Fellowship of European Broadcasters

EUROPE

• EUROPEAN COMMISSION
  The Fellowship of European Broadcasters (FEB) has been actively involved with MEPs and Organisations working to protect children from inappropriate Internet and Mobile communications.
  We are pleased that the European Commission has presented a plan to offer a “European Strategy for a Better Internet for Children“. 75% of children in Europe use the internet, a third of whom do so by means of a mobile phone. The Commission’s plan was developed in partnership with Mobile Phone Operators, phone manufacturers and social network service providers – and aims to give children the tools to be able to use the digital world in safety.
  FEB will continue to press for Software to contain “Opt In” rather than the current “Opt Out” facilities for unsuitable websites. This is currently being initiated in the British Parliament.
  Source: European Commission

• UK
  The Church and Media Network is holding a single-issue Forum on Wednesday 23rd May at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster from 4 – 5pm. The Forum will provide a briefing for Church Leaders and Communicators to help them respond to the Leveson Inquiry, which was set up to examine the culture, practices and ethics of the media in the UK.
  Contact: Dorothy Mason dorothy@churchandmedia.net
  

• FRANCE
  Phare FM is a Christian Music Radio with 8 stations around France and one in Belgium. Phare FM aux Portes du Dauphine, has just begun broadcasting on Digital Radio, covering Lyon and its surrounding area. At the moment this broadcast is a demonstration only. Phare FM expects soon to have a European norm DAB+ digital frequency.
  Contact Ruth Portin: portesdudauphine@pharefm.com
  

• UK
  According to a Comres Poll, conducted to coincide with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, almost 80% of people in England support a religious role for the Queen. 73% said she should continue as supreme Governor of the Church of England and keep the Defender of the Faith title, first given to Henry VIII in 1536. 2012 is the 60th year that the Queen has been the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, and she will participate in celebration events from 2-5 June.

• SPAIN
  17 nations were represented at IMM’s Connect2012 Media Conference in Madrid. The Conference had 3 objectives: for people to leave with new resources for communicating with their culture in a digital world; make new friends and partnership opportunities and to get new ideas of how to use media tools to improve their ministries. Jerry Gibson, IMM Director and FEB Board Member was the Event Producer.
  Contact: Tamara Gutel tamaraarlene@gmail.com

• UK
  Christians in the UK are increasingly turning to social media sites to share their faith, according to a new survey by Christian Vision and Premier Christian Media. 700 Christians were surveyed, of whom 71% said they post links to Christian sites or content. However, only 25% of respondents said their church encouraged online mission.
  Contact: Peter Kerridge peter.kerridge@premier.org.uk
  

• EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
  The European Parliament has approved a clampdown on Mobile Network operators to protect consumers from paying excessive prices for using their phones and tablet computers while abroad. The new cap on fees was passed by a 578-10 majority with 10 abstentions.
  Source: ABC News
  

• UK / SWEDEN
  The UK’s High Court has ruled that file-sharing site “The Pirate Bay” must be blocked by UK Internet Service Providers. The Swedish website hosts links to download mostly pirated free music and video. In 2009 the Swedish Courts found the founders of the site guilty of helping people circumvent copyright controls. The site continues to function.
  Source: BBC News
  

• UK
  FEB is supporting a Campaign launched last week by an all-party group of MPs on an “Opt-In” filter to protect children from explicit material on the internet. The Government is currently working with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) on an “Opt-Out” system where users are asked when they set up internet access whether they wish to have a filter applied. The “Opt-In” plan is still being resisted by ISPs and anti-censorship campaigners.
  Contact: Harvey Thomas feb@feb.org

• ALBANIA
  Radio 7 celebrates 10 years of Broadcasting on 17 May, with a series of events. Most of that day’s broadcasts will be live with studio guests. Radio 7 has become the largest Christian network and producer of Christian content for multimedia in Albania and Kosovo.
  Contact: Erion Prendi e.prendi@radio-7.net

• OLYMPICS UK
  On the 13th July, as the UK prepares for the London Olympics, 20th Century Fox is bringing the acclaimed classic “Chariots of Fire” back to the big screen in a new digitally re-mastered version. Free official community outreach resources from the Damaris trust will enable people to make the most of the film when it is re-released. Visit the resources page on www.damaris.org/chariots which includes a taster video introducing some of the themes of the film.
  Contact: Judy Schildhouse judy.schildhouse@damaris.org
  
  

