SNIPPETS
JUNE 2011

• 2012 FEB CONFERENCE DRESDEN, GERMANY
  The Kim Hotel, Dresden is the Venue for the next FEB Conference being held 22nd - 25th March 2012. Dresden is an historic and beautiful city in the Elbe Valley and the Kim Hotel is a modern hotel with good facilities and connections on the outskirts of the city, easily accessible by public transport. A full list of Speakers will be distributed when confirmed. A Conference Registration form is now available online.
  Contact: feb@feb.org/conference
  
  
  
• EUROPEAN UNION
  A 8-Member panel of MEPs has proposed fewer and shorter Plenary Debates in the European Parliament, to be limited to Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, with committees in the afternoons, and political group meetings in the evenings. The aim is to improve the quality of debates, attendance by MEPs and raise the Parliament's profile in the media.
  Source: European Voice
  
  
  
• UK
  "Let Children be Children" is the call of the Bailey Review of the Internet which was presented to the UK Secretary of State for Education at the beginning of June. Its recommendations include a call for stricter codes of practice, a Complaints website being set up, and all new home internet services, laptops and mobile phones to have the option to ban adult material. Prime Minister David Cameron will hold a summit on progress of these issues in October, to which retailers, advertisers, broadcasters, editors, video games and music industry chiefs and regulators will be invited.
  Source: BBC News
  
  
  
• EUROPEAN UNION
  FEB Chairman Harvey Thomas attended the Spectrum Management Conference in Brussels in June. Although every effort is being made to put forward the case for Community Radio Stations after the Digital Switchover - it is clear that the "big players" - Governments, Multi-Nationals and other large organisations can expect to take up the great majority of available spectrum.
  
  
  
• GERMANY
  Deutsche Welle Director General Erik Bettermann recently said that "Authoritarian and dictatorial regimes are increasingly eliminating the freedom of the internet". He also noted that exchange of information and opinion by bloggers and social media users on the internet can be dangerous. Bettermann said that some State-run organisations in the Middle East and in China use the internet to "keep the public in line and separated from the outside world". In China, the digital wall has downgraded the internet to a national intranet. Search requests from abroad are censored in China and influence the West's perception of China. These topics are being discussed at the "Human Rights in a Globalised World - Challenges for the Media" Global Media Forum from 20-22 June in Bonn, Germany.
  Contact: gmf@dw-world.de
  
  
  
• LITHUANIA
  "The Little Evening Star" children's Radio Programme, produced by the Good News Center in Vilnius, has won an award at the "Pragiedruliai" Contest organised by the Lithuania Radio and TV Commission and Lithuania Media Support Foundation.
  Contact: Branko Bjelajac bbjelajac@twr.org
  
  
  
• UK
  A new film series "The God Question" investigates whether or not it is rational in the 21st century to believe in God - especially in an age so dominated by science and technology. With release in mid 2011, programmes 1-3 present a cast of scientists, philosophers and journalists clashing on the God issue in the context of the Cosmos, Evolution and Brain Science. The aim of the programmes is to make a significant contribution to the debate about God and science.
  Contact: Iain Morris iain@searchfortruthenterprises.com
  
  
  
• NETHERLANDS
  3xM report that they will conduct 16 Training Sessions during 2011 to increase the experience and skills of partners in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. This year they plan to finance projects in 16 countries with 307 programmes broadcast via 17 national and 9 regional channels using satellite and internet. They have also seen an increase in downloads, particularly in Bulgaria where numbers increased from 83,000 in 2009 to 142,000 in 2010.
  Contact: Martien Timmer info@3xm.nl
  
  
  
• EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
  The European Parliament has approved the technical conditions met by Bulgaria and Romania to enable them to join the Schengen area and enjoy borderless travel in most of the European Union. The Strasbourg assembly voted for their admission by 487 to 77 with 29 abstentions. However, it is unlikely to take place before mid-2012 because of ongoing concerns by other Schengen members about corruption. The Parliament has urged Bulgaria to take additional measures, including a special action plan, to cope with a possible surge in migration pressure.
  Source: Financial Times
  
  
  
• HUNGARY
  FEB Chairman Harvey Thomas was one of three keynote Speakers at the recent European Leadership Forum, together with Os Guinness and Lars Dahle. He also spoke at the Media Network Seminar. 600 people attended the Forum, which focused on uniting, equipping and providing resources for Evangelical Leaders.
  Contact Harvey Thomas feb@feb.org
  
