOs interested in developing their voice on Twitter and other social media.

http://charitychap.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Social-Media-for-charity-leaders-guide.pdf

Reframing climate change

Later this month we will be holding our next event with producers in our Reframing climate change project. This event is aimed at the BBC’s long form documentary strand, Storyville. We’ll be bringing together half a dozen producers from the strand with a group of experts involved in climate science, technology, business and architecture.  Next year we will be holding similar events with Sky, BBC Science and Natural History and Channel 5.

Climate change – what do young people think?

The Climate Outreach and Information Network (COIN) has published a new report documenting what young people think about climate change. The Young Voices report interviewed 18-25 year olds and concludes that present engagement strategies are failing with young people. It proposes – and tests – new climate change narratives aimed specifically at this age group.

http://www.climateoutreach.org.uk/research-reveals-current-climate-engagement-strategies-are-failing-to-reach-young-people/

Any ideas for Unreported World?

Channel 4’s Friday night current affairs series, Unreported World, has now completed its present run. If you missed it, there was a superb episode investigating the plight of deaf children living in rural Uganda. 15 and Learning to Speak is still available to view online http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/on-demand

The team at Quicksilver is now researching stories for the next series which will go out in the spring. If you’d like to pitch ideas to them, get in touch with their new Associate Producer, luke.denne@qsmedia.tv and mention IBT in your email. If you’d like advice on what kind of stories would work for the strand just email me.

Two events to look out for

On December 3^rd, the Frontline Club will host a panel discussion Documenting Disasters: Ten Years on from the Indian Tsunami. The event will consider the way in which communicating natural disasters has changed especially now that affected communities are using social media to tell their own stories and journalists are also using social media to gather information.

http://www.frontlineclub.com/documenting-disasters-ten-years-on-from-the-indian-ocean-tsunami/

On December 9^th, the ODI and BBC Media Action will host a debate Making waves: the media’s potential for girls in the global south which will look at how media can play a positive role in improving girls’ lives.

http://www.odi.org/events/4069-making-waves-medias-potential-girls-global-south

Thank you dinner for John Whitaker

In January we’ll be holding a farewell dinner for John Whitaker who stepped down as IBT Chair in the summer. John steered IBT through a period of great change, serving as Chair from 2002-2014. The dinner will take place on Thursday January 15^th – if you’d like to attend and have not already let me know, please get in touch.

Best wishes

Mark

Briefing Notes: Radio 4 Today Programme

Please note that this meeting was held according to Chatham House rules so Adam cannot be quoted without his consent.

Key contacts

Adama.cumiskey@bbc.co.uk  Acting planning editor and senior producer

Ollie.stone-lee@bbc.co.uk Planning editor

Today.planning@bbc.co.uk Today planning desk email

Planning desk direct line 020 3614 3622

How Today works

There are around 60-65 people working on the show, made of up two teams: the day team and the planning team. The teams aren’t fixed and people will move from one team to the other. The day editor has a main meeting at 11.30am for the next day’s show and stays until early evening. At 7.30pm the night editor comes in and takes the show right through until 9am the next day. In the evening, some items will get dropped as new news stories break.

There are several points of entry to Today. The main one is the planning desk which is run by Ollie Stone-Lee. Adam is standing in for him at the moment. Adam recommended phoning rather than emailing. He suggested making contact with someone on the team, and pitching your idea over the phone. Make sure you get the name of the person so that you have a named contact for the future.

You can also pitch to one of the specialist teams such as health, business or education – or to a correspondent in the field. Don’t pitch it to Mike Thomson as he no longer works full time on Today.

Adam spoke at length about how to write a decent press release. He suggested listening to the programme and then pitching something that will actually fit with the style of the programme. He doesn’t have time to read emails and press releases from beginning to end so the subject line or heading are key to grab his intention – these should be like a newspaper headline. The first sentence should sum up what the story is, emphasising what you have to say that is new. The sheer volume of ideas they get pitched is huge. He typically deals with 150-200 stories in one week. What they want to find when they read a press release is the human story – case studies are crucial. And if you are offering named experts make sure they are available, ideally to go into a studio, in London or elsewhere. Studio sound is much better than a telephone line.

The role of the planning desk is to come up with stories that can’t be set up in a few hours but need more planning. He gave the example of the Ebola audio diary by Geraldine O’Hara. They are also looking for stories that provide more texture – Today is not just a news programme. He gave the example of the interview that John Humphrys had done in Cardiff on the subject of dementia. They try to avoid doing too many packages as these tend to be dropped when a new story breaks.

The pitch has to be good and some ideas inevitably get lost in the system. Adam complained that many of the ideas he receives are not specifically targeted at the Today programme – they are just general press releases which obviously go to all media contacts on the mailing list. This is not the way to get your story on Today.

He gave an example of what he considered to be a good pitch – it came from a charity working on drugs and was about a new antibiotic – the story was summed up at the top of the release in two sentences. There was a list of possible interviewees and two strong case studies.

If you’re publishing new research make sure that the report author is available for interview and be very clear about the methodology.

Adam urged everyone to think on their feet – respond to stories that are in the news. If you have a report coming out next week but the story is in the news today then bring the launch forward since no one will want to return to the story next week.

He also advised everyone to try pitching something different – the programme is keen to find new ways of covering foreign stories. Hence the Ebola audio diary. Adam spoke about how Justin Forsyth had pitched the Liberia project and this had been a great way for the programme to cover both positive and negative stories from Africa.

He suggested being aware of other stories in the news when deciding the right time to pitch a story – Adam recommended subscribing to http://www.media-planner.co.uk/Static/index.aspx

Think of sound – this is a radio show after all. He was recently pitched a story about a new water mill generating electricity – one of the attractions of the story was the sound.

Feature children if you can – they are brilliant on the radio.

Gender imbalance

Adam said that Today were working hard to increase the number of women interviewed on the show – sometimes the guests would be 80% male. A low point was when they had two male experts on the show talking about breast cancer. He welcomed suggestions for good female studio interviewees. They would prefer to interview a female expert working for an NGO than the male chief executive.

He recommended that all potential female experts should register on Women’s Room and Her Say as he uses both sites to search for experts. Today does not currently have its own expert database but a new one will come online soon. http://thewomensroom.org.uk/  http://www.hersay.co.uk/

Foreign coverage

Adam spoke about Jamie Angus’s comments earlier this year when he said foreign coverage was putting off viewers. See

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/sep/25/ukraine-syria-gaza-today-programme-turn-off

Adam said there was no detectable loss in listeners and he didn’t believe that foreign coverage per se was putting off listeners. What he did feel was that there were more big running stories and that the programme needed to be creative about finding new ways of covering the big story of the day. He said the Ebola audio diary was an example of a different type of coverage. Sending presenters to the location also helped – for example Mishal Hussein’s trip to Lebanon.

Adam broadly welcomed the fact that since the merger of BBC News and the World Service, some WS correspondents were available to file stories for Today. Adam gave an example of a trip he made to Kenya to look at radio and the changing media landscape, with Alan Kasujja, one of the Newsday presenters.

Studio discussions

In addition to trying to recruit more women as studio guests, there were other changes afoot. They want studio discussions to have more light and less heat – it won’t be necessary always to have two opposing points of view. Adam noted that with discussions about climate change they have moved away from always interviewing a scientist and a sceptic – acknowledging that the sceptics represent a very small minority and should not be given too much air time.

Mark Galloway

26.11.14

November 2014 newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s November newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.     (Print this Newsletter)

The aid industry – what journalists really think

Today we publish a new briefing for IBT members. As the aid industry comes under increasing media scrutiny it’s vital that NGOs working in this field have a clearer idea of what journalists think about aid and development. From the journalists’ point of view, what works and what doesn’t? What are the issues that particularly concern them? In our latest report The aid industry – what journalists really think we hear from a range of journalists working in the press, radio, television and online. We asked them to tell us on and off the record what their own personal views were about NGOs and aid. Some of this report gives cause for concern but our aim in publishing it is to enable NGOs to respond more effectively to media criticism in the future. The report is essential reading for all media officers and others involved in communicating to the media. We shall be organising a series of events to promote discussion of the report’s findings. A copy of the report is attached to this newsletter. It can also be found in the members’ area of the website but it will not be available in the public area of the site. Distribution will be limited to IBT members.

https://ibt.org.uk/2014/11/aid-industry-journalists-really-think/

Bond Transparency Group to discuss new IBT report

The first event at which we will discuss the findings of The aid industry – what journalists really think will be the next meeting of the Bond Transparency Group. On Friday December 12^th, the Bond group will be debating In the Public Interest: NGOs, Transparency and the Media. The speakers will be Mark Galloway (IBT Director) and Caroline Diehl (Media Trust Chief Executive). The meeting will take place at 2pm at the ActionAid offices in Clerkenwell. This is an open event but places need to be booked in advance with the group’s co-chair judith.davey@actionaid.org

See also ActionAid’s own report on transparency:

http://www.actionaid.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/transparency_report_2014.pdf

Last month’s briefing with Focus on Africa

Last month we heard from the editors of Focus on Africa, Rachael Akidi and Stephane Mayoux. Rachael, who edits the radio show, told us that she was keen to find stories from countries that rarely featured, such as Angola, Swaziland, Lesotho, Guinea Bissau and Equatorial Guinea. Stephane, who edits the tv show, said that it was time for media coverage of Africa to move beyond what he called its traditional 3D approach –focusing on death, disease and destruction. A detailed note on the briefing can be found in the members’ area of the IBT website.

Next briefing with Today

Our next briefing will focus on Today, without doubt the most influential UK news programme. The show has undergone a series of changes under its news editor, Jamie Angus. Jamie has also attracted attention for his recent remarks, in which he said that audiences were turned off by a bleak diet of international stories, and that new ways needed to be found to engage audiences with global issues. The briefing will take place at 10am on Wednesday November 26^th. Representing the Today editorial team will be senior producer Adam Cumiskey. Adam will also take us through the best way to pitch ideas to the show. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come basis. They must be booked via the members’ area of the IBT website.

iPhone and iPad training session

In December we will be running a training session on how to shoot, record sound and edit using an iPhone or iPad. As Stephane told us at the Focus on Africa briefing, broadcasters are increasingly willing to screen material shot on mobile devices but there is a huge variation in the quality of the material depending on how well the device and associated apps and accessories are used. Recording good quality sound is especially important. We have asked Mark Egan, an experienced trainer, to run a half day training session for IBT members. It will take place from 9.30-2 on Thursday December 18^th. This is a free event but places are limited as the training can only be effective with a small group. Places can be booked now via the members’ area of the IBT website.

Reframing climate change

Last month we held our Reframing climate change event at Channel 4. It was attended by a dozen independent producers and half a dozen Channel 4 commissioners. We brought them together with a group of experts which included climate scientists but also many from other fields who were thinking about climate change – business, economics, architecture, fashion, transport etc. The aim was to brainstorm new ways for Channel 4 to cover climate change. We will be following this up with similar events with other broadcasters.

Wild Screen Festival discusses IBT report

IBT’s report The Environment on TV- are broadcasters meeting the challenge? was discussed at a special session at the Wild Screen Festival in Bristol last month. The festival brings together producers from around the world who make natural history programmes. These programmes have traditionally avoided mentioning climate change but that approach is changing and there was wide recognition at the festival that this area of programming needs to look more closely at the way the environment is changing and the impact of these changes.

Africa Investigates – Living with Ebola

The Frontline Club is to screen an episode of the Al Jazeera series Africa Investigates. The episode entitledLiberia – Living with Ebola will reportedly bring an African perspective to coverage of the issue. The screening, on Monday November 10^th, will be followed by a Q and A with reporter Sorious Samura and director Clive Patterson, chaired by Tom Clarke, Science editor of Channel 4 Newshttp://www.frontlineclub.com/living-with-ebola/

An episode of Panorama, the BBC1 current affairs strand, will also track the impact of Ebola in west Africa. Filmed in association with MSF, the programme is due to air on Monday November 10^th http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04plw27

Russia Today to launch UK channel

Russia Today (RT) is launching a UK news channel to bring what it calls ‘new perspectives to our viewers; to show them the side of the story they won’t see on the mainstream channels’ according to Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor in chief. The international version of RT is already available in the UK but the new channel will have 5 hours of original programming every day, specifically targeted at UK audiences. This will include news, documentaries made by UK producers and chat shows, supplemented by programming from its main international channel. RT UK will be shown on Freeview channel 135 and Sky channel 512.

Best wishes

Mark

Briefing Notes: Focus on Africa

Speakers

Rachael Akidi, Editor, Focus on Africa (radio) rachael.akidi@bbc.co.uk @rakidi

Stephane Mayoux, Editor, Focus on Afric (tv) stephane.mayoux@bbc.co.uk @smayoux

Other useful contacts

Nick Ericscson, Planning editor, BBC Africa nick.ericsson@bbc.co.uk @nickericsson

Chakuchanya Harawa, senior planner for the tv show chakuchanya.harawa@bbc.co.uk

Alice Muthengi (and others), planners for the radio show africaplanning@bbc.co.uk @amuthengi

Focus on Africa (radio)

The radio show goes out three times a day on the BBC World Service, broadcast live in English from London at 1500, 1700 and 1900 (all GMT). The main show is at 1700 and lasts an hour and the other two shows are 30 minutes each. The show aims to provide comprehensive coverage of African politics, business, sport, arts etc. It wants to reflect the progress that is taking place across Africa but not shy away from addressing the challenges. It is not a straight news show. The assumption is that the audience finds the headlines elsewhere but comes to the show for detail and analysis and for its features. The same team produces all three editions of the show and one of their priorities is to engage with their audiences via social media. They have a reach of 2½m across FB, Twitter and Google +. When selecting a studio guest topicality is the key. Why this guest? Why now?

Focus on Africa (tv)

This is a daily show which goes out at 1730 GMT Monday-Friday, live from London. It is also syndicated to 13 African tv stations. The show is broadcast on BBC World News so it reaches a global audience, although a high proportion of that audience is in Africa. The tv and radio shows work closely together, often interviewing the same guests, but they are made by different editorial teams. Stephane has a strong belief that coverage of Africa needs to move away from the 3D approach – death, disease and destruction. He’s keen to feature stories that look at arts, business, technology and health. The production team and reporters are for the most part African and he believes that Africans should be telling their own stories. The team also contributes an African perspective to wider news coverage on BBC World News.