AFRICA

• SOUTH AFRICA
  The Association of Christian Media Conference is being held from 7-9 June at the Willow Park Conference Centre, Gauteng. The theme is “Ignite your Media Future“, with Keynote Speaker Phil Cooke. Visit www.acb.org.za/acm2012conference
  Contact: Natalie Turco info@acb.org.za

• NORTH WEST AFRICA
  Ze Mag, a French-speaking Christian evangelical TV show, is currently aired across North West Africa via TBN Europe and CNA (Channel North Africa). It will now be shown on Impact TV, a terrestrial station in Burkina Faso which also broadcasts on satellite to subsaharan Africa. The show is also broadcast by Phare FM and Radio Omega in France, and Radio Bonne Nouvelle in Cameroon. Visit www.zemag.tv
  Contact: Patrick Vauclair patrick.vauclair@free.fr

ASIA

• AZERBAIJAN
  A Court has decided to liquidate the Greater Grace Church in Baku, even though the Church has been legally registered as a Church since 1993. The Church has until May 25th to appeal. Wade Kusak, Russian Ministries’ Project Manager for Religious Freedom Issues in Eurasia says, “If members of this church continue to meet together, even 2 or 3 at a time, it will be seen as illegal religious activity and members could be arrested and jailed for up to 4 years”. This is the first known open attack on a Christian Church in Azerbaijan, and if the decision stands, would set a dangerous precedent, not only in Azerbaijan but in nearby nations such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
  Contact: Nicholas Leonovich info@russian-ministries.org
  

• NEPAL
  Kumaoni, spoken by 2 million people along India’s border with Nepal, became the 25th language in which Bible stories are produced by the OneStory Partnership. 40-60 stories are available on the www.onestory.org website in languages including Hindi, South Korean, Creole, Telugu and Kashmiri. The Partnership includes TWR International, Wycliffe Bible Translators, YWAM, Pioneers, Cru and the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
  Contact: Felix Widmer: fwidmer@cttw.at
  
  

• THAILAND
  Dr Jariya Sornmayura has been appointed as the new director of Voice of Peace. She will take up her post in June 2012. She would like to see the Voice of Peace Ministry using all forms of media to assist Thai Churches and Christian Organisations in broadcasting the gospel, as well as providing training for Christian leaders.
  Contact: Voice of Peace vop@voiceofpeace.org
  
  

• PHILIPPINES
  

GLOBAL

• PRIVACY CONTROLS TO BE ADOPTED BY MOBILE PHONE OPERATORS
  International Mobile Phone operators are set to adopt guidelines designed to give customers more control over how data about them is used. Currently, companies have no standard way to log consumer privacy demands or tell partners what data can be shared. Privacy preserving tools are needed, otherwise consumer confidence in mobile companies will be eroded. Vodafone and three other companies have signed up to the initiative so far.
  Source: BBC Technology

• RELIGIOUS WEBSITES MOST PRONE TO HACKERS
  A new report produced by Symantec, a leading company in computer-security software, has rated websites devoted to religion as the ones most targeted by malicious hackers. Infected religious websites averaged 115 threats daily, three times more than other websites. Symantec blocked over 5.5 billion malware attacks in 2011, an 81% increase on 2010. Mobile phones are becoming increasingly susceptible to malware attacks, with smart phone sales projected to reach 645 million in 2012.
  Contact: Bob Allen bob@abpnews.com
  
  
  

• SAT-7 KIDS
  A recent independent survey by InterMedia has found that SAT-7 KIDS channel has an audience of over 9 million viewers. The largest proportion of viewers is in Iraq (4,126,050) and Saudi Arabia (1,797,520). Executive Director of SAT-7′s Arabic Channels (and FEB Board Member), Rita Elmounayer, said, “It is very encouraging! But it is really the hand of God”. There are two live weekly programmes which receive many direct responses as well as a new SAT-7 KIDS interactive website. Children’s responses have quadrupled in the past three years. In 2012 the channel will launch a new programme for teenagers called Magazteen.
  Contact: Rita Elmounayer ritaelmounayer@sat7.org

• SYRIA
  According to the Barnabas Fund, thousands of Christians in Syria have been caught in the middle of the fighting, with opposition forces and Islamic extremists attacking churches, kidnapping and in some cases murdering Christians. The city of Homs has seen almost its entire Christian population of approximately 50,000 flee for safety. Open Doors has set up an appeal to provide families in Syria with monthly emergency family relief packs for the next 3 months.
  Contact: Patrick Sookhdeo bfadmin@barnabasfund.org

