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News From You

We receive dozens of news tips and press releases each week from ftm contributors. We want MORE. And we want to share the raw information as quickly as possible. NEWS FROM YOU is the forum for adding what you know to what we know. Share what you know...or what you hear. We will apply the light-touch of the editors axe for clarity. We will also accept NEWS FROM YOU in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese...without translation. (We do insist on being able to understand what you contribute.) You also must clearly indicate that your contribution is for publication in NEWS FROM YOU.

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Week ending November 24, 2007

Nokia - Survey results confirm it: Women are better multi-taskers than men - November 22, 2007

Mobile phones are helping balance work and social lives around the world

Multi-tasking, or doing more than one activity at a time, is a way of life for everyone these days. Between work, family and social life, people are finding themselves busier than ever. But the results of a recent global online survey conducted by Nokia indicated that women are better at multitasking than men with 60 percent of respondents, both men and women. Only six percent of women believe that men are better at doing more than one thing at a time.

From the total of more than 5,000 respondents, 79 percent consider themselves multitaskers, with 50% describing themselves 'productive' and 31% 'busy'. The majority of men and women in the Scandinavian countries of Denmark and Norway indicated they can do several things at once. The most relaxed were the Finnish people at 74 percent.

An overwhelming 80 percent of respondents believe that having a mobile phone enables them to achieve a positive balance between their work and social life. And, while 63 percent believe they be less productive without their mobile phone, 74 percent believe it makes them better at multitasking.

"People are utilizing their mobile phones more than ever," said Dom Fried-Booth, Insights Director, Devices, Nokia. "And with all the features available on mobile phones today, including calendars, email, and text messaging, people are using them for more than just making calls. This helps some people be more productive for work and others run the family household more smoothly. Whatever the case, though, mobile phones are clearly helping people get what they want out of life."

According to the survey, mobile phones are helping people be more productive. Sixty-two percent of respondents do two or three activities while talking on their mobile phone, including internet browsing and shopping. Seventy-five percent of women said they prepare food and 50 percent put on makeup while using their mobile phone.

Although the majority of respondents claimed they do more than one thing at a time while on their mobile phone, 48 percent indicated the call was their main focus. When asked what was the most fun activity to do while on their mobile phone, most said "being in bed," although no more specifics were given.

Multitasking while on your mobile phone can certainly lead to amusing situations. Forty-seven percent of respondents to the Nokia survey indicated that they have sent a romantic or controversial text message to the wrong person and 56 percent of women did that.

The multitasking survey was conducted online through nokia.com between October 15 and November 1, 2007 by Illuminas and was conducted in the United Kingdom, Spain, Finland, Italy, China, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, France, USA, Sweden and Norway.

Nokia has undertaken the industry's most comprehensive consumer survey, compiling more than 10 billion data points from 77 000 consumer interviews in 21 countries resulting in a unique, in-depth understanding of consumers' values, beliefs and attitudes. This insight guides Nokia's activities from product development and design through marketing and sales.

Eurovision - New Format For The ESC in 2008 - November 21, 2007

from Katie de Noel/EBU

The next Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Belgrade in May 2008, will incorporate two Semi-Finals. This new format was recently approved by the ESC Reference Group and the EBU Television Committee.

“With a record number of participating countries, it was a challenge to find an optimal solution. We are pleased with this new format, as it presents a fair and balanced selection process for all the countries participating in the Eurovision Song Contest”, says Svante Stockselius, Executive Supervisor of the ESC.

The two Semi-Finals will be held on two different evenings. Both will be broadcast live as follows:

- Semi-Final 1 on Tuesday 20 May

- Semi-Final 2 on Thursday 22 May

Participating countries will be selected for each Semi-Final through a two-stage draw. The first draw will be held in Belgrade at the end of January, 2008. Germany, France, Spain, and the UK, as well as the Host Broadcaster Serbia are pre-qualified for the Final without entering the Semi-Finals. All other countries will be placed in six different boxes, based on previous ESC voting patterns (ESC 2004-2007). The names will be drawn for Semi-Final 1 first, and then for Semi-Final 2.

