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Week of January 4, 2016

Special skills sought for newcomer radio station
“provide orientation”

With about 100,000 new residents, mainly Arabic-speaking immigrants, arriving in Berlin/Brandenburg this past year media regulator MABB has spoken up for a new radio station addressing their needs. An unused FM frequency has been found, via transfer from Frankfurt/Oder, and SES Astra is providing satellite capacity gratis for a year. The MABB will fund the project for a year, which it wants to see operating by mid-year.

“An FM radio station with reliable information and services to offer the refugees who have arrived in Berlin and Brandenburg will provide orientation and thereby convey language skills,” said MABB director Hans Hege in a statement, quoted by radiowoche.de (January 5). Herr Dr. Hege is looking for help, in an official tender, among those with Arabic and German language and, of course, broadcasting skills. "This expertise could be combined with the skills of public and private channels in the region,” said the MABB statement. (See more about media in Germany here)

Also mentioned by the MABB as a reliable “fall-back” partner is Berlin-based media development agency MiCT - Media in Cooperation and Transition. MiCT has been providing media training in Middle Eastern and North African conflict zones for more than a decade. Using micro-transmitters its Pocket FM network is making reliable information available in Syria.

Law signed reverting public to state broadcasting
criticism notwithstanding or standing at all

Amendments to Poland’s media law have been signed into force by President Andrzej Duda, reported Onet.pl (January 7). Both houses of parliament had previously voted approval for the Treasury Ministry to hire and fire directors of public television and radio without the previously required scrutiny of media regulator KRRiT. Criticism of this and other measures have been widespread among media freedom and civil liberties advocates as well as the European Commission and Council of Europe.

“The president’s concern relates to the fact that the public media has been criticized for reliability, integrity and objectivity,” said spokesperson Malgorzate Sadurska. “What we have now does not have much in common with those criteria. Therefore, the President has signed this into law.” (See more about media in Poland here)

Several public television directors resigned in protest after the Polish parliament voted for the amendments to the Law on Radio and Television Broadcasting. Others not reliably loyal to the Law and Justice (PiS) party are expected to be removed quickly and the amendment takes effect immediately. While awaiting dismissal management and supervisory board members cannot "perform acts which exceed the scope of ordinary management or activities, which would result in new commitments for the company.”

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