How to pitch ideas

The best way of pitching ideas is to go to the planning editors for each show (Chaku and Alice – see above for contact details) or Nick Ericsson on the BBC Africa newsdesk. You can also contact the editors direct – Stephane via Twitter and Rachael via email. They are inundated by press releases and pitches but, whilst they are receptive, they find it frustrating that NGOs make a range of elementary errors in their dealings with the BBC. They gave a few examples of mistakes to avoid:

Reports arrive at the last minute with little or no advance notice. Experts quoted in the press release are not available for interview. Press releases lack a clear top line. Reports don’t have an executive summary. Old press releases are rehashed with a new top line. The reports offer experts to comment whereas what the broadcasters want is human stories to illustrate the issues being raised.

Both Stephane and Rachael made the point that BBC Global News in general is keen to collaborate with outside organisations, to save money, but also to give them access to expertise and information they would not otherwise have. If you are planning some research, get in touch at the beginning and see if they want to collaborate with you. This particularly applies to investigations. They are keen to do more investigations but lack the funds therefore collaboration is vital.

They are generally less keen on covering UN days, summits, elections, publication of reports, unless there is something new and surprising to say. They do not want to follow the news agenda set by UK broadcasters but prefer to respond to an African agenda. And they are keen to move away from the traditional way in which Africa has been reported and to cover a broader range of stories including ones that have something positive to say about Africa.

Rachael said she was particularly interested in covering countries that receive very little coverage such as Angola, Lesotho, Swaziland, Equitorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau.

Reporters

BBC Africa now has an established team of reporters who have started to appear more widely across BBC News, including Namsa Maseko (who came to fame when she gave a personal view on what the death of Mandela meant to her), Anne Soy (who has been reporting on terrorist attacks in Kenya) and Tulip Mazumdar (reporting on Ebola). There is a feeling that these African reporters have a more authentic voice than British reporters sent in to cover African stories. The point was also made that these reporters connect with a more diverse UK audience.

Working with NGOs

Both spoke reasonably positively about their experience of working with NGOs and a couple of examples were given. Rachael worked with Oxfam during the Copenhagen climate change summit and they helped her to find examples of farmers who were affected by climate change so that she could give a human and African dimension to the issues being discussed.  Amnesty published a report on torture in Ethiopia and were able to provide Rachael with someone from Ethiopia who had been tortured and could be interviewed live on the show. Rachael emphasised her interest in featuring human stories rather than experts.

Rachael and Stephane were asked if they would use NGO footage on air – or if they would be interested in edited pieces. Both would consider using NGO footage if it provided them with access they didn’t have or couldn’t obtain. The NGO footage would be credited but the BBC would edit it as they saw fit and would want editorial control. The BBC remains nervous about being perceived to be ceding editorial control to NGOs. Balance remains critically important.

Audience

The audience profile for radio and tv is similar. The shows tend to reach a professional male skewed audience typically in their early 30s, comprising teachers, students, NGO staff, government, civil servants and other decision makers. They are keen to reach a younger audience and would welcome ideas that would appeal to young people. The audience is predominantly urban and focus groups have shown them that the audience welcomes a move away from the traditional 3D agenda.

Mark Galloway

31.10.14

Briefing Notes: Dispatches

IBT briefing on Channel 4 Dispatches September 2014

Daniel Pearl -Commissioning Editor, Channel 4 dpearl@channel4.co.uk

Karen Edwards- Executive Producer, Blakeway Karen.edwards@blakeway.tv

Daniel explained the set up at Channel 4. There are 4 commissioning editors who cover the whole of news and current affairs. He has overall responsibility for Channel 4 News and Dispatches. Siobhan Sinnerton has responsibility for Unreported World. Daniel encouraged everyone to take their international ideas to Quicksilver, the production company which makes Unreported World. They have two runs of 8 episodes each year so they are always on the lookout for good international stories.

There are 30 half hour episodes of Dispatches each year – most of these are domestic and Blakeway makes a good number of these episodes. In addition, there will be 8-12 one hour films each year – most of these will be foreign and, again, Blakeway, makes a number of these. Karen recently did a Dispatches called Hunted which investigated the persecution of gays in Russia. LGBT rights is an issue that she remains interested in.

Daniel says he is always in search of a good idea. At the heart of every Dispatches is revelation. These films are journalistic, not analytical, and they need to have something new to say. There’s always a shortage of good ideas so please send any ideas you have to Daniel (if you know you want to see them on Channel 4) or Karen (if you’re also open to seeing them elsewhere – as Karen also makes current affairs programmes for two BBC strands, Panorama and This World).

What’s the difference between Panorama and Dispatches? Not much, it seems. Daniel said that Panorama goes in cycles and so what they are looking for changes. Panorama is about to appoint a new editor so the direction of travel will become clearer soon. Channel 4, in Daniel’s view, is more willing to make mischief and challenge the establishment.

If you take an idea to Daniel and he likes the idea, he will work with you to identify the best outlet – it may work best in a short form for Channel 4 News for example. He sees Channel 4 News as a current affairs programme, taking the news agenda further, rather than just reflecting it.

Karen explained the set up at Blakeway – it is part of the Ten Alps media group which also includes two other independent production companies, Brook Lapping and Films of Record. Karen is head of current affairs and documentaries at Blakeway. She makes programmes for ITV, BBC and Channel 4. Before becoming an executive producer, she was producing Dispatches for 10 years, so she knows Channel 4 inside out. She likes dealing with Channel 4 as they are very flexible and have a number of different places for a good idea – the BBC is more restricted.

Karen loves doing foreign films. She is always looking for stories that feature real people – rather than just tissues.  She doesn’t feel that current affairs works without strong personal stories and testimony.

Daniel has few slots for foreign films so the bar is set high – he has turned down some good ideas recently as his main focus is Syria, IS and the Ukraine. Ebola is being covered by Unreported World. Whereas Panorama will automatically cover the big foreign stories, Dispatches will not always do this. He’s currently looking for fresh angles on Syria and wants to find a way of showing what life is like inside IS territory. He recommended everyone to watch the Vice film made inside IS territory.

Daniel was asked whether NGO footage was of interest to him  – he said he was always after original footage.

Daniel and Karen were asked about their experience of working with NGOs. Karen had good experiences when NGOs were helping her with access but when the NGO brought the film idea to her she felt there were sometimes unrealistic expectations that she was producing a puff piece. NGOs needed to understand that producers could not relinquish editorial control and had the right to criticize NGOs. This relationship needed to be made clear at the beginning. She did, however, say that she would show NGOs a cut of the finished film for comments and she recognized that safety of contributors was a major issue.

Daniel spoke about sponsored output. The current affairs team could not broadcast sponsored output. However, other teams in Channel 4 could. There would be a mention in the end credits that the piece was funded/sponsored by a third party.

Daniel and Karen were asked whether media officers should pitch to one of them rather than the other. Daniel replied that they could both be pitched to – but if you wanted the option of a BBC or ITV slot then go to Karen.

Daniel was asked if he was interested in tax avoidance/evasion – he said yes. He was also interested in new angles on poverty. He was particularly interested in what he called ‘rubbish jobs’ – people working on zero hours or poverty wages. He’d done several Dispatches on this issue but would do more if the right story came up.

Both were asked what issues they felt were under-reported. Karen said China and Daniel said migration.

Daniel was asked about pressure to get ratings – he said there wasn’t any pressure but that he wanted to appeal to a mainstream audience and didn’t want Dispatches to become niche viewing.  He felt that if this happened the strand would not survive. Therefore his aim was that Dispatches should regularly get a 5% audience share.

Mark Galloway 25.9.14

October 2014 newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s October newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.     (Print this Newsletter)

Next IBT briefing with Focus on Africa editors

Later this month we’ll be holding our next briefing for IBT members. Our speakers will be Stephane Mayoux and Rachael Akidi. Stephane edits the tv version of Focus on Africa and Rachael edits the radio show. They will talk about the commissioning and pitching process, how they recruit studio guests and who their audience is. BBC Africa is one of the most dynamic sections of the BBC World Service and it has grown its audience in recent years, despite cutbacks across the BBC. It’s also unusual because it is London based, sharing offices with BBC radio shows like Today, The World Tonight etc. It will be interesting to hear about any cross fertilization which occurs between these shows. The briefing will take place at 10am on Thursday October 30^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. Registration is open now via the members’ area of the IBT website. Any problems registering, let me know. Invitations will go out by email next week.

Last month’s briefing with Dispatches

Our briefing with Dispatches was well attended – Daniel Pearl from Channel 4 said he was always short of good ideas for the strand and encouraged IBT members to send their ideas to him. Karen Edwards from Blakeway Productions also welcomed ideas, saying that she is in regular touch with Channel 4, the BBC, ITV, CCTV etc and in a position to pitch to any broadcaster. Notes on the event can be found in the members’ area of the IBT website.

Unreported World

The new series of Unreported World started last week with a powerful film on Ebola. The production team is now working on ideas for the next series. If you are interesting in pitching to them let me know and I’ll pass on their contact details. The RSA will be hosting a screening of an upcoming Unreported World film Syria’s Invisible Refugees. The film looks at the plight of disabled refugees from Syria currently living in temporary camps in Lebanon. The screening will take place at 6.30pm on Wednesday October 8^th and will be followed by a Q and A with the reporter, Giles Duley, and representatives from Handicap International and UNHCR.

http://www.thersa.org/events/our-events/RSA-Screens-Unreported-World

IBT annual dinner

Last month we held our annual dinner for CEOs. David Abraham, the Chief Executive of Channel 4, spoke about the channel’s commitment to international coverage and Nevine Mabro, the Foreign Editor of Channel 4 News, spoke about the programme’s recent coverage of Ukraine, Gaza, Syria and ISIS. Next year we hope to have Tony Hall, the Director General of the BBC, as our main speaker.

Current affairs on the BBC

The BBC Trust has taken a bold step to strengthen its commitment to current affairs on BBC1, by ring fencing output for the first time, requiring the channel to air at least 40 hours a year in peak time. The Trust has long been concerned about current affairs on BBC1. This new quota is one of the main outcomes of the Trust service review of BBC News and Current Affairs to which IBT submitted evidence. The Trust has also instructed the BBC Director of News to come up with concrete proposals to strengthen the range of international stories covered across BBC News. This is an issue that has concerned IBT and which featured prominently in our submission.

Changes at Today

Jamie Angus, the editor of the Today programme has said that he wants to recruit more black staff to his production team and feature more diverse voices on air. He has also acknowledged that the programme has suffered a small drop in its audience. He puts this down to a run of ‘bad foreign news’ and says the show needs to find new ways to refresh its approach to international coverage. Angus said that Today would not stop doing foreign stories, since ‘that would be a betrayal of our audience, we are not going to do it. What we are going to do is think about how we do the storytelling.’ We have invited Jamie Angus to speak at one of our briefings later this year.

Twitter session for CEOs

Our first Twitter session for CEOs will take place next month, on Friday November 21^st. As we have not been able to accommodate all the CEOs who expressed an interest, we’ll be running another session early next year.

FireChat

It’s been reported that FireChat, a new messaging app, is playing a key role in the Hong Kong protests as it is enabling protestors to communicate via Bluetooth when phone and internet lines are down.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/29/firechat-messaging-app-powering-hong-kong-protests

The civil society response to AIDS

The LSE is holding a public event later this month to debate the global state of the civil society response to AIDS. The event marks the publication of a report which has examined the civil society response and in particular the role of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in building agency amongst some of the most marginalized groups. The event will take place at the LSE at 6.30pm on Tuesday October 14^th. http://www.lse.ac.uk/publicEvents/events/2014/10/20141014t1830vHKT.aspx

The power of storytelling

This year’s Transformational Media Summit takes place at the end of the month in Washington DC. The summit brings together change makers, storytellers and media professionals who are keen to collaborate to promote change. A discount is available for IBT members who wish to attend. http://tmsummit.org/

Film Africa 2014

This year’s African film festival takes place at the end of this month with some events happening sooner. Details of the programme have not yet been released.

http://www.filmafrica.org.uk/

Media reporting of conflict and disaster

The ODI is hosting an event later this month at the Frontline Club which examines the way the media reports today’s conflicts and disasters. The event entitled, Conflict and Disaster Reporting – Does the Public Still Care? will consider how effective reporting is in engaging the public. It will also consider how humanitarian organisations are working with media outlets to generate interest and understanding of the crises affecting millions of civilians around the world. The event will take place at 8.30pm on Thursday October 23^rd. It is currently fully booked but available to be viewed online.

http://www.frontlineclub.com/conflict-and-disaster-reporting-does-the-public-still-care/

Amnesty Media Awards 2014

This year’s Amnesty Media Awards will be hosted by Lindsey Hilsum and will take place on the evening of Tuesday November 11^th at the BFI Southbank. The awards recognise the vital role that journalists play and the serious risks they face in highlighting injustice around the world.

https://www.eventsforce.net/amnestyuk/frontend/reg/thome.csp?pageID=427&eventID=3&eventID=3&gclid=CjwKEAjw77OhBRCJ7Onfp_HNtwYSJACZqHAW4CjRcoRkO15hynCUTy1siUm9eMtIN60fp_HuRYvQKxoCm7vw_wcB

Best wishes

Mark

IBT’s mission is to use the media to further awareness and understanding of people’s lives in the developing world and the issues which affect them

September 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s September newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

HIV and stigma – the media challenge

Earlier this week we launched our new research report to a packed meeting at the House of Commons – held jointly with the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS. The meeting was chaired by Lord Collins on behalf of the APPG and the panel included speakers who had travelled from Kenya, South Africa and the US to attend. The report examines the role of the media in tackling stigma and includes recommendations as to how it can play a more effective role – and how NGOs can work with the media to achieve this. The report has been warmly welcomed by those working in this field. Hard copies will be sent to all IBT members, and it can also be downloaded from our website.

Next IBT briefing later this month

Our series of briefings with commissioners and editors resumes this month. On September 23^rd we’ll be hearing from Daniel Pearl, Channel 4 Commissioning Editor for News and Current Affairs. Daniel will be talking about how to pitch ideas for Dispatches, the Channel’s principal current affairs strand, which he edits. He also has responsibility for Channel 4 News. We are lucky that on this occasion Daniel will be joined by Karen Edwards, Executive Producer with Blakeway Productions, a leading factual producer. Karen regularly makes films forDispatches. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the best way to achieve coverage of global issues on current affairs TV. If you’d like to attend, please register via the members’ area of the IBT website, as this event is for IBT members only.