The second draw will be held at the Heads of Delegation meeting in March 2008. This draw will determine the starting order of the songs in each Semi-Final.

Ten songs from each Semi-Final will then qualify for the Final. The Final will consist of 25 songs: 10 from each Semi-Final, Serbia (the host country), and the pre-qualified countries of France, Germany, Spain and UK.

Nine of the top in each Semi-Final will be chosen by the televoters. However, there will also be a backup jury in each country. The selection of the tenth song in each Semi-Final will, therefore, be based exclusively on the results of these back-up juries. Which two songs were selected as a result of the votes by the backup juries will be announced only after the Final.

The hosts will present the ten qualifying songs, in the ESC tradition, by opening ten envelopes at the end of each Semi-Final. The duration of each Semi-Final will be two hours and the Final will be three hours and 15 min.

We look forward to an exciting event, with a record number of participating countries!

AIB rewards global broadcasters - November 20, 2007

from Simon Spanswick/AIB

The Association for International Broadcasting [AIB] revealed the winners of its annual global media awards at a glamorous gala event in London 20 November, 2007. Attended by senior executives, producers and journalists from TV and radio channels from five continents, the AIB Media Excellence Awards event rewarded the very best programmes and channels that cater to international television, radio and online audiences.

The Awards event was hosted by Mishal Hussain, one of BBC World’s anchors and more than 150 guests celebrated the success of their colleagues from around the world.

There were 12 categories in the 2007 AIB Media Excellence Awards, covering television, radio, online and technology; over 100 entries were received from international broadcasters in 20 countries, as well as a range of innovative technology suppliers who support international TV and radio stations.

The Award winners were:

Clearest coverage of a single news event – radio

BBC World Service for Israel-Lebanon war described by the judges as “classic war reporting combined with an almost perfect blend of frontline access and compassion for the ordinary people caught up in the conflict”

Clearest coverage of a single news event – television

CBS News for Among a Resurgent Taliban

“an outstanding report offering exclusive coverage with high production values” with the judges paying particular tribute to Lara Logan’s bravery

Best topical programme – television

NDTV 24x7 for UP vs AIDS

“a powerful piece of television dealing with a difficult subject; well filmed and edited and bringing an understanding of the scale of a problem that’s been ignored for a great length of time”

Best topical programme – radio

BBC World Service for Ghana: African Perspectives

“an exceptional piece of radio that was inspiring yet dealt with a highly difficult subject - abortion”

Gear of the year

Omnibus Systems for iTX

“using commoditised IT equipment, this solution is scalable and integrates a great number of functions allowing multi-skilled operators to take control”

Most innovative partnership

Radio New Zealand International

“Radio New Zealand International has undertaken work with local partners to provide audiences across the Pacific region with information and topics to connect at all levels in their own language”

Most creative marketing concept

Joint winners: SW Radio Africa and France 24

“SW Radio Africa’s use of SMS text messaging to beat the censors enables the station to reach an audience under the most difficult censorship conditions”

“France 24’s launch campaign was very well thought through and well executed, with a unique use of animation to bring in younger viewers”

Most innovative cross-media production

BBC Global News for Generation Next

“These nine days of special programming on television, radio and online was well executed, providing interesting topics for a hard-to-reach market”

AIB International channel of the year - television

Bloomberg Television

“consistently high quality and punching above its weight, successfully marrying specialist material with more mainstream coverage of news and current affairs”

AIB International station of the year - radio

Radio New Zealand International

“Radio New Zealand International has proved it has the ability, clarity of vision and resources to deliver something that’s valued by audiences throughout the region”

AIB International radio personality of the year

George Arney of BBC World ServiceEurope

“George Arney’s slightly quirky approach reveals great truths about how people live their lives. He also takes listeners behind the scenes with some of the planet’s most powerful leaders”

AIB International television personality of the year

Lyse Doucet of BBC World

“one of the leading presenters and journalists on international television today – highly professional and able to convey the news with just the right measure of confidence”

The AIB Awards were judged by international panels drawn from the broadcasting industry, ensuring peer review of programming. – as well as radio and TV critics, representing the audience’s perspective. Completely non-commercial, the AIB Awards are the only celebration of success that exclusively focuses on international, cross-border broadcasting.

