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Tag: Syria

  • BBC News and Current Affairs to explore the stories of Syria’s War with two days of special coverage

    BBC News and Current Affairs to explore the stories of Syria’s War with two days of special coverage

    MUMBAI: After more than three years of war, the battles inside Syria continue to rage and the people of Syria continue to suffer. The special coverage, called Syria’s War, will see journalists who have been at the forefront of the BBC’s reporting of the conflict presenting and filing stories from Syria, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Across TV, radio, online and social media – in the UK and internationally on BBC World News and the BBC World Service – coverage will feature eye witness reporting and analysis examining the impact of Syria’s war and exploring the stories of those caught in the midst of it all.

     

    Jonathan Munro, the BBC’s Head of Newsgathering, says: “Almost four years after what began as peaceful protests, millions have been forced to flee their homes, large swathes of the country lie in ruin and the consequences of the conflict are being felt well beyond Syria’s borders. The BBC has been there on the ground as this crisis has unfolded, and is committed to continuing to report events and ensure the stories of those affected are heard.”

     

    On the morning of Wednesday 12 November, Mishal Husain will start the day on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, and end the day co-presenting the BBC News at Ten bulletin, from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, near the Syrian border.

     

    Inside Syria, Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen will be reporting from Damascus, and Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet will be in Aleppo across the week. Examining stories from neighbouring countries, International Correspondent Ian Pannell will report from Turkey, Special Correspondent Fergal Keane from Lebanon, and Middle East Correspondent Yolande Knell in Jordan.

     

    Some of the other elements of Syria’s War across BBC News on 12-13 November, include:

     

    BBC Breakfast

     

    BBC Breakfast’s coverage will focus on the refugee crisis in Jordan, caused by the violence in Syria. Middle East Correspondent Yolande Knell will report live from a refugee camp that has recently opened. She will revisit families Breakfast met earlier in the year, and will also visit a town that has seen its population double because of an influx of refugees.

     

    BBC News Channel and BBC World News

     

    The BBC’s rolling UK and global news channels will be showcasing the best of the BBC’s reporting across the two days. Mishal Husain and Lyse Doucet will present live from the region, and there will be extended special reports and close-up coverage of the plight of Syria’s refugees on the BBC News Channel for UK audiences, as well as across BBC World News strand programmes – including Global, Impact and HARDtalk – for viewers around the world.

     

    Today, BBC Radio 4

     

    As well as presenting Today from the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday, Husain will also be reporting on the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon from Beirut for the programme.

     

    PM, BBC Radio 4

     

    In a radio essay specially commissioned by PM, BBC International Correspondent Ian Pannell will look back over the years that he has covered the conflict in Syria. Delving into his archive of reports, he picks out some key moments and reflects on how the country has changed.

     

    Across the week, PM will also broadcast audio postcards from ordinary Syrians including an ice-cream seller, and a student in Damascus.

     

    BBC Radio 5live

     

    On Wednesday 12 November, 5 live will feature live reports throughout the day, as well as coverage on the 5live Daily programme from 10am, with Phil Mackie in Beirut and Mark Lowen in Istanbul, Turkey.

     

    5live’s coverage will focus on the stories of Syrian refugees – their physical and mental health and how they’re surviving – along with the impact on the countries to which they’ve fled, in particular Lebanon and Turkey, where there is growing concern and anxiety.

     

    Newsbeat, BBC Radio 1

     

    Greg Dawson and Jonathan Blake will be reporting from Lebanon for Newsbeat. They’ll speak to young Syrians out on a Saturday night in Beirut about what it’s like to live in a party city so close to their home country, and ask if they have hopes of returning to Syria one day.

     

    On 12 November they will present Newsbeat live from a refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, and get an insight into the living conditions of some of the poorest Syrians who have been displaced.

     

    BBC News online

     

    BBC News online will host an in-depth feature called The Disappeared, exploring the mystery of Syrians taken by the Assad regime or Islamic groups, and are still being looked for by their families. There will also provide an overview of the conflict, exploring key moments from throughout the crisis.

     

    BBC Arabic

     

    BBC Arabic reporters will be examining stories of those living in the midst of the crisis. This will include video postcards of daily life in Damascus by Assaf Abboud, Rami Ruhayyem will report on people affected by trauma from the war and shed light on the mental and psychological impact, and Carine Torbey will look at how some mothers are giving birth via C-sections during ceasefires to avoid going into labour in the midst of fighting.

     

    BBC Arabic will also broadcast a documentary, Queens of Syria, which tells the story of a group of women from all sides of Syria’s conflict forced into exile in Jordan. They will come together to perform their own version of the Trojan Women, a timeless Ancient Greek tragedy on the plight of women in war. The documentary will be shown on Thursday 13th November, and at other times throughout the week.