Climate change brainstorms

Last year we published The Environment on TV – are broadcasters meeting the challenge? As a result of that report we are now working with all the main public service broadcasters – and Sky – on a series of brainstorms, to encourage them to broaden the range of programming about climate change. We want to encourage producers and broadcasters to reframe climate change so that it is no longer seen as just a green issue – but seen as one that affects all aspects of life. Our first brainstorm takes place next month and will be hosted by Channel 4. Attendees include many of the main independent production companies working in factual tv. We are also working with Love Productions, producers of The Great British Bake Off and Benefits Street, to develop a slate of programmes that feature climate change.

Search for green champions

Entries are now open for the PEA awards, which celebrate green champions from all walks of life. The closing date for entries is October 17^th.

NGOs and the media

IBT is currently preparing a briefing paper which investigates what journalists really think about the aid industry. Many thanks to those IBT members who spoke to Helen Magee, who has been writing the report. We will be circulating the final report to IBT members later this Autumn. In the meantime, congratulations to Mark Goldring, CEO of Oxfam, for braving the Channel 4 cameras and appearing in Undercover Boss. The programme has been generally well received. If you missed it, it’s well worth watching.

Celebrities and the media

New research by two leading academics has indicated that the role of celebrities in media coverage of development may not be achieving the desired results. They say that such coverage is ‘generally ineffective’ at engaging the public with global issues – and may benefit the celebrities more than the issues featured.

Annual dinner for CEOs

Channel 4 Chief Executive David Abraham is the guest speaker at our annual dinner for CEOs later this month. The dinner will also be attended by the Channel 4 News editor Ben de Pear.

Twitter session for CEOs

We are about to fix a date for the Twitter training session for CEOs, now that we have a few names of those who have said they would like to attend. If your CEO is interested in coming along, and you haven’t already let me know, please get in touch now.

Blog Action Day

IBT has joined Blog Action Day as one of its partner organisations. The massive blogging event takes place on October 16^th and the theme this year will be inequality. We’ll be encouraging bloggers to write about HIV and stigma and the way in which certain groups – such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and people who use drugs – are discriminated against and, as a result, have far less access to testing and treatment than the wider population. If you’re interested in taking part, you can register your blog here.

Media trends

Ofcom, the media regulator, has published its annual market report which identifies trends in media consumption. This always makes for interesting reading. For the first time in many years the average amount of tv watched by viewers in the UK has dropped slightly – by 9 minutes a day. Ofcom could not say whether this is due to warmer weather or is indicative of a long term trend. Three quarters of tv viewing is live; one quarter is time shifted.

Best wishes

Mark

August 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s August newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

HIV and stigma – the media challenge

Next month we’ll be launching our new research report which looks at HIV and stigma – and examines the role the media can play in tackling stigma. The report includes recommendations as to how the media can play a more effective role – and how NGOs can work with the media to achieve this. The launch will take place at 6pm on Tuesday September 2^nd at the House of Commons. It will be a joint event with the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS. We have a distinguished panel which includes Anne Soy, BBC correspondent in Kenya; Garth Japhet, the founder of Soul City and Winnie Ssanyu Sseruma, an HIV activist. Sophie Chalk, the author of the report, will present her findings. This is a public event but places need to be booked in advance via the IBT website. IBT members will be given priority.

BBC Trust gives its verdict on BBC television

The BBC Trust has published the findings of its review of BBC television – to which IBT submitted evidence. The verdict on BBC1, 2, 3 and 4 is broadly positive. All four channels are distinctive and well regarded by audiences. However, the Trust noted that BBC1 has a tendency to play safe and needs to take more risks. The Trust also said that the tv channels need to make more effort to reach younger and more diverse audiences. Interestingly, the Trust’s verdict on BBC3 was very positive, given that there are plans to turn BBC3 into an online only channel (although these plans are yet to be approved by the Trust).

Channel 4 News reaches more diverse audience

Ben de Pear, the editor of Channel 4 News, has said that the programme attracts a younger and more diverse audience than any other tv news bulletin. BAMEs make up 23% of their audience; and 20% are aged 16-34. Ben acknowledged that a priority for the show has been to represent the UK’s ethnic minorities on the screen and they have also been trying hard to increase the number of female experts, following a campaign by City University and Broadcast magazine.

House of Lords inquiry will look at expert women

The House of Lords Select Committee on Communications has announced that its next inquiry will look at the level of female representation across news broadcasting. The Committee will look at the representation of women in television, radio news and current affairs in terms of employment, casting and participation. Written evidence needs to be submitted before October 1^st.

 Competition gathers pace at the BBC

In a well-publicized speech on the future of the licence fee, Tony Hall, the BBC’s Director General has laid down a new mantra of ‘compete and compare’. This will mean the introduction of greater competition in production, where appropriate, and signals the beginning of the BBC’s attempt to reposition itself ahead of the Charter renewal debate which will take place in 2015, after the general election.

BBC rejects complaint by Lord Lawson 

The BBC has rejected a claim by Lord Lawson that he has been banned from appearing on because of his views on climate change. However, the BBC’s editorial unit has ruled that it was wrong for the Today programme to give Lawson equal billing with Professor Sir Brian Hoskins in an interview on climate change and flooding in February. The unit has ruled that ‘a false balance was created in that the item implied Lord Lawson’s views on climate science were on the same footing as those of Sir Brian Hoskins.’  In a statement, the BBC said: ‘Our position continues to be that we accept that there is a broad scientific agreement on climate change and we reflect this accordingly. We do however on occasion offer space to dissenting voices where appropriate as part of the BBC’s overall commitment to impartiality.’

Climate Asia project publishes its data

Climate Asia, the BBC Media Action research project, has launched a data portal which gives detailed information on its research findings. The site contains a wealth of useful information on how people in a number of Asian countries view climate change, where they get their information from and how they could be helped to do more to adapt.

Humanitarian response in acute emergencies criticized

In a provocatively titled report, Where is everyone? MSF has analysed the humanitarian response to a number of emergencies in three hard to reach locations – South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Jordan, in 2012-13. The report concludes that in these emergencies, humanitarian responses have been ‘slow and cumbersome, and lack impact.’ The report has also criticized agencies for evacuating staff and downgrading programmes in acute emergencies. Its conclusion is that ‘most agencies are concentrating only on the easiest to reach populations and ignoring the more difficult places.’ The report prompted an attack on ‘cash-swollen charities’ by Ian Birrell in The Guardian’s comment pages.

Media for development – where’s the evidence?

BBC Media Action has published a new briefing that examines how the media for development sector is addressing the need to produce evidence of its impact. The paper notes that the sector does not have a long history of research or evaluation so presenting evidence of impact can be challenging. The briefing concludes that ‘media for development interventions often do not produce rapid, readily measurable and easily monetisable outcomes. The social change which media for development aims to make is more incremental, less tangible and often not fixed.’ This is an issue which we also consider in our forthcoming report HIV and stigma – the media challenge.

The future of humanitarian reporting

City University has now published the papers which were presented at its conference earlier this year on the future of humanitarian reporting. The conference looked at how NGOs and the media are adapting to the changing media landscape and the impact of this on the reporting of disasters.

Best wishes

Mark

Briefing Notes: ITV News

A number of On Assignment films are made in advance and Delilah is particularly keen on timeless stories. She’s interested in going to the Philippines for the 10^th anniversary of the typhoon. Rageh Omaar is doing a film in Nigeria whilst he’s covering the missing school girls story. Delilah emphasised that she did not want extended news pieces – the films had to feel very different from what viewers had already seen on the news.

Both Michael and Delilah said they were happy to be contacted by phone or email.

Mark Galloway
May 16 2014.

Briefing Notes: BBC World News

Sophie Chalk
March 5 2014

Briefing Notes: This World

The future

Now that Toughest Place to be… has ended Sam is on the lookout for a new format. The Mason McQueen series may work for the moment but a new format will be needed in the long term. There are more Simon Reeve travel shows in the pipeline. This World will continue to be eclectic and story-led. Sam said he welcomed ideas from NGOs but it’s clear that these ideas need to tackle issues in an imaginative and creative way – and surprise audiences.

Mark Galloway

22.1.14

Briefing Notes: Channel 4 News

network of freelancers they work with and some correspondents like Guillermo who they are keen to continue to work with. The ideas can be wide ranging, either a new angle on a big news story or a completely off the agenda story. They do a lot of these films – almost 40 in the past year. It’s fertile ground for NGOs.

The audience

C4N has an older demographic but higher reach amongst ethnic minority audiences than any other news provider. They are also watched by a lot of students. They are trying to broaden their appeal to win more younger viewers but the fact that they are on at 7pm makes this challenging.

What stories are they looking for in 2014?

They plan to cover the Philippines (after Christmas), Afghanistan, Syria, Gaza, Iraq and also they are on the look out for good South American stories for Guillermo as they’d like to do more with him. He’s recently covered animal trafficking in Brazil which went down well – they’d like to do more environmental stories. He has also reported from Tegucigalpa in Honduras (the world’s most dangerous city) and Brazil (favelas). And he is currently doing a piece on illegal coalmining in Peru.

Mark Galloway

10.12.13

Briefing Notes: Unreported World

Briefing Notes: Panorama

Panorama’s editorial position – Tom was asked about a recent episode which looked at health tourism. He said he didn’t have a set agenda on issues. If he found a good story or angle he went ahead. He would be equally happy making a film which looked at the other side of the issue – ie how people were not getting access to health care which they should be getting.

Panorama’s audience – Tom said he was not under huge ratings pressure but neither was he trying to drive the audience down. He wanted to find ways of telling stories which had wide appeal – hence his decision to hire the footballer Sol Campbell to make a film about unemployment among black boys. He was hoping that this would bring a different audience to the issue. But, generally, he was wary of using celebrities unless they had a close connection with the story. Panorama has a regular core audience which also watches other news and current affairs on tv, but it also has the potential, if timing is right, to reach a much bigger audience as it has recently with its North Korea and Jimmy Savile programmes.

Tom took over in 2010 and the audience grew for the first two years and since then it has held steady. Tom also said that the chat on Twitter and in the blogosphere helped build audiences – he gave the example of the Undercover Care film which started with 2.5m and then, as it was tweeted about, so the audience built, and the programme ended with 4.7m.

Panorama online – Tom did admit that Panorama could be much smarter in what it did online once a programme had been broadcast and how it encouraged audiences to take action. Whilst the BBC and Panorama could not overtly campaign on an issue they could nevertheless give ammunition to campaigners and allow them to run with an issue.

Mark Galloway

17.5.13

Briefing Notes: Al Jazeera English

There are a number of innovative new media projects emerging out of the new media unit in Doha – for example crowd sourcing reports from Gaza, Somalis texting in etc

Contacts

Ben.Rayner@aljazeera.net Head of News, London

Maria.Hadjiconstanti@aljazeera.net Planning editor, London

Bob.Wheelock@aljazeera.net Executive Producer, Newsgathering, Washington DC. Ramsey.Zarifeh@aljazeera.net Head of planning, Doha

Diarmuid.Jeffreys@aljazeera.net Editor, People and Power and Africa Investigates Flora.Gregory@aljazeera.net Editor, Witness

Neil.Cairns@aljazeera.net Editor, Earthrise

Briefing Notes: BBC Radio 4, Today Programme

Alexis spoke about Thoughtfor the Day, which comes out of the Religion/Ethics team in Salford, and the business news on Today which comes from Simon Haymer’s team.

He talked us through how the running order works – the first hour of the show is mainly about business news and quick factual updates on the main stories of the day, usually single interviews and short packages and Yesterday in Parliament. The 7-7.30 slot is when they start interviewing key players including Ministers and running longer packages from correspondents. 7.30 will be something on the lead story of the day. 7.40 will be something more textured, maybe about the Arts. 7.50 – this is the lead slot apart from 8.10 so it will take the main story of the day. 8 is the bulletin. 8.10 is the big interview.

There was a discussion about the fact that only highlights of each programme go online but Alexis said that reporters often audioboo a piece so that it can be circulated via social media. The BBC is generally happy for its reports to be distributed in this way provided that it is acknowledged that they originate with the BBC. The only problem arises is if there is a rights issue – usually with music or sports.

There was also a discussion about whether Today should be using more indigenous reporters in its international coverage – for example from Liberia. Alexis said there was a place for both but they will be using more World Service reporters on Today as a result of reductions in the numbers of foreign correspondents and the fact that there is now much closer collaboration between BBC News and the World Service. The Today team sits next to the Newsday team now that both are in New Broadcasting House.

The audience for Today is higher than ever – the peak audience is at 7.40 and people typically listen for 40 minutes. The audience has been described as ‘middle England’ and its average age is 52.

Alexis was asked how the programme viewed NGOs and he said that sometimes NGOs will be the story and in the past when they tried to get NGOs to take part in a discussion about whether there were too many DEC appeals, the NGOs chose not to participate. He was surprised by that decision.

He was also asked how he would like to see the programme change in the next few years. He said he would like it to be less ‘fuddy duddy’ and for there to be more interaction between the presenters. On some days it feels very formal.

Contact names and emails

Alexis.condon@bbc.co.uk andToday.planning@bbc.co.uk Today Planning desk

Mark.perrow@bbc.co.uk BBC Impact

Clare.thorp@bbc.co.uk Today database of contacts

Simon.haymer@bbc.co.uk Business news for Today programme

July 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s July newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.   (Print this Newsletter)

IBT AGM

Our annual general meeting will take place later this week – at 5pm on Thursday July 3^rd at the IBT offices in Southwark. This event is open to all members. It will finish at 6.30pm and will be followed by drinks, so that we can say goodbye to our longstanding Chair, John Whitaker, who is stepping down. Our new Chair will be Marie Staunton, the former Chief Executive of Plan International UK.

IBT training events

We held two training events this month, one on Twitter, the other an introduction to stills photography. We’ll be organising more training events in the Autumn. There will be a special session on Twitter for CEOs, which will look at how a CEO’s Twitter presence can help to increase the influence of his/her organization. Please let me know if you are interested in attending so that we can choose the best date for this. We’ll also be organizing a one day video shooting/sound recording session – we’re still planning this, so if you’d like to attend please get in touch so that we can make sure the training we provide matches the needs of IBT members.