  
  
• UKRAINE
  Famiily LIfe Network's (FLN) Ukraine partners have found a way of assisting Roma churches reach their people through media production. Between 100,000 and 200,000 Romas live in Ukraine, 75% of whom do not complete primary school education. A new DVD featuring testimonies and music in the Roma language will soon be used for outreach among the Roma.
  Visit www.fln.ca or Contact Leonid Sergienko studiotbt@gmail.com
  
  

• URUGUAY
  A new Media Production Centre was dedicated in Montevideo, Uruguay at the TWR Americas Partner Conference in March. Spanish programmes are aired from Bonaire for Venezuela and Cuba as well as the whole of Uruguay and most of Argentina. The new Centre has more studio space and room for group meetings, and produces "Thru the Bible Spanish"; "Word for Today Spanish"; "Women of Hope" and "Solid Ground", which account for 96 hours of programming per week. Uruguayan Director Esteban Larrosa said, "It is wonderful to have the new production centre so we can continue to produce solid biblical programming".
  Contact Esteban Larroso elarrosa@rtmuruguay.org
  
  
  
• BRAZIL
  Radio Transmundial Brazil has produced "Route 66", a 3-year audio series taking listeners through each book of the Bible. The series features Luis Sao, a Brazilian theologian and is available in Portuguese. The programme includes dialogue, humour and a different teaching style. It is also available in DVD format with an accompanying study book and there are plans to translate it into Spanish and English too.
  Visit www.transmundial.com.br
  
  

• EGYPT
  With 80% of Egypt's population now having mobile phones, and internet access high even in poor urban and rural areas, young people in Egypt are looking for ways to express themselves. FEBA's internet radio website, "Radio Voice", broadcasts music and stories as well as group discussions on relationships, education and current events, and people join in using mobiles, Facebook, Skype and the web message board. FEBA has been using social media on the internet in Arabic since 2007 and had contact with many who wanted to talk about the recent protests in Egypt.
  Contact: Jonathan Frank jfrank@feba.org.uk
  
  
  
• SAT-7
  On 31st May 2011, SAT-7 celebrated 15 years of Christian broadcasting in the Middle East and North Africa. SAT-7 now supports five distinct channels and interactive websites in Arabic, Farsi and Turkish, including the only 24-hour Christian channel exclusively for Arab children. FEB Board Member Rita Elmounayer, Executive Director for SAT-7's three Arabic channels was part of the first broadcasts and she says, "we can see how much our programmes are impacting people, especially those caught up in the current crisis in the Middle East".
  Contact: Rita Elmounayer ritaelmounayer@sat7.org
  
  
  
• FAMILY LIFE NETWORK (FLN)
  Claude Pratte, Executive Director of FLN, has signed a partnership agreement to produce radio and TV programming to Arabic speaking people in North Africa and the Middle East. The first 26 episodes of "A Woman's Heart" is scheduled to be aired in December 2011.
  Contact: Claude Pratte cpratte@fln.ca
  
  

• SUPERBOOK
  In 1981 CBN created a children's animation series called "Superbook", which was broadcast in over 100 countries and translated into 43 languages. CBN are now "re-imagining" this classic animation series for a new generation, using 3D animation, the latest in digital technology. A team of veteran animators and designers, together with Christian script-writers, has begun the task of producing 13 episodes which should be ready for TV release later this year and for DVD distribution in 2012.
  Contact: Michael Little michael.little@cbn.org
  
  
  
• TWITTER
  A recent study has found that 32% of consumers in the USA and Canada use Twitter in 2011, and 76% of Communicators use it, quadrupling the percentage from 2009. Other findings include: the percentage of organisations with a budget devoted to social media has doubled since 2009; half of consumers said online reviews influence their buying decisions and 37% said they have bought a product they heard about via social media - and the top two "go-to" sites are Facebook and YouTube.
  Source: PR Daily
  
  
  
• LAUSANNE
  A Summit of 140 leaders from six continents meets in Boston, Massachusetts from 20-24 June 2011 to finalise a strategic plan for the Lausanne Movement over the next ten years, following last year's Cape Town meetings of leaders from 198 nations and the formation of the "Cape Town Commitment". The Summit aims to outline a "road-map" for the Lausanne Movement for the next ten years.
  Contact: Julia Cameron jcameron@lausanne.org
  
  
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