     

  • Weinstein acquires US distribution rights to political docu on Gaddafi

    Weinstein acquires US distribution rights to political docu on Gaddafi

    MUMBAI: The Weinstein Company (TWC) has acquired the US rights to political documentary ‘The Oath Of Tobruk‘, the company announced at the on-going Cannes Film Festival.
    The film, directed by French philosopher, journalist and filmmaker Bernard-Henri Levy, was made over the eight-month period of conflict that put an end to Muammar Gaddafi‘s reign in Libya. Levy documented the unfolding of the war and the spontaneous popular revolt that became a revolution through the efforts of the Libyan people in their country and in major cities including Paris, London and New York.
    The course of action taken by the Libyan people that was revealed in the documentary exemplifies how ideas and convictions can change the course of history in the form of a political and humanitarian intervention that had otherwise seemed impossible.
    The announcement was made by TWC co-chairman Harvey Weinstein, who fully supports the film and sees this acquisition as a political action that could provide hope for other countries in a similar state of peril including Syria.
    On 25 May, the Cannes Film Festival will present a special showing of the film, which is an Official Selection of the festival. Four key figures of the Libyan revolution, who have been invited by Levy, will attend the screening to dedicate their achievement in Libya to their Syrian friends.
    Levy said, “For me, Harvey Weinstein is not simply THE ARTIST. He is the producer who helped launch Amnesty International in the United States; the man who fought capital punishment with the weapon of cinema; and the one who defended Roman Polanski in the face of those who wished to lynch him. This Weinstein, I am happy to learn, is joining Studio 37 in the adventure of ‘The Oath Of Tobruk‘.”
    Weinstein said, “This wonderful movie shows BHL‘s incredible courage and the strength of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, and also highlights the invaluable leadership from President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. American audiences will get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how our government and the French government worked together to stop the slaughter of innocent civilians and brilliantly handled the overthrow of a government.”

  • BBC sees audience boost for its news

    BBC sees audience boost for its news

    MUMBAI: The British Broadcasting Corporation has announced that its Global News division attracts a record weekly global audience of 238 million people to its international news services including BBC World Service and the BBC World News television channel.

    Last year BBC’s audience totalled 233 million. BBC World Service attracted a record weekly audience of 188 million. This figure was boosted by its new BBC Arabic television channel but masked an overall decline in radio listening which was down five million to 177 million in 2008/9. However, despite this loss, BBC World Service remains the world’s most popular international radio broadcaster.

    The largest overseas audiences for BBC news across all platforms come from Nigeria (26 million), the USA (24.1 million) and India (22.2 million). The biggest increases in the BBC’s global audience estimate came from Arab-speaking countries like Saudi Arabia (+1.9 million), Egypt (+1.3 million), and Syria (+1 million), and newly-surveyed markets like Niger (+2.4 million), Liberia (+1.1 million) and Guinea (+1.4 million). However, radio audiences in Iran dropped by 1.6 million due to a decline in shortwave listening there and the cutting of medium wave transmissions.

    Major development and enhancement of the BBC’s international facing news sites and mobile phone offer was rewarded with a record 16 million unique online users, a 27 per cent increase on last year.

    BBC Global News director Richard Sambrook said, “In a year when international radio listening to the BBC actually went down marginally, record overall global audiences demonstrate the success of our multimedia strategy and investments.

    “People come to the BBC’s international news services for journalism and ask difficult questions, yet they respect different points of view and actively encourages debate. Increasingly, audiences want access at a time and place that suits them.”

  • Al Jazeera tops Forbes’ list of top 40 Arab brands

    Al Jazeera tops Forbes’ list of top 40 Arab brands

    MUMBAI: Forbes has compiled its list of the top 40 Arab brands based on extensive international survey measuring brand loyalty and consumer perception. Al Jazeera ranks number one in Forbes Arabia’s list, followed by Emirates, Almarai and Al Arabiya Media. Overall, companies from eight countries made the final cut. Represented industries include media, airline, retailing, real estate development, leisure, food and beverages, and cosmetics.

    Forbes Arabia is the Dubai-based Arabic edition of the business magazine Forbes. Arab companies that cater to markets throughout 19 Arab countries were eligible for the list. To identify the Top 40 Arab Brands, Forbes Arabia factored in customer perception, and how well companies adapt their brand to a changing market environment.

    Forbes Arabia editor-in-chief Sulaiman al-Hattlan says, “With competition heating up in Arab countries, brands have become an effective way for a company to distinguish itself from competitors in terms of image and product offerings. The key question for those building Arab brands is how to think globally and act locally. The first of its kind, the Forbes Arabia Top 40 Arab Brands list looks at companies that have created strong brands not only in Arab countries, but that are also gaining recognition worldwide” .

    An online survey was conducted for Forbes Arabia by UK market research firm YouGov that drew on consumers from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

    The Forbes Arabia research team ranked each brand by giving points to how well customers recognised, and trusted each Arab brand, and how well companies adapted their brand to a changing market environment to service their customers.