Record audience for BBC global news 

New figures released by the BBC show that their global audience has increased to a record 265 million people a week. These figures for 2013-14 represent an increase of 9 million on the previous year. The main reason for the increase is the growing audience for the BBC’s tv and online services. Radio audiences are in decline, although radio remains the biggest platform overall.  Key increases are in Russia (biggest growth for a single market) and India (where the BBC has launched a tv service for Hindi speaking audiences). BBC World News TV, the BBC’s global tv news channel, has also shown an increase – it now reaches a weekly audience of 76 million.

24 hour rolling news is here to stay

Sky News boss John Ryley has claimed that the future of 24 hour rolling news is secure as long as broadcasters keep innovating to keep pace with viewer demand. Speaking to the RSA, Ryley said that whilst the public appetite for consuming news from a range of providers has grown, this has not adversely affected rolling TV news. However, it has forced Sky to widen its offering to include news on tablets, games consoles and connected TVs, each providing consumers with content in a variety of formats. Ryley also admitted that Sky was paying close attention to new news providers such as Buzzfeed and Vice who are devising new ways of engaging audiences.

Traditional news outlets face growing challenge from online providers

A more detailed analysis of the impact of the digital revolution on traditional news providers can be found in the recently published annual digital news report from The Reuters Institute. The report surveyed 18,000 people in 10 countries and found that some news organisations are being outpaced by the speed of change whilst others are showing signs of rising to the challenge. Established news organisations in some countries, notably the US and Japan, are finding it hard to transform print success to the web. By contrast, in the UK, Denmark, Finland and Germany, traditional news brands have managed to maintain market share at the same time as driving editorial and business innovation. The report highlights the success of the Huffington Post and Buzzfeed in Europe, the US and Brazil. Google New remains a leading player in Italy, France and Germany; while Yahoo! is the top news site in Japan.

 Ofcom announces details of its public service broadcasting review

Ofcom, the media regulator, has announced the terms of reference for its review of public service broadcasting. The review will evaluate how effectively the public service broadcasters are delivering the purposes and characteristics of PSB, particularly in the light of changes in the way TV content is distributed and consumed. They are particularly concerned by the impact of new TV content providers such as Netflix. The review will look in detail at the role of Channel 4 and its sustainability. It will also consider the contribution of the commercial broadcasters including Sky. The review will not look in any detail at the BBC as this will be covered when the Charter renewal debate takes place next year. IBT will be submitting evidence to the review later this year.

What do the media really think about NGOs?

It’s clear that the aid industry and development NGOs are the subject of increasing media scrutiny and criticism. In the wake of a number of newspaper articles, programmes on BBC radio and TV, and on Channel 4, IBT has started work on a briefing paper to examine this in more detail. We want to achieve a better understanding of what motivates media criticism, by talking on and off the record to a range of journalists and broadcasters. Helen Magee who wrote our report on media coverage of the famine in the Horn of Africa, has begun work on this and the comments she has received so far have been revealing. One BBC correspondent told her ‘if anything, I don’t think there is enough criticism. We swallow what NGOs do far too easily.’ Another correspondent told Helen that ‘a bit more humility would not go amiss.’ If there are any particular journalists you think we should interview, please let me know. The briefing paper will be available to all IBT members in the Autumn.

Celebs work on TV

Despite the debate about the merits of using celebrities on TV to engage audiences with development messages, such programmes continue to deliver big audiences. David Beckham into the Unknown, shown last month on the BBC in the run up to the World Cup, was the top rated BBC1 show for its slot in the last 12 months, with 4.6 million viewers.

Best wishes

Mark

June 2014 newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s June newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.   (Print this Newsletter)

IBT training events

We have a few places left at our two training events which will take place later this month. Both are aimed at media officers and others who want to enhance their skills. The introduction to stills photography with Crispin Hughes takes place on Tuesday June 24^th. The Twitter training with Mary Mitchell takes place on Friday June 27^th. Further details are on our website. Please share them with any colleagues in your organization who may be interested. These events are free to IBT members but numbers are limited. To register, use the member login button on the home page https://ibt.org.uk/

HIV and stigma – the media challenge

Many thanks to all who attended our round table event last month to discuss the initial findings of our report on global media coverage of HIV. The report is now being drafted and will be launched on the evening of Tuesday September 2^nd at the House of Commons, in a joint event with the All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS. Invitations will go out nearer the time.

IBT AGM

Our annual general meeting will take place at 5pm on Thursday July 3^rd at the IBT offices in Southwark. This event is open to all members and is the one opportunity that members have each year to hear more about IBT, its activities over the past year and plans for the future. If you’d like to attend please let me know. This will be the last AGM for our Chair John Whitaker who will be standing down. We owe John a huge debt for presiding over a period of great change for IBT. Our new Chair will be Marie Staunton, the former Chief Executive of Plan International UK.

Climate change a priority for Channel 4

Channel 4 has announced, in its annual report, that climate change will be a priority area for factual content over the next year. A number of new programmes are in development. Following the publication of IBT’s report The Environment on TV – are broadcasters meeting the challenge? we have had several meetings with Channel 4 commissioners and they have accepted that the channel has neglected this issue in recent years. The annual report also stated that Channel 4 needs to ‘find the space for more international content.’ This is something that we have raised in meetings with the Channel 4 Chief Executive, David Abraham. David will be the guest speaker at IBT’s annual dinner for CEOs in the Autumn.http://annualreport.channel4.com/

New series of Unreported World

The producers of the Channel 4 international affairs show are now looking for stories for the next series. These will be filmed from mid-July until the end of September. The team at Quicksilver are keen to hear from any IBT members with suggestions for what they should cover. There is no specific agenda for the new series but they would particularly like to hear about stories in Egypt or those which focus on the environment or human rights. If you have suggestions, then get in touch with the joint series editor, Monica Garnsey. Monica.garnsey@qsmedia.tv Monica briefed IBT members last year – notes on her briefing can be found on the members’ page of the IBT website.

BBC News to adopt a ‘digital first’ strategy

A review of BBC News has recommended that a ‘digital first’ strategy should be adopted and has been surprisingly critical of the BBC’s online news content, saying that it is ‘punching well below its weight.’ The review was conducted by Sir Howard Stringer, one of the BBC’s independent executive directors. Stringer called for a ‘shift in mindset’ and a more proactive approach to sharing content with other organisations. http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/may/21/bbc-news-buzzfeed-digital-strategy-sir-howard-stringer

New series for Simon Reeve

Following the success of Australia with Simon Reeve, there will be a new six part series on the Carribean. This will be filmed in the Autumn – if you have any suggestions for stories, please contact me or the executive producersam.bagnall@bbc.co.uk  As with Simon’s previous series, this will be a travel show but with a strong focus on environmental stories.

New Panorama editor

Tom Giles has been replaced as editor of Panorama. He will conduct a review of the BBC’s current affairs output to see how it can win bigger audiences especially among young people, and then he will take up a management job. This is a big loss for Panorama as he has been an outstanding editor. Ceri Thomas has been appointed acting editor. A new editor will take over later this year.

Policy briefing on impact of climate change

BBC Media Action has published a new briefing, From the ground up – changing the conversation about climate change. The paper draws on data from the organisation’s Climate Asia project and documents the impact of climate change on the lives of people throughout the continent. It identifies a number of major obstacles to adaptation, one of which is lack of knowledge and information. The report says the media has an important role to play as a potential tool in the fight against climate change but calls for a change in the nature of coverage, so that it moves away from technical language and narratives of victimhood, towards an emphasis on resilience.

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction/policybriefing/bbc_media_action_from_the_ground_up_climate_change.pdf

Below the Line on Twitter

There was a huge amount of activity on Twitter related to the Live Below the Line campaign but how effective was it? In an online piece for The Guardian, Caspar van Vark analyses the most effective way to use Twitter and other platforms for social media campaigns that tackle food, hunger and malnutrition. One of his conclusions is that celebrity content gets a lot of ‘likes’ but relatively little action or amplification. YouTube videos featuring calls for people to share the video are more successful, but the average viewer stops watching after one and a half minutes. http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/may/28/social-media-raising-awareness-world-hunger

Workshop on media representation of international development

The Development Studies Association, a group of academics involved in research on media and development, are organizing a half day event looking at how the media reports international development. It will take place at the London offices of the Open University on Thursday June 19^th. Sessions will look at the role of celebrities and the Africa rising narrative. The organisers are keen to encourage representatives from the NGO sector to attend. http://www.open.ac.uk/ikd/files/dsa_media_flyer.pdf

New books on media and development

Two new books have come out recently which may be of interest. Martin Scott, a lecturer from the University of East Anglia and the author of several previous IBT reports has written Media and Development, an accessible and critical primer looking at some of the key academic debates around these issues. Dan Brockington, from the University of Manchester, has published Celebrity Advocacy and International Development. Both books will be launched on Thursday June 19^th at the Open University event mentioned above.

Access to media after the MDGs

The University of Westminster is hosting a debate later this week which looks at access to media and information after the MDGs. There will be speakers from BBC Media Action, The Guardian, Internews Euorpe and Article 19. The session will look at how to take the issues of media freedom, access to information, data transparency and open government forward after the MDGs. This is a free event which will take place from 6.30 – 8pm on Thursday June 5^th.https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/5th-june-2014-media-development-panel-discussion-tickets-11735331693

What’s been on tv recently…

There have been some outstanding programmes on tv in the last few weeks.

I Bought a Rainforest, an impressive BBC2 series from Keo Films looks at the harsh reality of trying to promote conservation in the Amazon: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0461lhs/i-bought-a-rainforest-episode-1

Welcome to Rio – also from Keo Films, and the successor to Welcome to Lagos/India. It shows what life is really like for people living in the favelas: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b045h914/welcome-to-rio-1-peace

There have been several standout episodes of Unreported World on Channel 4, including Jamaica’s Underground Gays:http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/4od#3705272

And The World’s Dirtiest River: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/4od#3682650

There was also an outstanding Channel 4 News report from Paraic O’Brien, Beneath the streets of Romania’s capital, a living hell: http://www.channel4.com/news/romania-tunnels-bucharest-orphans-photo

Best wishes

Mark

May 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s April newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)


Next IBT briefing

Our briefing with Michael Herrod, Foreign Editor of ITV News was postponed due to the tube strike. It will now take place at 10am on Thursday May 15^th. If you have already signed up for this event, your place will be held. If you haven’t and would like to end, please let me know as online bookings have closed.

HIV and stigma – the media challenge

Work on our new research report is progressing. Sophie has completed her case study of Swaziland and she’s currently looking at media initiatives in other countries. We’re keen that the report has a global perspective, so if you’ve been involved in any media activities aimed at tackling stigma, please let us know so that we can include these in our research. We’re also keen that the research highlights the role of NGOs in tackling stigma and explores how that work could be more effective. Our round table for IBT members and others involved in this area of work will now take place from 12-2 on Thursday May 15^th. Sophie will present her initial findings. If you’ve signed up for the round table, your place will be held. If you haven’t and you’re interested in attending please let me know.

IBT training events

After the success of last year’s training events we’ll be holding two further events next month. Invitations will go out next week but if you’d like to attend you can register now via the IBT website. These events are free to all IBT members and are specially designed to enable media officers to develop their skill set but others are welcome too. On June 24^th, Crispin Hughes, an accomplished photographer who has worked extensively with NGOs, will be running a one day stills training event. This is aimed at beginners but he will be covering a lot of ground in the course of the day. On June 27^th, Mary Mitchell, a social media specialist, will be running a half day training event for regular Twitter users who want to learn a few new tricks to make their tweets more impactful. Please feel free to pass details of these events on to colleagues in your organization. To secure your place, book now.

 IBT lobbying success

The BBC Trust has announced the findings of a major review of news and current affairs. One of the main recommendations is that BBC News should ensure that ‘a wider range of international stories reach domestic audiences.’ This was a key point in our submission to the Trust. Whilst BBC News has a strong track record in covering international stories, the range of stories has diminished over the years, with far more resources going to cover the big foreign story of the day. We have argued that this shift has gone too far and the Trust has supported our view. It has asked BBC News to come up with concrete proposals to extend the range of stories covered. The Trust also praised the merger between BBC News and the World Service and noted that World Service correspondents were increasingly filing stories on domestic bulletins. Its audience research indicated that this development had gone down well with viewers and listeners. The full Trust review can be found here.

BBC to promote ethnic minority experts

Following the success of its training initiative aimed at getting more female experts on the screen, the BBC has announced that it will run two training days aimed at promoting ethnic minority experts. Further details will be posted at a later date on the BBC Academy website.

Short film challenge

The Sundance Institute, in partnership with the Gates Foundation, has announced its first ever short film challenge which invites filmmakers from around the world to submit short films which feature individuals and communities overcoming extreme poverty and hunger. More details here.

One World Media awards

Congratulations to all the winners in this year’s One World Media Awards. The awards took place last night and the range of stories covered in the shortlisted entries was impressive. A full list of winners will be posted later today on the One World Media website.

Debate on how to tackle climate change

Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will be speaking later today at St Paul’s Cathedral, about the importance of collective action to tackle climate change. Joining her to debate Climate change: building the will for action will be Tony Juniper and Neil Morisetti. The event, which will take place at 6.30pm tonight, is free but registration is necessary.

Best wishes

Mark

April 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s April newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

HIV and stigma – the media challenge
We’re now working on a new piece of research which looks at HIV and stigma, and the role the media can play in tackling this. We’ll be looking at a range of initiatives that have taken place in different countries and assess how successful they have been. We’ll also include a case study of Swaziland, the country with the highest HIV rate. The research will be undertaken in partnership with IPPF but, if you’re interested in this issue, we’d like to encourage you to become involved. We’ll be holding a round table later this month to which all IBT members are invited. The aim of the round table will be to identify media opportunities and challenges, and to help us focus the research so that it is of real benefit to our member organizations. It will take place from 12-2 on Wednesday April 30^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. If you’d like to attend, please let me know.

Next IBT briefing
Our next briefing will be with ITV News. We’ll be hearing from Michael Herrod, Foreign Editor and Natalie Fry, Executive Producer of On Assignment. Michael and Natalie will talk about the sort of stories they’re looking for and the best way for NGOs to pitch ideas to them. This briefing will take place at 10am on Wednesday April 30^th. Invitations will go out shortly but places can be booked now via the members’ area of the IBT website.

