Media News - Thursday, July 10, 2008

Romania’s ‘happy news’ quota unconstitutional, court rules

Romanians have a right to doom and gloom, the country's constitutional court ruled Wednesday, blocking a government move obliging radio and television stations to broadcast good and bad news in equal proportions. The court ruled that a new law, which stipulated that upbeat news should make up half of all newscasts on Romania's radio and television stations, was unconstitutional. The senate had passed it unanimously the previous month. The opposition liberal democrats, the PDL party, had appealed to the constitutional court, arguing that the new legislation infringed freedom of expression. The law had been the idea of two senators - one from the governing National Liberal Party, the other from the far-right Great Romania party - who bemoaned the 'irreversible effect' of negative news 'on the health and life of people.' The aim, they said, was to 'improve the general climate and to offer to the public the chance to have balanced perceptions on daily life, mentally and emotionally'. It would be left to the National Audiovisual Council in Romania to judge what is 'positive' and 'negative'. But the council itself was unimpressed by the new law. 'News is news,' said council chairman Rasvan Popescu. (AFP)

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Foreign media filming procedure in China ‘simplified’

China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) has said it will further simplify the permit procedure for overseas media to shoot cultural sites, shortening the processing time from four days to one day, reports Xinhua. The newly-simplified procedure will be put into practice from 20 July to 20 September. During the period, both accredited and non-accredited overseas media for the Olympics will enjoy the new procedure. SACH noted the easier procedure would be used not only for the cultural heritage in Beijing and other co-host cities of the Games, but also in other cities around the country. 'As long as the reporting content was Olympic-related, and in accordance with regulations for the security of cultural heritage, the requests could be approved and processed quickly,' SACH said. In July 2007, SACH shortened the processing time from 20 days to four days. Since March it has sent staff to the Games' organisation committee to attend to such requests. (Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union)

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Ecuador threatens to shut down more broadcasters

Ecuador on Wednesday threatened to kick scores of radio and television stations off the air, fueling concerns over media freedoms one day after President Rafael Correa's leftist government seized two TV networks. The media companies under investigation include television stations that are critical of Correa's administration. The government said it could withdraw 229 broadcast licenses over irregularities it believes were committed, unless the broadcasters show they have complied with their contracts and not missed payments. 'We have started the process of revoking the frequencies of 229 radio, television and cable operators so far,' the head of the state-run National Council of Radio and Television, Jorge Yunda, said. Another 354 broadcast licenses are under review, he said. Correa sent police on Tuesday to seize two television stations owned by a large business group, knocking their normal programming off the air and appointing new news editors. (Reuters)

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Dutch government subsidy to public broadcasters declining in real terms

In 2006, the Dutch government, provincial and local authorities subsidised the public media to the tune of EUR 897m. With adjustments for inflation, that represents a fall of 22 percent in real terms since 1999. Most of the money - EUR 758m - comes from the government and subsidises the five national radio services and three national TV channels. The rest comes from the provinces for the regional public broadcasters, and from local councils for their own local radio and TV services. The regional and local subsidies have been fairly stable in real terms during the past decade. The reduction in real terms of the government subsidy is largely the result of budget cuts, but lower income from advertising, which is used to top up the financing of the public stations, also played a role. Increased competition from commercial broadcasters and the loss of the rights to premier league football highlights in 2005 were significant factors. The football highlights return to public TV from the start of the coming season. (Statistics Netherlands via Media Network Weblog)

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China to expand foreign newspaper sales for games

China is expanding sales of foreign newspapers and magazines for next month's Beijing Olympics, the importer and a state newspaper said Thursday. Overseas publications will be sold through new kiosks located in areas catering to athletes and international media covering the games, said an official with the periodicals department of the China National Publication Import and Export Corp. China usually restricts sales of overseas publications to hotels and shops catering to foreigners, ensuring ordinary Chinese have little exposure to them. Foreign news Web sites are blocked in China and satellite news channels such as CNN and BBC are restricted to hotels, offices and housing compounds occupied by foreigners. The official, who gave only his surname, Xue, because he wasn't authorized to speak to reporters, said about 30 newspapers and magazines from the U.S., Britain, France, Italy, and other countries would be on sale over the course of the Aug. 8-24 Olympics. The English-language China Daily said organizers were aiming for same-day delivery of newspapers. For subscribers, overseas newspapers usually arrive late in the day wrapped in a blue plastic envelope. Chinese censors often remove or paste shut pages of newspapers and magazines that contain stories or other content considered sensitive or unflattering to the communist authorities, including several pages of a recent National Geographic special edition devoted to China. (AP via Forbes)

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NY Times corrects front-page photo caption

The New York Times ran a lengthy correction Wednesday after the newspaper learned that a recent front-page photo of a crying Zimbabwean baby with casts on his feet misrepresented the boy's injuries. The caption on the June 26 photo said that the boy sustained his injuries from state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe. But subsequent reporting determined the boy actually had club feet and that his mother exaggerated the injuries. The boy's mother initially told the newspaper that her son's injuries were caused after youths backing Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe threw her son onto a concrete floor. But she later acknowledged she misrepresented his injuries because she could not afford surgery for his condition, the newspaper said in an editors' note. The mother and son were not named in the editors' note or the original article. Times spokeswoman Diane McNulty said the newspaper withheld their names out of concern they could become targets of reprisals. (AP)

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