“The AIB Awards provide a fantastic opportunity for the Association to provide a platform not only to celebrate success but also to share ideas,” said Simon Spanswick, AIB chief executive. “The international broadcasting industry is often more innovative and fleet of foot than its domestic counterparts, and the Awards demonstrate the breadth of superb content that’s on offer to viewers and listeners throughout the world. We were delighted with the range and quality of the entries which made judging extremely tough. Our judges are to be congratulated on all their work, as are the winners and finalists tonight.”

The AIB International Broadcasting Awards 2007 will be announced in January.

EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding meets Reinaldo Rodríguez, Chairman of the Spanish Regulatory Authority CMT - November 20, 2007

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner responsible for telecommunications and media, met today Reinaldo Rodríguez, Chairman of CMT ("Comisión del Mercado de Telecomunicaciones de España"), the Spanish Telecom Regulator, in order to exchange opinions on current issues related to the European telecommunications sector. The main topics of their meeting – which follows a visit of CMT by Commissioner Reding in spring of this year – were next generation networks, geographical markets and the cooperation between national regulators and the European Commission.

Next generation networks and geographical markets

On the deployment of next generation networks in Europe, Commissioner Reding said: “The development of next generation networks is one of the greatest challenges in the evolution of Europe's Telecommunications Sector. Our data shows that, despite the evolution of competition in core networks, 90% of European consumers still depend on the infrastructure of the historic operators for their fixed line connections. This situation means that where infrastructure competition remains insufficient it is essential to retain ex-ante regulation for the benefit of consumers and the European economy. Regulation should be adjusted to reflect levels of competition in different geographic zones of Europe. Such an approach should create incentives for sustainable infrastructure competition, where the market permits, whilst continuing to promote service competition where infrastructure competition is not possible, in a form which guarantees choice for Europe's consumers.”

Commissioner Reding and President Rodríguez agreed that the ultimate aim of telecoms regulation is to benefit consumers. And it was in this sense that they discussed under which circumstances the level of infrastructure competition would be sufficient to permit a differentiation of geographic markets or a differentiation of regulatory obligations by geographic zones, to encourage further investment and infrastructure competition.

A better cooperation between national regulators and the European Commission

During the meeting with Commissioner Reding, Reinaldo Rodríguez expressed his “worry about cases where the European Commission's ex post intervention, as a competition authority, could go against the regulator's authority to take ex ante decisions in national markets”. Moreover, Mr. Rodríguez noted the “problem that legal certainty of ex ante regulation is threatened by subsequent negative decisions of Competition Law” and therefore called for a “greater cooperation between European Commission, in its role as competition authority and national regulators, in order to provide the sector with higher guarantees and certainty”.

Commissioner Reding stressed the need for effective competition in the telecommunications sector, where a lot still remains to be done, and noted the complementary roles to be played by both ex ante and ex post competition controls in order to reach this goal. Commissioner Reding said: "We need to ensure that there is an effective partnership between national regulators and the Commission, and that is why in the recent proposals for reform of the telecommunications sector presented last Tuesday, there are important improvements proposed to the existing cooperation mechanisms, including the establishment of a European Telecom Market Authority."

Commissioner Reding added: "The Commission's Telecoms Reform proposals have the aim of creating a true single telecommunications market for Europe for operators and consumers. We will furthermore propose to reduce number portability (users having the right to keep their number when they change operators) to a maximum of one working day. This policy has already clearly benefited Spanish consumers in a country which thanks to the regulation of CMT today is one Europe's leaders in this area."

Commissioner Reding praised the Spanish regulator for his efforts to create equal conditions for operators on the Spanish telecom market. She noted: "The name of the proposed European Telecom Market Authority draws direct inspiration from the name of Spain's Commission for the Telecommunications Market (CMT) and its role in promoting markets that are open and sustainable. Also the new Authority should be a Market Authority that will be, thanks to the expertise of national regulators, close to the market, whilst promoting a European telecoms market open for consumers and for businesses alike."