On Assignment
ITV’s new monthly current affairs show, On Assignment, was launched last month, with reports from Rwanda, Norway and the US. All three reports were specially commissioned and there are welcome indications that the show will complement the main news bulletins with a feature-based approach. We’ll be hearing more from Natalie Fry, the Executive Producer, at the ITV News briefing later this month.

Unreported World
The Channel 4 foreign affairs show, Unreported World, starts its new run next Friday April 11^th. If you’d like to go on their mailing list and receive advance details of what’s on each week, please let me know, as we’re in touch with the production team.

Channel 4
Ofcom has confirmed that it has renewed the licence of Channel 4 for a further 10 years. Following an extensive public consultation, to which IBT submitted evidence, a new licence has been issued. The only major change has been a tripling of Channel 4’s out of London spend. The international aspect of Channel 4’s remit remains unchanged.

The World Service
From today, the World Service moves from Foreign Office to licence fee funding. The BBC has guaranteed that there will be no overall cut to the World Service budget between now and the end of the present licence fee settlement, in December 2016. There will also be a small additional innovation fund to enable the service to expand its digital activities. Yesterday, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee published a report on the future of the World Service, in which it expressed concern about long term funding and the fact that the World Service will be competing for funds with BBC1 and other domestic tv channels.

One World Media Awards
Congratulations to all those shortlisted for this year’s One World Media Awards. Nominees include Dispatches – Children on the Frontline; Unreported World – The Orphan Business; Al Jazeera’s Orphans of the Sahara, Channel 4’s No Fire Zone and Panorama- Where’s Our Aid Money Gone? The winners will be announced at the awards evening on Tuesday May 6^th. Tickets are available now.

The nation’s viewing habits…
A fascinating report was published last month by TV Licensing, on the nation’s viewing habits. It showed that 90% of television viewing is live; only 10% is time shifted. The report analyses why, even though on demand tv is widely available, most people still prefer to watch live television. Also, unlike in many other countries, the main terrestrial channels (BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Channel 5) dominate viewing, and the increasing number of +1 channels has intensified this dominance. BBC3 will be replaced by a +1 channel. The report also confirms the huge growth in viewing on tablets, particularly by children.

Best wishes

Mark

March 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s March newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)

Andrew Roy briefing
Andrew Roy, World Editor at BBC News, briefed IBT members this week on the changes that have taken place in the way the BBC covers foreign stories. BBC News used to have 150 staff in the field to report foreign news; now, as a result of the integration with the World Service, Andrew can call on a staff of 600. This means that he has much greater access to wider range of foreign stories – but competition to get the stories on air remains intense. Andrew’s advice to media officers was to build relationships with the BBC’s local bureaux and pitch ideas to them. He is in frequent contact with the bureaux and uses them to test any story ideas he receives. A detailed note of the briefing can be found here on the members’ page of the IBT website.

ITV News briefing
Our next briefing will be with ITV News. We’ll be hearing from Michael Herrod who has taken over as Foreign Editor from Tim Singleton; and from Natalie Fry, Executive Producer of ITV’s new current affairs strand On Assignment which will be launched later this month. Michael and Natalie will talk about the sort of stories they’re looking for and the best way for NGOs to pitch ideas to them. This briefing will take place at 10am on Wednesday April 30^th. To guarantee your place book now via the members’ area of the IBT website.

Changes at the BBC
There has been much debate in recent weeks about the next BBC Charter and licence fee settlement. Detailed discussions are unlikely to take place until after the general election. However, the debate has focused on the size of the BBC and BBC bosses have responded by announcing that BBC3 will close as a broadcast channel in the Autumn of 2015, and relaunch as an online service. Most of the money saved by the closure of BBC3 will be diverted to drama on BBC1. This decision is subject to review by the BBC Trust. It’s the first time that the BBC has proposed shutting down a television service. When previous cuts were announced by the BBC Executive which proposed closing 6 Music that decision was overruled by the Trust so it’s possible that will happen again. The Trust has said that it will undertake a public consultation so that licence fee payers can have their say. BBC4 has been saved – for the moment at least – but its future clearly depends on the next licence fee settlement. IBT is opposing the closure of BBC3. We believe that it makes a unique contribution to UK television with its strong track record in innovative international documentaries. We are concerned that this element of its output will disappear when the channel moves online.

ITV and Channel 5
Ofcom has confirmed that it has renewed the licences of ITV and Channel 5. It has also announced that it will undertake a review of public service broadcasting in the UK, in advance of the BBC Charter negotiations. IBT will be submitting evidence to the review.

The Bird’s Eye Film Festival
The Bird’s Eye Film Festival, which celebrates the work of female filmmakers around the world, is back next month for its tenth year. It runs from April 8^th – 13^th and films will be shown at a number of London venues.

The Invention of News
Jeremy Paxman has written a provocative analysis of the news industry saying that ‘the more news there is, the less anyone really needs it.’  He was reviewing The Invention of News, a new book by the historian Andrew Pettegree.

RT – Russia Today
RT, the global news channel funded by the Russian government has suffered serious damage to its credibility with presenters complaining that it has adopted an uncritical pro-Putin line. One presenter quit live on air.

12 Years a Slave
Fresh from winning the best picture Oscar, the Film4 backed feature, 12 Years a Slave, has received the stamp of approval from the US education authorities. The film will now become a compulsory part of the syllabus for all US high school students.

One World Media Awards

Tickets for the One World Media Awards go on sale later this month. The awards, which celebrate the most outstanding media coverage of the developing world, will be hosted by Jon Snow and will take place on Tuesday May 6^th at King’s Place in London.

Best wishes

Mark

February 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s February newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.   (Print this Newsletter)

IBT annual report

Today (7^th February 2014) we publish our annual report for 2013. This was one of our busiest and most productive years to date. We published two research reports, hosted a number of events including briefings and training sessions for our members, submitted evidence to inquiries by Ofcom, the BBC Trust, the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and the House of Lords Communications Committee. We expanded our membership and had regular meetings with media regulators, broadcasters and parliamentarians.

It’s particularly rewarding that our research continues to be widely praised and is of practical benefit to both media organisations and NGOs. We have now built up a substantial body of research, having published 15 reports since 2006. All of these are available to be downloaded from our site. You can read/download the Annual Report from our home page.

This World briefing

Last month, Sam Bagnall, the executive producer of This World, BBC2’s international current affairs strand, briefed IBT members. He spoke about his thinking behind recent commissions and how he had won a regular slot at 9pm on BBC2 by taking a sometimes left field    approach to the big global issues of the day. He showed clips from some of his output including Toughest Place to be a Fisherman and Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve,  using the clips to demonstrate how NGO stories could be framed to appeal to mainstream audiences. Notes from this briefing are available in the members’ area of the IBT site. 

Next briefing

Our next briefing will be with Andrew Roy who has taken over as BBC World editor from Jon Williams. It will take place at 10am on Wednesday March 5^th at the IBT offices. This is a free event for IBT members but places need to be booked in advance. Andrew runs the foreign desk for BBC News so he has huge influence on which stories are covered. He’ll be giving details of key contacts at BBC News, and talking about how the foreign desk works after the merger between BBC News and the World Service, how to pitch stories to his team, what works and what doesn’t, and his experience of dealing with NGOs. Invitations to this event will be sent out next week. If you’d like to attend, you can book your place now via the members’ area of the IBT website, using your organisation’s user name and password. Any problems registering, let me know. This event is on a first come basis and demand is likely to be high.

Future briefings are planned with Michael Herrod, Head of Foreign News at ITV News and Natalie Fay, Executive Producer of the new ITV current affairs show, On Assignment, and also with Jon Zilkha, Head of the BBC Business Unit.

BBC television – strengths and weaknesses

IBT will be submitting evidence later this month to the BBC Trust review of television which covers BBC1, 2, 3 and 4. We’ll be praising the BBC for strengthening its international current affairs output on BBC2 and 3 but criticising it for abandoning international drama and for its lack of international factual output on BBC1. If you have specific views on this output and would like us to reflect them please contact Sophie Chalk, IBT’s head of campaigns, who is writing this submission sophie.chalk@btinternet.com

The death of radio – not yet

The latest audiences figures for radio show that it is more popular than ever. Radio 4 has achieved a record audience with the Today programme now attracting more than 7 million listeners each week. The Asian Network has seen a big increase in its audience. See the BBC’s Rajar ratings

ITV launches new current affairs show

ITV continues its move upmarket with the launch of a new monthly current affairs show to be fronted by Rageh Omaar. The 30 minute programme, to be called On Assignment, will consist of three reports providing insight into some of the biggest stories on the news agenda. The ITN produced show will specialise in foreign stories. The other presenters will be James Mates (Europe editor) and John Ray (Diplomatic correspondent). We’ll be hearing from the Executive Producer of On Assignment at an IBT briefing in April.

The changing face of global news

A recent BBC seminar looked at the changing face of global news and in particular the growing reach of the Chinese broadcaster, CCTV, and Russia’s RT (formerly known as Russia Today), both now broadcasting around the world in English. CCTV has 70 overseas bureaux and a reported annual budget of more than £4bn. For more on this seminar see the BBC’s Journalism Academy

Africa rising

AFFORD, the African diaspora organisation is hosting a one day conference looking at the media’s role in the continent’s renaissance. Delegates will gain a better understanding of the media’s role in explaining how Africa is changing; learn how Africans are using social media; hear about the impact of new media players such as TVC and CCTV; find out how NGOs and western media are responding to these changes. This is a free event and will take place in London at SOAS from 9am-5pm on Monday March 3^rd.  Places need to be booked in advance by email to Afford

What’s been on tv recently

There has been a recent run of excellent tv programmes. On BBC2, The Tea Trail with Simon Reeve looked at the production of tea in Kenya and Uganda and exposed some worrying trends. On Channel 4, Dispatches – Hunted captured some extraordinary undercover footage of gangs in Russia pursuing and persecuting gays. On ITV, Exposure – Fashion Factories Undercover investigated the plight of workers in the clothing industry in Bangladesh and captured some truly shocking material. Some of these programmes generated a huge amount of comment on Twitter and it’s worth bearing in mind that broadcasters take this very seriously so if you watch something on tv and want to commend it please make a point of tweeting about it.

Transparency and accountability – Polis journalism conference 2014

Polis, the journalism think tank at the LSE, has announced that Alan Rusbridger, Editor of The Guardian, will give the keynote address at its annual journalism conference which takes place on Friday March 28^th. As always, this promises to be a fascinating event. Tickets can be booked here free of charge

Best wishes

Mark

January 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s January newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.   (Print this Newsletter)

IBT membership scheme

Our new membership scheme came in at the beginning of January. This newsletter is now sent exclusively to IBT members and all our events, for the moment, will be for members only. We have also introduced a members’ area of the website where anyone wishing to attend an event needs to register in advance. If you have problems accessing the members’ area, let me know.

Next IBT briefing

Our next briefing will be with Sam Bagnall, the series producer of This World, BBC2’s international current affairs strand. The briefing will take place from 10-12 on Wednesday January 22^nd at the IBT offices in Southwark. Under Sam’s editorship, This World has hit its stride with some notable films including Hans Rosling’s Don’t Panic – the Truth about Population. Sam is responsible for a large part of BBC2’s international output – and he will show clips from his award winning series Toughest Place to be… in which people from the UK take up jobs in other countries. This factual entertainment format enables UK audiences to experience what life is like for taxi drivers, firefighters, farmers and other workers in developing countries. This is a great opportunity to understand how formats like Toughest Place to be… are conceived and made.   If you wish to attend, please register via the IBT website.

Channel 4 News briefing

Last month we held a briefing with Nevine Mabro, foreign editor of Channel 4 News, and her deputy Rob Hodge. It was refreshing to hear their positive attitude to working with NGOs. They explained the thinking behind the programme’s foreign coverage. They have a small team of foreign correspondents and only two overseas bureaux (Washington and Bangkok) so they are always looking to do things differently from other news organisations, to find their own angle and to cover unique stories, which are not being covered elsewhere. They are particularly keen to prioritise original journalism. They’re also keen to report more from South America and now have a regular reporter, Guillermo Galdos, who is based in Peru. More details on the content of this briefing can be found in the members’ area of the IBT website.

Making sense of the global economy

Last month we co-hosted a round table discussion at Channel 4 which looked at media coverage of global economics. It was useful to hear from a range of economic correspondents, including Paul Mason formerly of Newsnight, now at Channel 4 News; Ed Conway from Sky; and Jon Zilkha who runs the BBC’s business affairs unit. Jon will do a briefing for IBT members later this year. We have now published details of the discussion.

Unreported World

Channel 4’s international current affairs strand returns in the spring. The Unreported World team have now started filming for the next series but they still have some slots to fill. If you have any suggestions for stories they should cover please get in touch with the series producer Suzanne Lavery.  If you’d like advice on which stories might appeal to them, drop me a line.

The future of BBC News

James Harding, the BBC’s new Director of News has been speaking about changes which he intends to implement. He wants to see more original journalism; an improvement in current affairs output; a broadening of the range of stories and voices; more variety between bulletins and programmes; more of the output from the global news division made available to UK audiences. He also said that he wanted to see special days and seasons dedicated to coverage of big global themes and unreported stories. We’ll be meeting BBC News executives to find out more about these planned seasons.

BBC Trust review of news and current affairs

We have now submitted evidence to the BBC Trust review of news and current affairs. In our submission, we made a number of points about the BBC’s international news output, arguing that it has a tendency to cover a narrow range of stories and perspectives.  We expressed concern that the amount of air time devoted to international news appears to have fallen (based on a small week long survey which we undertook). We praised the BBC for the way in which it had integrated the World Service into the BBC News operation and expressed the hope that this would have a positive impact on international coverage by BBC News. See our full submission.

The impact of journalism

One World Media is hosting an event which looks at the impact of journalism. The keynote speaker will be Richard Tofel from the New York-based Pro Publica which is an independent not for profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. The event will take place at 6.30pm on Monday January 27^th at the University of Westminster campus in Regent Street. This is a free event but tickets need to be booked in advance.

Best wishes

Mark

December 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s December newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.    (Print this Newsletter)
 

Briefing with Channel 4 News

Our next briefing will be from 10-12 on Tuesday December 10^th. We’ll be hearing from Nevine Mabro, Foreign Editor of Channel 4 News and Job Rabkin Commissioning Editor for the C4 News Film Fund. This event is for IBT members only. There are a few places left – if you’d like to attend, please register using the members’ area of the IBT website. Any problems registering, let me know.