• BAHRAIN
  Volunteers from the Bible Society in Bahrain have been given special permission to visit Christian prisoners regularly. They have been holding Bible Studies using Story-telling techniques – and have also distributed Bibles to inmates in various languages.
  Contact: Hrayr Jebejian hrayrj@mtnmail.com.cy

NORTH AMERICA

• USA
  National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) President, Dr Frank Wright, has sent a letter of concern to the sponsors of the draft “Next Generation Television Marketplace Act” which would remove a number of provisions from federal Communications Law, including sections that affect the “Must-Carry” rules, retransmission consent and media ownership rules. He warned that this change to legislation could be fatal to many Christian TV stations and any diminution of the “Must-Carry” rule would have a devastating effect on religious programming.
  Contact: Frank Wright fwright@nrb.org

• USA
  Dr James Dobson will lead a “Building a Family Legacy” Conference over two weekends June 22-23 and June 29-30 2012 at the Skyline Church in San Diego, California. Dobson is head of Family Talk Radio and has updated his original parenting series with new research and insights. Visit www.buildingafamilylegacy.com

• CANADA
  Family Life Network, which began in 1947 with one evangelical radio programme, celebrates 65 years of Radio and TV programming in 6 languages, with partners in Russia, Ukraine and North Africa. Dessert and Coffee events will be held in British Colombia, Ontario and Manitoba in the autumn, as well as a cross-country tour with Russian and Ukrainian team members. Visit www.fln.ca
  Contact: Claude Pratte cpratte@fln.ca
  

FEB CONFERENCE 2012

The FEB Conference was at the Kim Hotel, Dresden, Germany.
Ignatius Meimaris was awarded the FEB Bridgebuilder Award 2012.

Ignatius Meimaris receives FEB's Bridgebuilder Award 2012

FEB Chairman, Harvey Thomas, was delighted to present FEB’s 2012 Bridgebuilder Award to Dr Ignatius Meimaris, Interbalkan Institute for Educational and Economic Development, Katerini, Greece at the Closing Plenary of the FEB Conference on Saturday 24th March 2012. Meimaris has built bridges between the church and local businesses both in the USA and in Greece. The Conference was attended by Delegates from 18 Countries and enjoyed an excellent platform of Speakers, addressing the Conference theme “The Christian Voice in Society“.

Delegates enjoyed a tour of Dresden on Saturday 24th March.

Beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon in Dresden

EUROPE

• FEB BRIDGEBUILDER AWARD, DRESDEN, GERMANY
  FEB Chairman, Harvey Thomas, was delighted to present FEB’s 2012 Bridgebuilder Award to Dr Ignatius Meimaris, Interbalkan Institute for Educational and Economic Development, Katerini, Greece at the Closing Plenary of the FEB Conference on Saturday 24th March 2012. Meimaris has built bridges between the church and local businesses both in the USA and in Greece. The Conference was attended by Delegates from 18 Countries and enjoyed an excellent platform of Speakers, addressing the Conference theme “The Christian Voice in Society“. FEB would like to thank Operation Mobilisation for their generous donation of books for FEB Delegates.
  Contact: Jackie Sibuns feb@feb.org
• EUROPEAN UNION
  European institutions have reached a deal to impose new limits on consumer pricing for mobile and data roaming intended to help reduce costs throughout Europe. The European Parliament is expected to approve the agreement in May, with the new rules beginning in July. Neelie Kroes, European Commission Vice President said, “The new roaming deal gives us a long-term structural solution, with lower prices, more choice and a new smart approach for data and internet browsing.”
  Source: European Parliament News
• UK
  The UK Magazine Industry’s ABC Circulation figures are to record sales figures across multiple platforms for the first time. The ABC has not previously allowed publishers to combine print and digital sales. Of the 500 free and paid-for titles, only 144 have increased circulation each year as people turn more and more to other formats. Publishers are now developing their titles as media brands and extending reader relationships on mobile, tablet and web.
  Source: PRWeek
• UK
  Flame CCR (Christian and Community Radio) has moved its medium wave antenna to a permanent site in South Wirral, in the north of England, and is giving coverage to the Wirral Peninsula and beyond on 1521 KHz medium wave. Flame CCR has been broadcasting 24/7 for 30 months, with a 75:25 mix of Christian and Community programmes. It is also available on www.flameradio.org. Flame is also received in parts of Germany, Sweden and Holland.
  Contact: Norman Polden flameccr@googlemail.com