IFRA - E-reading interest gathers momentum - November 19, 2007

The global publishing community is showing increasing interest in learning about and preparing for a future of e-reading – so much so that the international newspaper association Ifra is setting up a sister project to the original eNews 2008 e-reading initiative. The new project runs for three years and is called eNews 2010.

Dr. Stig Nordqvist is the project leader for both initiatives and has experienced first-hand the demand for proaction among publishers: “There is a sense of urgency in the newspaper industry about keeping the initiative and grasping the opportunities that e-reading offers. The success of the eNews 2008 project has also contributed to the high level of interest that we see for eNews 2010. We have ten signed-up members and several more about to sign.” The publishers who have signed up with eNews 2010 to date are Ringier (Switzerland), Nikkei (Japan), La Presse (Canada), Agora Group (Poland), Harstad Tidende Gruppen (Norway), Kauppalehti (Finland), Singapore Press Holdings (Singapore), Ming Pao Enterprise Corporation (Hong Kong), Allehanda Media (Sweden) and Ibercento Medios (Spain).

Robert Stalmach, director of content and mobile at Gazeta.pl, part of the Agora group, explains that their decision to join the eNews initiative is part of the strategy for the future: ”Membership in the eNews project gives us a better position in the context of the upcoming technology change. As a large publisher in CEE (Central and Eastern Europe), we strive to be prepared for those changes and the project helps us gain profound insight into the directions of development of new media consumption needs.”

One of the aims of eNews 2010 is to provide a lobbying platform for publishers vis-à-vis other players in the mobile e-reading value chain. Explains Dr Nordqvist: “As top level publishers sign up for eNews, they add force to the momentum of the initiative. We are seeking the innovative business leader – big and small.”

As with the original eNews 2008 project, the objective for eNews 2010 is to bring together leading publishers in order to address a number of issues. These include identifying new business models for increased revenues, identifying suitable investment strategies for e-reading, influencing the development of e-readers as well as making realistic assessments of the emerging technologies, and identifying ways to develop strong and profitable products in the area of mobile e-reading.

“eNews is the unique global group to belong to if you want to do business in the mobile e-reading world of today and the future,” concludes Stig Nordqvist.

For more information about the eNews project contact Cecilia Campbell, project communicator at +44.15394.35012 or campbell@ifra.com.

WAN - World's Press Targets Press Violations in Six Countries – November 19, 2007

The World Association of Newspapers today condemned serious press violations in six countries -- China, Somalia, Burma, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Georgia, and called on their governments to fully respect international standards of freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

In resolutions issued from its Board meeting in Vienna, Austria, WAN, the global association of the world's press, admonished:

- China, for failing to live up to the press freedom commitments it made when it sought the 2008 Olympic Games. At least 30 journalists and 50 cyberdissidents remain in China prisons, and WAN called on participants in the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- the International Olympic Committee, athletes, sponsors, media partners and others -- to exert serious pressure on Chinese authorities to cease their abuse of human rights.

- Somalia, for increasing violence against journalists, both by the transitional government security forces, backed by Ethiopia, and the Islamic militia, backed by Eritrea.

- Burma, for the ruling junta's continuing oppressive policies against a free press and the killing of Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai during the recent crackdown on the opposition.

- Azerbaijan, for the government's growing hostility toward independent and opposition media, which raises serious concern about the future and safety of journalists in the country. With eight journalists behind bars, Azerbaijan is the leading jailer of journalists in Europe and Central Asia.

- Pakistan, for the government's crackdown on freedom of the press for the current state of emergency in the country. Dozens of journalists working for the independent media have been assaulted or prevented from working and at least five journalists have been arrested.

- Georgia, for police violence against journalists and the closure of independent broadcasters amid a crackdown on opposition protests that were followed by a nationwide state of emergency. Several journalists were severely beaten by riot police as they tried to film the crackdown, while others had their cameras confiscated to prevent them from filming the demonstrations and the police response.