Making sense of the global economy

We have now launched our new project which explores media coverage of the global economy. Yesterday, Channel 4 co-hosted a round table discussion, chaired by Michael Crick. Attendees included Paul Mason from Channel 4 News, Ed Conway from Sky News, Richard Miller from ActionAid, Loretta Minghella from Christian Aid and representatives from the BBC, government, business and academia. It was an enlightening discussion that looked at ways of broadening economics coverage to include a wider range of voices, including those dissenting from the consensus view that economic growth is good per se, and also the need to reflect more effectively connections between actions we take in the UK and their impacts around the world. We’ll be continuing with this project in 2014.

BBC Charter renewal

The Culture Media and Sport Select Committee has announced a new inquiry into the future of the BBC. This effectively kicks off the public debate about the next BBC Charter. The current Charter ends in December 2016. So we face almost three years of debate about the future of the BBC. IBT will be submitting evidence to the Select Committee. Please let us know if you have any views you’d like us to include. The central argument will be about the optimum size of the BBC. Do we want the BBC as it is, with a licence fee of £145 a year, or do we want a much smaller BBC at less cost?  The BBC Director General Tony Hall has begun to address this issue in his public statements. It’s IBT’s view that the size of the BBC is one of its great strengths and, as Tony Hall reminded the audience at a recent VLV event, the BBC is no longer the biggest broadcasting organisation in the UK (that’s Sky) and nor is the BBC the global player it once was (it’s dwarfed for example by CCTV).

The Environment on TV – are broadcasters meeting the challenge?

Following the publication last month of our new research report, examining media coverage of the environment, we organised a round table discussion so that broadcasters and producers could meet scientists and campaigners and look at practical ways in which programme ideas could be developed.  With the support of broadcasters, we’ll be doing more work on this next year, brokering new partnerships between producers and climate scientists and campaigners. Copies of the research report can be downloaded from our website.

The Climate Media Net

A new organisation, the Climate Media Net, has been launched to develop tv projects about climate change. The Net will pull in information and stories from a network of experts, including NGOs, and will generate early stage ideas for media content. The ideas will be the starting point for discussions with independent producers, commissioning editors and journalists.

One World Media Awards

The call for entries has just been announced for next year’s One World Media Awards which will take place on Tuesday May 6^th 2014. The annual awards recognise excellence in international media coverage and highlight the role of journalists and filmmakers in increasing cultural understanding and promoting fairness and justice worldwide. For the first time, there will be an award which recognises corruption reporting.

The European Social Documentary

ESoDoc, the European Social Documentary, is open for registration. This training scheme brings together filmmakers, new media professionals and NGO film practitioners who want to develop projects about social issues and find new funding strategies. The project has been widely praised for its innovative approach enabling participants to develop a range of creative and practical skills.

Media coverage of Africa

The BBC Trust has held a seminar to look at media reporting of Africa. The decision to hold this seminar follows discussions that IBT has been holding with the Trust on this issue. The seminar covered a wide range of themes: Is coverage too polarised? Is it either bad news or the Africa rising narrative but not much in between? Are there enough African reporters with access to mainstream audiences? Is there enough coverage of Africa in the mainstream?  Is news dominated by the so called ‘NGO agenda?’ There was a widespread feeling amongst attendees that BBC News coverage was improving as a result of the merger with the World Service and the frequent conversations that were taking place between the WS Africa team and the producers of news programmes aimed at mainstream UK audiences. James Harding, the BBC’s Head of News, said he would like to see more coverage of Africa on programmes such the Six O’clock News and the Ten – and that the key was to find more good stories.

Inspiring ideas about Africa

There will be a TEDx event in London on Saturday December 7^th looking at ‘inspiring ideas about Africa.’ The aim of the event is to hear ideas coming from a new generation of African thinkers and leaders. TEDx Euston is an independently organised TED event. There are a few tickets still available. 

This newsletter

Many thanks to all those who have given us feedback on the value of this newsletter. From January 2014 it will become a members-only newsletter. If you are currently receiving this but do not belong to one of our member organisations or have not joined as an individual member, this is the last newsletter you will receive. All former and present staff and trustees will also receive the newsletter. If you’re unsure of whether your organisation is a member, you can check here.

New IBT member

We’re delighted to welcome AFFORD, the African diaspora group, as a new member of IBT.

Best wishes

Mark

IBT’s mission is to use the media to further awareness and understanding of people’s lives in the developing world and the issues which affect them

If you do not wish to receive this newsletter please reply with unsubscribe in the subject line

November 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s November newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.       (Print this Newsletter)

The Environment on TV – are broadcasters meeting the challenge?

Last month we launched our new research report at a packed meeting at the House of Commons with a panel which included broadcasters, NGOs and scientists. The report was widely praised for its analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of tv coverage of the environment but the broadcasters disputed exactly what their responsibility was to make programmes that looked at contentious issues such as climate change. However, it was agreed that there was a creative gap and a need for some fresh thinking. Our hope is that the report will act as a catalyst for innovation so we’ll be bringing together a group of broadcasters and independent producers later this month for a round table discussion to see how the recommendations of the report can be taken further. Copies of the research report can be downloaded from our website.

Future briefings

Our next briefing, on Tuesday, the 10th of December from 1000 to 1200, will be with Nevine Mabro, Foreign Editor of Channel 4 News and Job Rabkin who runs the C4 News indie fund. Invitations will be sent out shortly.

Future briefings are planned with Sam Bagnall, Executive producer of BBC2’s This World strand – Wednesday, the 22nd of January 2014 from 1000 – 1200.

Later we hope to have a briefing with Andrew Roy, Foreign Editor of BBC News.

New website – members’ area

We have now launched our new website which we hope will make it easier to access IBT reports and news. The website includes a members’ area where IBT members can register for briefings, training sessions and other events. To access the members’ area, you will need a username and password. IBT has 40 member organisations. Each one has its own user name and password which is available to all members of staff. You’ll be able to obtain this from our key contact at your organisation or direct from me. The members’ area also includes notes from previous briefings.

Changes at the BBC

Tony Hall, the BBC Director General has been talking about changes which he’ll be introducing at the BBC. These include a host of new services and a much improved iPlayer where programmes can be accessed before they are broadcast and for 30 days after broadcast (as opposed to the present 7 day window). He said the BBC needs to be much more responsive to the ways in which audiences are changing. The BBC wants audiences to be more involved in programmes. The full speech can be found here .

The BBC has also come under attack from Grant Shapps, the Conservative Party Chairman, who has indicated that the BBC will have a fight on its hands to hold onto the licence fee when a new Charter comes into place in 2016. DCMS and the BBC have already started work on the new Charter and the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has announced its own inquiry into the future of the BBC to which IBT will be submitting evidence.

We’ll also be submitting evidence to the first BBC Trust review of all its news services. There’s been a lot of change in the news division including major cuts and the merger with the World Service. We would welcome any thoughts from IBT members on how well BBC News is doing in terms of its international coverage. If you’d like to contribute to our submission or make one of your own, please contact IBT’s Head of Campaigns, Sophie Chalk.

Changes at the FT

The Financial Times editor, Lionel Barber, has announced his plans for the next stage in his ‘digital first’ strategy. In future the FT will prioritise its website ft.com and there will be just one global edition of the printed newspaper which will complement the website. Breaking news, exclusives and analysis will all go on the website. The FT has transformed its business model, with online subsciptions now surpassing print circulation.

Creating Global Conversations

The first One World Media Festival called Creating Global Conversations takes place this Friday and Saturday. Highlights include a panel discussion on Putting the ‘foreign’ back into foreign correspondent  and a live comedy show by the controversial comedian Jane Bussman which takes a look at what she calls ‘the poverty industry.’ Tickets for all events are free but need to be booked online. The Jane Bussman event is by invite only – if you’d like to attend, email One World Media and mention IBT in your email. Full details of the festival can be found here.

Does your CEO tweet?

An interesting blog from Media First looks at how different CEOs use Twitter, including an amusing account of why Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary did so well and the Customer Service Director of British Gas did so badly. You don’t need to follow their advice but it’s worth taking a look at.

What’s on television

If you’re staying in, there are some great documentaries on tv at the moment. Last night, in the run up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference, Channel 4 broadcast the tv version of No Fire Zone, its investigation into human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. On Wednesday, Channel 4 will be showing The Cruel Cut which explores what it calls ‘the complex world of female genital mutilation.’ Look out for a scene where members of the public are asked to sign a spoof petition in support of FGM. On Thursday, BBC2’s This World strand will be showing Don’t Panic – the Truth About Population, which looks at the falling birth rate around the world and how people in the UK have huge misconceptions about what life is like in developing countries. On Friday, Channel 4’s Unreported World continues its current run with a report by Aidan Hartley on Egypt’s declining tourist industry.

IBT governance

We’re delighted that IBT has two new Trustees who will be joining the Board in January. Jessica Harris is currently Director of Investment and Partnerships at Restless Development and will bring invaluable fundraising skills to the Board, and Karina Brisby is a freelance digital content creator and former Head of Interactive Campaigns at Oxfam whose track record of digital innovation will prove equally valuable.

Best wishes

Mark

IBT’s mission is to use the media to further awareness and understanding of people’s lives in the developing world and the issues which affect them

If you do not wish to receive this newsletter please reply with unsubscribe in the subject line

October 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s October newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.   (Print this Newsletter)

The Environment on TV – are broadcasters meeting the challenge?

Later this month we’ll be publishing our new research report which looks in detail at how mainstream television covers the environment and related issues, particularly climate change. The aim of the research is to encourage broadcasters to improve their coverage and to work more effectively with NGOs and climate scientists.  The launch will take place at 6pm on Monday October 28^th at the House of Commons. If you’d like to attend please RSVP to Neha Nijhon at Carbon Neutral.  At the launch we’ll hear from a panel of experts representing broadcasters, NGOs and climate scientists. Full invite here.

Sky News and Unreported World briefings

Since our last newsletter we’ve held two briefings, with Adrian Wells from Sky News and Monica Garnsey from Unreported World. Adrian spoke about the narrowing news agenda and gave useful tips on how NGOs can piggyback on the main international stories of the day and also explained the different points of entry for NGOs pitching ideas to Sky News. Monica explained how Unreported World works now that there are two runs of eight episodes each year. The strand has no set agenda but is always on the lookout for new stories and issues. A key element is a strong central character with a narrative which can be captured on film in the time available.  Monica said she is keen to have more counterintuitive stories like the story of a British Somali opening a new restaurant in Mogadishu or the impact of rising property prices in Gaza. Future briefings are planned with Newsnight and Channel 4 News although no dates have been fixed yet. More on these in next month’s newsletter.

Submissions

IBT regularly submits evidence to inquiries by Ofcom, the BBC Trust, The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee and others. We’re pleased to say that these submissions have, in the past, resulted in important changes to broadcast policy. We have recently submitted evidence to Ofcom’s review of the Channel 4 licence in which we supported Ofcom’s plan to renew the licence for a further 10 years. However, we did emphasise the importance of Channel 4 fulfilling its international remit, to bring news and views from around the world. We have also submitted evidence to the BBC Trust review of the proposed licence for the World Service, now that it falls under the auspices of the BBC Trust. We’re pleased that the new licence notes the importance of the World Service and BBC News working together to enhance international coverage aimed at UK audiences, although the primary goal is serving the global audience. The new working arrangements seem to be having a positive effect with more World Service reporters filing stories for BBC News. As a result of our submission we also had the chance to meet Lord Wiliams, the Trustee with special responsibility for the World Service.

Are we making sense of global economics?

Later this year IBT will start work on a new project looking at how effectively the UK media covers global economics, particularly issues like trade and taxation. One of the aims of the project is to look at the link between media coverage and activism. The project will start with a round table at the beginning of December with keynote speeches from Paul Mason, the former Newsnight economics editor and Adrian Lovett, Europe Executive Director for ONE. Other attendees at the round table will include broadcasters and NGO representatives. If you have any thoughts on this issue please let me know.

News in brief

Tonight’s Panorama on Malala continues a strong run from the strand which has been transmitting an impressive series of international reports in the last few weeks, investigating working conditions in the clothing industry in Bangladesh, the plight of Syria’s children and its health care system, and the carnage at the Westgate shopping mall. When Tom Giles the Panorama editor met IBT members in May he spoke about his strong interest in international stories and said that typically one in four episodes would be international.

A new book on media coverage of climate change argues that we should focus much more on the concept of risk in order to explain the impact of climate change to the wider public.  More details here.

Another book just published by a group of academics argues that a key aspect of development is the way in which it is reflected in literature, cinema, television and social media.  Martin Scott, an author of previous IBT reports, has written a chapter on reality television.  Details here.

The Executive Director of Government Communications has warned that ‘the press release is dead’ and urged press officers to become content producers.  See his thoughts here.

@_ibt

 Follow IBT on Twitter for more regular updates on our work and alerts about tv programmes and events that may be of interest.

Best wishes

Mark

September 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s September newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.        (Print this Newsletter)

Sky News and Unreported World briefings

Our next briefing will be Adrian Wells from Sky News. Adrian will be filling in for Tim Miller who has just (this afternoon) been sent to Syria. It will take place, as planned, at 10am on Wednesday September 11^th at the IBT offices.  We have a few places left so if you’d like to attend please let me know.

We have also scheduled a briefing with Monica Garnsey, series editor of Channel 4’s all important international current affairs strand, Unreported World. The show has gone through a radical overhaul which Monica will explain.  She’ll also talk through the best way of pitching ideas for the strand. This will take place at the IBT offices from 10-12 on Wednesday October 2^nd .  Let me know if you’d like to attend.

Our briefings are aimed at media officers and others who want to improve their contacts and understanding of the best way to pitch ideas to commissioners and news editors. These are free events, open to all IBT members, but places must be booked in advance.

Channel 4

We have been involved in talks with Channel 4 about its international coverage. Despite the strength of Channel 4 News, there has been some disquiet expressed about the lack of international programmes outside of news and current affairs.  At our recent meeting with David Abraham, the Chief Executive of Channel 4, he reiterated the channel’s commitment to internationalism and particularly to featuring voices from around the world, as a key part of the channel’s output. This is explicitly stated in the Channel 4 remit – as a result of lobbying by IBT.  Encouragingly, David mentioned several peak time series in the pipeline which will have international themes and he also spoke about a major new drama, Indian Summers, which will look at the plight of Anglo-Indians at the time of Indian independence. This follows the success of The Promise, a historical drama set in Israel/Palestine.