• SPAIN
  The European Evangelical Alliance holds its General Assembly in Barcelona from 8-12 October 2012, with the theme, “Loving our neighbour in an individualistic society.” The Bible Teacher will be Dr Samuel Escobar and Speakers include Pablo Martinez and Thomas Schirrmacher.
  Contact EEA Office: office@europeanea.org
• UK
  Having moved into eBooks at the beginning of 2012, the Damaris Trust is developing a new series called min-eBooks – designed to be substantive – but short enough to be read in a single sitting – ideal for train journeys. Visit www.damarisbooks.com
  Contact: Nick Pollard nick.pollard@damaris.org
• UK
  The Archibishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, hosted a Conference in King’s College, London on “Building Bridges” between Christians and Muslims. Leaders of both Religions discussed the different attitudes to Death and Resurrection with 300 invited participants, including FEB Chairman, Harvey Thomas.
• TURKEY
  Channel Hayats (IBRA’s Turkish TV Channel) has launched an app to enable TV programmes to be watched on smartphones as well as on the Channel Hayats website www.kanalhayat.tv
  Contact: Gosta Akerlund info@ibra.se
• UK
  UK’s All Souls Orchestra celebrated 40 years of performances in a concert held at the Royal Albert Hall, London on Saturday 21st April 2012. The line-up included Graham Kendrick, Keith and Kristyn Getty, bass Jonathan Veira, pianist Grace Yeo and organist Richard Lennox. Future plans include a Prom Praise at the York Barbican on 22nd September and a visit to Scotland in October and November.
  Contact: Noel Tredinnick office@langhamarts.org
  
  
• UK
  Composers Charles Timberlake and John Daniels have released a new CD recording, Words Will Never Be Enough. The CD is a piano and instrumental mix of traditional and modern hymns, ballads and original compositions. Visit www.charlestimberlake.co.uk
  Contact: Charles Timberlake info@charlestimberlake.co.uk
  

AFRICA

• MOZAMBIQUE
  A new Community Radio Station, Radio Wimbi, will be launched at the end of 2012 in Pemba, northern Mozambique. Project Coordinator, Narciso Zandamela, sponsored by FEBA, is encouraging and developing relationships within the Pemba community and discussing their needs so that the station will address them effectively. Radio Wimbi will broadcast in the three local languages, Mahkuwa, Mwani and Makonde.
  Contact: Tim Hollingdale lifechange@feba.org.uk
  

• MALAWI

ASIA

• CAMBODIA
  A year ago, a Cambodian pastor asked TWR Cambodia for programmes suitable for street children and orphans. “Happy Children’s Garden” is now broadcast each Monday and Thursday. Children come to the Pastor’s church to listen and to learn their alphabet. The Pastor has also given each child a school uniform. Last Christmas each child was given a box of food and soap to take home. More children’s clubs are planned.
  Contact: info@twr.org.uk
• CHINA
  Dr Ray Pritchard’s “Keep Believing Ministries” Radio Programme is a one-hour Programme for Chinese Pastors which will air 3 times weekly from TWR’s transmitters in Guam. Chinese Pastors often serve multiple congregations and face surveillance from the government.
  Contact: Lauren Libby listmaster@twr.org
  

AUSTRALASIA

• LIVINGSTONE MEDIA
  Ian Cooke has set up the non-profit ministry LivingStone Media Foundation in New South Wales, Australia. The Foundation will provide TV Production Training and Mentoring services through all forms of Media including film, TV, video and others. It will provide skills to people either locally or in developing nations to create TV content in their own language and culture.
  Contact Ian Cooke: icooke@livingstonemedia.org.au
  

GLOBAL

• INTERNET EVANGELISM DAY
  Churches around the world will mark Internet Evangelism Day on Sunday 29th April – with the entire month of April designated as Digital Outreach Month. The day encourages Christians to use digital evangelism. The popularity of social networking, together with the availability of video shorts and increased usage of smartphone apps has helped make it easier. Ideas are found on the website www.ieday.net
  Contact: Tony Whittaker office@internetevangelismday.com
  

• LINGUADMS
  LinguaDMS (LDMS) has been developed by media ministry TWR and will change the way ministries deliver their message globally. LDMS is a cloud-based system which manages, archives and distributes digital files including video, audio, images or text. Content can be stored, called up and prepared for presentation in many compatible formats from websites and smartphones to Internet radio and terrestrial broadcast outlets.
  Contact: Ralf Stores rstores@twr.org
  

