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 15th. 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 15th. 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 24th, 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 27th, 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