 New IBT research looks at coverage of the environment on tv

In October, we’ll be launching our latest research report which looks in detail at television coverage of the environment. The focus is mainstream tv coverage outside news, and the report asks if broadcasters are meeting the challenge of communicating key environmental issues to mainstream audiences. It will be launched with a panel discussion on the evening of Monday October 28^th at a joint event at the House of Commons with the Climate Change APPG. Invitations will go out shortly.  We’ll be then taking the findings of this research and organising a round table with broadcasters to explore what concrete steps could be taken to improve coverage.

Other news in brief

Broadcasters have been speaking about the growing influence of Twitter. At a recent #TweetsFromTheTop event, Daren Childs, the Chief Executive of UKTV, spoke about how his organisation uses instant viewer feedback on Twitter to gauge reaction to shows. This is a useful reminder that it’s always worth tweeting about or commenting on a tv show or news item which you like.

A new piece of research from the Office of National Statistics has found that 55% of adults are now accessing news content online. This is up from 47% last year. The equivalent figure five years ago was 20%. TV news is still the main source of information for most people in the UK but many are checking headlines online during the day or reading stories they are particularly interested in.

If you’re responsible for briefing colleagues in advance of tv interviews, this is a great blog which offers 10 top tips for engaging with the media.

Best wishes

Mark

August 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s August newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.         (Print this Newsletter)

New IBT membership scheme

The IBT Trustees have approved a new membership scheme which will be introduced from January 1 2014. Membership fees for organisations will now be linked to UK income and there will also be individual membership available for freelancers.  From this date the IBT newsletter will be for members only and all our briefings and training events will also become member-only events. The aim of these changes is to introduce a fairer and more transparent fee structure and to ensure that the membership fees give IBT an income which helps cover our core costs and ensures our sustainability in the long term. I’ll be writing to all our member organisations in the Autumn with details of the new fee structure. If you’d like to support IBT and our work, please encourage your organisation to retain its membership. More details on the new scheme can be found here .

Twitter training session

Last month we held our first training session on Twitter. Mary Mitchell, an experienced social media trainer, provided tips and suggestions on how to maximise the value of Twitter. The session, targeted at media officers who use Twitter but would like advice on how to use it more effectively, went well and feedback was positive. Following the workshop, Mary wrote a blog about apps like Storify that work well alongside Twitter.   See her blog here.

Sky News briefing 

A new date for the briefing with Tim Miller from Sky News has now been fixed. It will take place at 10am on Wednesday September 11^th.  All those who booked places will automatically be allocated a place.

Changing tv viewing habits

Ofcom has published its annual communications market report which looks in detail at changing patterns of media consumption. It contains a wealth of interesting information: families are increasingly watching tv together in the living room; households now have fewer tv sets; growing numbers of viewers are on a second screen at the same time as watching tv; live tv still accounts for 90% of viewing; people in the UK are watching more tv than they used to; radio listening is holding up well.  Full report here .

Public understanding of climate change

The Select Committee on Science and Technology has been listening to evidence from broadcasters, as part of its inquiry into public understanding of climate change. David Jordan, the BBC’s Director of Editorial Policy, told MPs that the BBC had a duty to explain climate change to mainstream audiences and had moved on from ‘false balance’ equating the sceptical point of view with mainstream opinion. Ralph Lee, Channel 4’s Head of Factual, took a different view, arguing that Channel 4 would cover these issues when it could find an alternative point of view. Fiona Ball, Head of Environment at Sky, said that it was making a concerted effort to engage audiences with climate change and, unlike other broadcasters, its corporate and editorial policies were much more joined up.

Broadcast news in brief

–  The Government has finally agreed to legislate to end the iniquity that sees public service broadcasters like the BBC and Channel 4 pay to have their channels aired on Sky. Cable platforms like Virgin Media do not levy these charges. Sky has fought a long campaign to resist this change.

–  The licences for ITV and Channel 5 have been renewed by the Government for a 10 year period with a statutory obligation placed on them to broadcast national and international news and current affairs in peak time. However, some cuts to ITV’s regional output have been agreed.

–  A Sri Lankan diplomat has attacked Callum Macrae, the director of the Channel 4 investigation, Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, and threatened to bar him from entering the country to cover the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in November.

–  As part of the BBC’s annual report, the BBC Trust has expressed concern about falling audiences for some current affairs programmes and has said that the current affairs genre needs to serve audiences better.

–  The BBC Trust has also published its latest impartiality review which states that the BBC needs to find more space for ‘contentious opinion.’  This may explain why a UKIP MEP was given a free run on Today to expand on his view that aid money to ‘bongo bongo land’ is largely spent on Ray bans and Ferraris.  The Trust has also recommended that the BBC broaden its diversity of voices beyond politicians.

Happy holidays

Mark

July 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s July newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.   (Print this Newsletter)

Twitter training session

Our next event will be an informal training session on how to get the best out of Twitter. Mary Mitchell, an experienced social media trainer, will be providing tips and suggestions on how to maximise the value of Twitter. This event is aimed at media officers and others who are familiar with the basics of Twitter, and Tweet in their own name or using a corporate account, but would like to know how to make better use of Twitter. It will take place from 10-12 on Friday July 19^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. There are a few places left – if you’d like to attend, and have not already booked a place, please email me with your name and a sentence or two saying how you use Twitter, and what you’d like to get out of the event – this will help Mary to target the training so that it addresses the needs of the participants. This event is free for IBT members. Places cost £65 for non members.

Sky News briefing 

Unfortunately, last month’s briefing with Tim Miller from Sky News had to be cancelled as Tim was sent to South Africa to manage Sky’s Mandela coverage. The event will now take place later this month. All those who booked places will be guaranteed a place, once a new date has been fixed, on Tim’s return to the UK.


IBT AGM

Last month we held our annual general meeting. The consensus of the meeting was that it has been a good year for IBT, but securing our funding base remains a major challenge for the future. Next month we’ll be announcing details of our new membership scheme which will be introduced in January 2014. The aim of the scheme is to make membership fees more transparent and equitable, with the new fee structure based on income. It will involve an increase for some members and a decrease for others. This is the first time that we have increased the membership fee. The AGM also elected three new Trustees to IBT’s Board and we are delighted to welcome them: Margaret Batty from WaterAid, Jane Cooper from UNICEF and Harriet Tolputt from Oxfam.

The future of the World Service

The BBC Trust has published a new service licence for the World Service. This will come into effect in April 2014, when the World Service moves from Foreign Office to licence fee funding. There will be a public consultation to which IBT will be submitting evidence. The new licence gives a clear description of the goals of the World Service and notes that the service needs to be distinctive and innovative, drive a ‘global conversation’ and encourage ‘a shared sense of global citizenship.’ It also outlines how the BBC’s domestic news output will be enhanced by a closer relationship with the World Service. The draft operating licence can be found here: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/consult/wsol/wsol_operating_licence.pdf

Whilst the Foreign Office has yet again cut the World Service’s budget, the BBC has said that next year there will be a budget increase.

The World Service has also released its latest audience figures. Despite significant cuts, the network has increased its global audience. Although the global radio audience has fallen, there has been an increase in online audiences and those watching Persian and Arabic TV.

Media news in brief

–  Channel 5 plans to revamp its early evening news bulletin into a forum for discussion about the big stories of the day. The revamped 6.30pm bulletin, produced by ITN and titled NewsTalkLive will launch later this month. The 5pm bulletin will remain a traditional news bulletin.

–  African news channel TVC News, run by the former head of Al Jazeera English, has launched on Sky channel 572. The 24 hour news channel is based in Lagos and aims to tell stories ‘through African eyes.’ It will also attempt to highlight some more positive African stories.

–  ITN chief executive, John Hardie, says that its new online 24 hour rolling news stream Livestream has been a big hit with audiences. He says that correspondents are increasingly breaking stories online rather than on air, and audiences are turning to the internet for their news updates rather than rolling tv news channels like Sky News.

–  Digital users are more willing to pay for news on their smartphones and tablets according to new research from the Reuters Institute http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/

–  BBC3 Controller Zai Bennett has confirmed his commitment to placing international current affairs at the heart of the channel’s schedule. BBC3 will continue with its distinctive approach, using young presenters to reflect life in other countries. The latest example of this genre, India – a Dangerous Place to be a Woman, was broadcast last week to widespread acclaim, and is still available to watch on iPlayer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03696fw/India_A_Dangerous_Place_to_Be_a_Woman/

–  Al Jazeera, which already has a strong track record in airing more international documentaries than any other broadcaster, plans to boost its documentary output. The aim is to broadcast two original 60 minute documentaries every week – they’ll be commissioned by Diarmuid Jeffreys and Flora Gregory.

–  Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s Head of Documentaries has been appointed Controller of BBC1, taking over from Danny Cohen who was promoted to Director of Television. Charlotte is the final appointment to Tony Hall’s new leadership team. There has been speculation that she will make major changes at BBC1. She’s been responsible for innovation across documentaries and it’s likely that under her tenure BBC1’s documentary output will expand.

–  The Act of Killing, described as ‘this year’s most talked about documentary’, has been a big hit with festival audiences in the UK and elsewhere. It has also had more than 500 screenings across Indonesia where it has reignited a debate about the massacres of Communists and others that took place in the 1960s. What makes this film different from any other is that the massacres are re-enacted with the perpetrators playing themselves. It’s an extraordinary film and well worth seeing if you’ve missed it.

Best wishes

Mark

June 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s June newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.   (Print this Newsletter – pdf)

Next briefing will be with Sky News foreign editor Tim Miller

Our next event will be a briefing and networking event with Tim Miller who runs the foreign desk at Sky News. Sky News has a strong track record of covering a wider range of international stories than other UK broadcasters and Tim is keen to have good working relationships with NGOs. He’ll be talking about the sort of international stories he’s looking for, opportunities for live interviews, how best to pitch and who to pitch to. This is a free event for IBT members only. It will take place at 10am on Friday June 28^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. Places need to be booked in advance. To secure your place, please email me by the end of the day on Friday June 7^th.

Last month’s briefing with Panorama editor Tom Giles

Last month, we held a briefing with Tom Giles, the editor of Panorama. Tom’s background is in international news. He’s worked for the World Service and he spoke about his commitment to international stories. He commissions 40 half hour episodes and 7 or 8 one hour specials each year – roughly a quarter of these are international. He’s keen that Panorama should have a strong investigative element and have its own agenda, not follow the agenda set by BBC News. More detailed notes of the meeting are available to all IBT members.

Why Poverty – where next?

Also last month, we co-hosted a debate with the ODI and Open University, looking at the lessons to be learnt from the BBC’s Why Poverty season. The season of documentaries was a unique attempt to engage mainstream television audiences with the issue of global poverty and the films were broadcast in 72 countries. The goal was to stimulate a global debate about poverty in developed and developing countries. Nick Fraser, the BBC’s series producer gave a frank description of his hopes and how they were not realised. There then followed an animated discussion about where the season succeeded and where it failed, with IBT contributing its view. The consensus was that the BBC did not give sufficiently strong backing to the season, particularly in terms of slots and marketing. A video of the meeting is available to view on the ODI website as well as some notes on what the speakers said.

Public engagement with aid – new think piece from Involve

Involve, the charity which specialises in public participation, has published a new paper called Resetting the Aid Relationship which looks at how DFID and others could be more effective in promoting public engagement with aid by following the example of the science community. The paper includes a number of practical steps which could be taken to achieve a more meaningful engagement of the public in the debate about international aid. Simon Burall, the Director of Involve and one of the authors of the paper, spoke at our Why Poverty event.

IBT AGM

The IBT AGM will take place later this month, at 5pm on Thursday June 20^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. This is a short but important meeting. We will be electing a new group of Trustees as we have now completed the changes to our governance. IBT has been set up as an unincorporated charity with a simpler Trust deed. We are still a membership based organisation and it is the members who elect the Trustees, so please come along and have your say. We try to make proceedings as informal as possible and everyone from a member organisation is welcome to attend. See here for a full list of members.

CBBC and CBeebies

We have submitted evidence to the BBC Trust’s review of children’s services and content. Our submission has praised the BBC for increasing the amount of international content available on both CBBC and CBeebies. At the time of the last Trust review of children’s services, in 2009, we were very critical of the BBC’s track record in this area. As a result, the Trust recommended that the service licence for CBeebies be amended to make a specific reference to fulfilling the global purpose – and this subsequently took place. This change to the licence was the direct result of our lobbying effort and it’s clear that it has had an impact. There are a now a number of new programmes on both CBBC and CBeebies with international themes. In our latest submission we have also noted the BBC’s continuing commitment to Blue Peter and Newsround but we have recommended that the Trust review budgets on Newsround so that more foreign filming can take place. Our submission can be found here.

BBC Online

We’ve also been involved in another BBC Trust review – of its online and red button services. Although BBC Online had been given a target to double the number of click-throughs from BBC sites to external content, it is unlikely to meet this target. This was an issue which we raised in our submission, as BBC Online, particularly BBC News and BBC Sport are significant drivers of audiences to other sites. We’d like to see the BBC doing more in this area and also improving the quality of its curating of external content. There is often a reluctance to connect to NGO sites which are seen as campaigning. The Trust has now instructed BBC Online to ‘continue to increase the number of external click-throughs, and make them more effective and consistent.’ The full report is here.

Future events

Open City Docs Fest takes place in London from June 20-23 at a range of venues including UCL. There are a number of UK premieres and many films which feature global issues. The controversial film The Act of Killing will be followed by a Q and A with director Joshua Oppenheimer.  This film has re-enacted a massacre which took place in Indonesia in 1965, with the perpetrators playing themselves.

Africa Gathering celebrates its fifth anniversary with a conference looking at innovation and opportunities for investment in African technology, with a special focus on the role of women. The event will take place from June 21-22 at BBC Broadcasting House.

PhotoVoice is organising a one day conference to look at how NGOs use images to represent developing world issues and people. It takes place on June 8 at Rich Mix in east London.

New members

We’re delighted to welcome two new organisations as members of IBT, International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Malaria No More UK.  If you’re interested in joining or know of an organisation or individual who is, here is a link to our leaflet for potential new members.

Malcolm Harper

Finally, I am very sorry to have to announce the sudden and unexpected death of Malcolm Harper, a long time Trustee and friend of IBT and a former Chair of the Trustees. Malcolm made a huge contribution to IBT over many years, finally stepping down as a Trustee last year.  As The Times noted in its obituary ‘In a career divided between Oxfam and the United Nations Association, Malcolm Harper devoted his life to humanitarian causes and respect for international law.’ It was always a pleasure dealing with Malcolm and I am very grateful for the support and encouragement which he gave me. He will be greatly missed.

Best wishes

Mark

May 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s May newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.  (Print this Newsletter – pdf)

Briefing with Panorama editor Tom Giles

Our next event will be a briefing and networking event with Tom Giles, the editor of Panorama. Tom is the most successful Panorama editor for a number of years. He was responsible for the multi award-winning investigation into private care homes, Undercover Care, and he’s also commissioned a number of important foreign films. However, we’d like to see Panorama give international issues a higher profile and this is something we’ll be raising with Tom at this event. The briefing will take place at 10am on Thursday May 16^th at the IBT offices in Southwark. It’s a free event for IBT members only, but places must be booked in advance. If you’re interested in attending please let me know by the end of this week.

Why Poverty – where next?

Later this month we’ll also be holding a debate to look at the impact of the BBC’s Why Poverty season. It was a unique attempt to engage mainstream television audiences with the issue of global poverty and the films were broadcast in 72 countries. The goal was to stimulate a global debate about poverty in developed and developing countries. But was the project successful and what lessons can be learnt for any future attempts to use the media to engage the public with poverty and development? The series producer, Nick Fraser, will be presenting evidence of the impact of the season and there will be a panel discussion. The event will take place at 10am on Friday May 17^th at the ODI offices next to Southwark tube station. If you’re interested in attending or watching it online, you’ll need to register via the ODI website:

http://www.odi.org.uk/events/3171-bbc-poverty-project-aid-development-public-attitudes

Training events

Last month we held two training events for IBT members with stills photographer Crispin Hughes. Feedback from the events has been positive. The consensus was that the mix of practical and theoretical was about right, and that Crispin was an excellent trainer with a good understanding of the changing role of media officers who were increasingly being asked to take pictures on foreign trips. The sessions were popular with more than 20 different organisations represented. We plan to hold further training events later this year. The next one will focus on how to get the most out of Twitter. Our goal in running these training events is to help IBT members develop their skills so that they can be more effective in a changing media environment.

IBT’s lobbying activities

We have continued to be active on lobbying front. This month we made two submissions: to the House of Lords Communications Committee inquiry into media plurality and to the Ofcom consultation on the new licences for ITV and Channel 5. In both submissions we argued for maintaining the obligations on the commercial public service broadcasters to produce current affairs in peak time, particularly international current affairs. We’re concerned that the ITV current affairs strand Tonight is now producing very little international content despite its close relationship with ITN. We’ve raised this issue with the media regulator, Ofcom, and have asked them to start monitoring the international content on ITV. All our submissions can be found on our website:

https://ibt.org.uk/submissions.php

New Trustees

IBT is going through a period of change and we’re delighted that we will be recruiting a number of new Trustees in the next couple of months. If you’re interested in becoming an IBT Trustee please take a look at our website for further details. These positions are only available to IBT members. The deadline for applications is Wednesday May 8^th

https://ibt.org.uk/all_documents/overview/April2013_New_Trustees.pdf

IBT marketing video

We are in the process of making a short video for our website so that IBT members are much clearer on what we do and what the benefits of membership are. If you have been to a commissioner briefing and subsequently were successful in pitching an idea to a broadcaster please get in touch so that we can feature this in the video,  as it’s strong evidence of the impact of IBT’s work.

Media news in brief 

–  Last month the BBC drama Casualty featured a storyline about female genital mutilation. The writing was superb and it was very encouraging to see this complex issue featured so prominently in a prime time soap. IBT has been urging the BBC for a number of years to feature international issues in drama and soaps.

–  Panorama received much publicity for its undercover North Korea film which achieved one of its highest audiences, with over 5 million viewers watching on the night. However, the LSE has lodged a formal complaint with the BBC Trust after it argued that students’ lives were put at risk by the secret filming.

–  Ed Stourton has returned to the subject of aid for Radio 4, this time with the much less controversial Syria: can aid meet the challenge?

–  Twitter is boosting the impact of television with increasing numbers tweeting as they watch tv. The most tweeted programme of the month was the ITV drama Broadchurch. There were 260,000 tweets during the last episode.

–  There have been some great documentaries this month about the Middle East. Olly Lambert’s film for Channel 4 Syria – Across the Lines gave a graphic account of the deteriorating situation in that country.

–  After the success of the BBC2 documentary series Welcome to India, the BBC has announced that it will commission Keo Films to make a third series about poverty in a developing country. Welcome to Rio will be shown next year, when the World Cup takes place in Brazil.

–  The Radio 4 Controller has announced that Thought for the Day is looking for more women to take part after recent statistics showed a ratio of 8 men to 1 woman.

–  The new BBC Director General Lord Hall has announced that he will beef up Newsnight after its recent troubled past. A new editor will be appointed shortly.

–  Unreported World has returned to Channel 4 on Friday nights with reports so far from Cuba, Kenya and Gaza. We’ll be holding a briefing with Monica Garnsey, the series producer, later this year.

Best wishes

Mark

April 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s April newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.

Welcome to India master class and networking event

Last month we held our first master class which looked at the making of the BBC2 documentary series Welcome to India. We also heard about some forthcoming projects being made by Keo Films and how the production company develops new ideas. The event was packed and feedback was very positive. Comments afterwards included ‘very useful in terms of understanding how documentary makers think about storytelling in innovative ways’ and ‘incredibly useful to have face to face time with the people we pitch to, to understand their needs.’ We’ll be holding more master classes in the future. Notes on the event are available to all IBT members – just email me if you’d like a copy.

Future IBT events

Later this month we’ll be holding two training events on stills photography with Crispin Hughes, an experienced photographer and trainer. These are now fully subscribed, but there will be more training events in the future. Next month, we’ll return to our series of commissioner briefings with Tom Giles, the Editor of Panorama, talking about the BBC’s principal current affairs strand. Future briefings will focus on Sky News and Unreported World.

ITV and Channel 5 licences

Following the publication of our report on the future of current affairs, An Uncertain Future – the threat to current affairs, we are now preparing our submission to Ofcom which is reviewing the licences for ITV and Channel 5. We’ll be arguing that international current affairs on the commercial public service broadcasters has a crucial role to play. This was also the consensus of the round table event which we held in February with current affairs producers and commissioners. We are optimistic that this will remain a statutory requirement when these two licences are renewed next year.

Expert Women database

The BBC has lent its support to the campaign by Broadcast magazine and City University for more women experts on news and current affairs programmes, by launching an Expert Women database and a YouTube channel to showcase some of the new experts who have received media training by the BBC Academy. The training programme is continuing and, whilst many of the women so far have come from the world of science and academia, there is no reason why in future they should not come from the NGO sector. Further information about the database can be obtained from holly.blake@bbc.co.uk

Fall in news site traffic

Latest figures show a slump in traffic to most news websites with only Guardian.co.uk website showing a month on month increase. The latest figures make for interesting reading with the top UK news website Mail Online followed by Guardian.co.uk, Telegraph.co.uk, Sun.co.uk, Independent.co.uk, Mirror Group digital, Metro.co.uk and finally Standard.co.uk. The Sun and The Telegraph have both announced that they will start to charge online users.

Apple removes Channel 4’s Sweatshop app

Apple has removed the Channel 4 Education-funded mobile game Sweatshop from its App Store after claiming it was ‘uncomfortable’ with the game’s themes.  The game is designed to make youngsters think about the origins of the clothes they buy and involves playing the role of a manager in a factory which is manufacturing goods for a British high street store. After Apple removed the app the team amended it, to make clear that it was a fictitious game but Apple refused to reinstate the app. The game, which has had more than 1 million plays, remains available on the playsweatshop.com site.

One World Media Awards

The finalists in the One World Media Awards have been announced after a record number of entries. Tickets for the 25^th annual awards are now on sale. The event will take place on Tuesday May 7^th at Kings Place in London. http://oneworldmedia.org.uk/awards/

Follow IBT on Twitter

For regular updates on our work and on any relevant news in the field of media, development, human rights and the environment follow us on Twitter @_ibt

Best wishes

Mark

March 2013 Newsletter

Welcome to IBT’s March newsletter with a brief update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.  (Print this Newsletter – pdf)

Welcome to India master class

This month we are organising our first master class. We’re delighted that the producers of Welcome to India have agreed to come and talk to us. This was the standout documentary series of 2012 and successfully brought issues connected to poverty and development to a mainstream audience. It reinvented a format first established with Welcome to Lagos. In this master class, the series director Tom Beard will show clips and talk about the process of development and shooting, what the brief was from BBC2, how he wanted to challenge popular perceptions about poverty and how he looked for strong human stories which highlighted key issues. This is a great opportunity for media officers and others to gain a better understanding of how documentary producers think about stories/issues and how they attempt to make challenging subjects accessible to mainstream audiences. It will also be a good networking opportunity for anyone who wishes to get to know a leading independent production company. Welcome to India was made by Keo Films which has a track record of innovative approaches to international issues. They’re responsible for a range of peak time shows, including Hugh’s Fish Fight, River Cottage and Meet the Natives. Also attending the workshop will be a member of Keo’s development team who will give us an insight into how indies pitch to broadcasters. The master class will take place from 10-11.30am on Tuesday March 19^th. This is a free event for IBT members but places need to be booked in advance. For a current list of members see https://ibt.org.uk/members.php Places are also available to non members for a fee of £50 payable in advance. Let me know if you’d like to attend.

Parliamentary event on aid and the role of the media

Last month we held a parliamentary event, in conjunction with IDS, which looked at ways of building public support for aid and in particular at how to engage the media more effectively in this process. The round table was chaired by the Labour MP, Alison McGovern, and attended by a number of Parliamentarians, NGOs and media representatives. There was a strong call from the media side for NGOs to think in terms of ‘stories’ rather than ‘issues’ and a recognition that a more concerted effort was needed by NGOs and Parliamentarians to change the nature of the public conversation and to find concrete examples of the positive impact of aid but at the same time to engage in an honest debate about the limits of aid. Bringing these three groups together was the beginning of what we hope will be a fruitful dialogue. The feedback from the round table has been positive with a number of participants asking for follow up meetings. A briefing note on the discussion is available to all IBT members – get in touch with Sophie Chalk, IBT’s Head of Campaigns, if you’d like a copy. Sophie.chalk@btinternet.com

Impact of IBT report on the future of current affairs

Last month we published our research report An Uncertain Future – the threat to current affairs, which looked at the future of the genre that is considered to be most at risk if the Government takes a deregulatory approach in any future Communications Bill. We held a round table discussion which was attended by leading producers, commissioners, regulators and media journalists. There was a consensus that the report presented a strong case for regulation to ensure that current affairs retains its place in the schedules. The round table was followed by a leading article in Broadcast, the industry magazine and a think piece by Maggie Brown in Guardian Online. We also presented the research findings to officials at DCMS, the department responsible for broadcast policy. The report can be downloaded from the IBT website or obtained in hard copy from the IBT office.

https://ibt.org.uk/all_documents/research/An_Uncertain%20Future_the_threat_to_current_affairs.pdf#view=FitV

BBC Trust review of all tv channels and news output

The BBC Trust has announced that it will review all the BBC’s tv channels and news output later this year. This is the biggest ever review undertaken by the Trust and the most important one to date. IBT will be submitting detailed evidence in consultation with its membership. It’s an important opportunity for us to look critically at the impact of the BBC’s global purpose to ‘bring the world to the UK’ and how effectively it is being delivered. In previous research we have found that fewer international programmes are being commissioned and many of these are migrating to the niche channels. Drama is a particular weakness with a near total absence of international dramas – the recent Mary and Martha is a notable exception. News output retains a strong international element but the range of stories being covered is narrowing.

Al Jazeera English briefing

Last week we heard from Ben Rayner, Head of News at Al Jazeera English.  Ben gave a useful overview of how the channel works, who commissions stories, what sort of stories appeal to them and names of key contacts. The channel has a particular interest in stories from Africa and the Middle East and strong coverage of Latin America. They are keen to develop good relationships with NGOs and there are opportunities for NGO staff to appear in studio discussions. It was good to hear that Al Jazeera English remains committed to a wider news agenda than the main UK news broadcasters. One of the key findings of the news survey which we published in The World in Focus was the fact that AJE regularly reported from significantly more countries than any other broadcaster.

Live tv watching still dominates

The latest figures on tv viewing from the industry marketing body, Thinkbox, show that the average tv viewer in the UK watches 4 hours and 4 minutes of tv a day. It’s the third year running that it has topped the 4 hour mark. Despite the proliferation of catch up and mobile, most television is watched live by people sitting in front of an actual television: the current figure is 90%, a drop of less than 1 per cent compared with a year ago.

Changes to IBT governance

As many of you know, we have been updating our governance to establish IBT as an incorporated charity. This has now been done, as a result of which we have a new charity number and new Memorandum and Articles. We shall also be electing a new group of Trustees at the next AGM in June. In future, we shall have a core group of 10 Trustees, 6 of whom will represent the membership. All members are eligible to put their names forward. We shall be making a formal announcement about the process for recruiting new Trustees in the next month or so.

Film festivals coming up soon 

–  The Human Rights Watch Film Festival runs from March 13-22 across a number of London venues. Key films include Salma, a documentary directed by Kim Longinotto, which tells the story of how a young Indian Muslim girl unexpectedly became a famous poet; War Witch, directed by Kim Nguyen, a drama shot entirely in DRC which focuses on life inside a rebel camp, and Wadjda, directed by Haifaa Al Mansour, the first full length feature shot entirely inside Saudi Arabia, which tells the story of a girl growing up in a suburb of Riyadh. http://ff.hrw.org/

–  The Birds Eye Film Festival is back, also in a number of London venues, from April 3-10. This year it celebrates the work of Arab women filmmakers. Highlights include When I Saw You, a new film by Annemarie Jacir, Palestine’s first female feature director, which tells the story of a young boy escaping from a refugee camp in 1967, and On the Edge, by Leila Kilani, a fast paced drama giving an insight into the dark side of life in the Moroccan city of Tangier.

http://www.birds-eye-view.co.uk/4921/overview/bev-2013-celebrating-arab-women-filmmakers.html

Best wishes

Mark