• OLYMPICS
  The BBC is launching 24 free-to-air temporary channels on cable and satellite platforms, running live streams of every sport taking place at the London Olympic Games. Sky is creating 48 temporary channels – 24 HD and 24 standard – to carry games footage; and Freesat is also creating 24 HD channels for the streams. The BBC’s aims to ensure that viewers have access to all events. Roger Mosey, Director of BBC London 2012 said, “As the London 2012 Olympic Games will be the first truly digital games, we wanted to offer an unprecedented amount of live sporting action to the widest possible audience through these 24 live streams, giving more choice than ever before.”
  Source: Broadcast
  

LATIN AMERICA

• BOLIVIA & PARAGUAY
  “Komm Kjikje” (Come and See) has been written by Family Life Network’s Helen Funk. It is an illustrated children’s book in the Low German language, of Old Testament Bible stories. Radio Producers Helen and husband Jacob Funk are distributing this book during their ministry trip to Bolivia and Paraguay in April.
  Contact: Jacob Funk info@fln.ca or hfunk@fln.ca
  
  

• USA
  The next Jesus.net Conference will be held in North Carolina in December 2012. More information to follow.
  Contact: David Nolent david@jesus.net
• USA
  Ecommerce in the United States has topped US$200 billion for the first time, with online retail sales forecast to reach US$327 billion by 2016. In 2011, 167 million customers – 53% of the U.S. population – purchased something online. That number is expected to grow to 192 million by 2016.
  Source: Mashable
  

Follow @FEBEurope

EUROPE

• FEB CONFERENCE DRESDEN
  Gary Hoogvliet, Director of Broadcasting for UCB UK, will speak on the topic, “Communicating a Consistent Message in different styles to different audiences (using 60 seconders)”, at the FEB Conference in Dresden 22-25 March 2012. Hoogvliet says, “the average time spent listening to a radio station is now in blocks of less than 11 minutes…. and total time on average is about 15 hours on a good week”. Hoogvliet will suggest ways of getting a message heard and creating an impact – and says, “At least radio is not yet down to 140 characters… so it isn’t all bad!”
  Contact: Jackie Sibuns feb@feb.org
• LONDON 2013
  “London 2013 Festival” is organising Leadership Renewal Meetings at which Jim Cymbala, Senior Pastor of The Brooklyn Tabernacle, New York, will speak. The meetings will be held in London from 18-23 June 2012. Cymbala’s congregation has grown from 20 people when he began in the 1970s to several thousand today. His wife Carol directs the 280-strong award-winning Tabernacle Choir.
  Contact: admin@london-2013.com

• UK
  FEB Member, Premier Radio, has launched a Campaign “Safetynet: Protecting their Innocence Online”. The Campaign will petition the UK Government to change the law to require Internet Services Providers (ISPs) to install filters to block pornography at source. Research has found that 1 in 3 10-year-olds has stumbled across and viewed pornography online, and 81% of 14-16-year-olds are regularly accessing explicit photographs and footage on their home computers and mobile phones. This situation will get worse as more children have access to the Internet through their mobiles, and as television and the internet continue to converge.
  Visit www.safetynet.org.uk or Contact Peter Kerridge premier@premier.org.uk
  
• EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
  The European Parliament’s Industry Committee has voted in favour of a compulsory reduction of cross-border mobile telephone tariffs. These proposals must be supported by the Parliament, with a vote expected in April. The proposals go further than those originally suggested by EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes, to bring more competition into the market and put an end to excessive phone charges.
  Source: European Union
• UK
  UK’s CARE, in partnership with the Evangelical Alliance, Christian Concern and the Christian Institute, have formed the Coalition for Marriage (C4M). C4M is calling upon churches and individuals to sign a petition supporting the legal definition of marriage as being the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. The call is in response to a Government Consultation proposing re-defining marriage to include same-sex relationships. Contact: Nola Leach: mail @care.org.uk and visit www.c4m.org.uk
• SLOVAKIA
  Radio 7, an evangelistic FM network in Slovakia, has added two more FM stations. The first is in the capital, Bratislava (103.6MHz) and the other is in Nove Mesto nad Vahom in western Slovakia (107.4 MHz). Both cities held an Opening Celebration Service on March 3rd. Radio 7 partners with TWR and Radio KSBJ (Houston, Texas). TWR will expand to other larger cities in Slovakia with a goal of reaching 25% of the Slovakian population by 2015.
  Contact: Lubomir Vyhnanek: lvyhnane@mail.t-com.sk
• UK – DIGITAL RADIO
  29.1% of Radio Listening in the UK is digital (35% among 15-24s and 19.4% among 75+). 49.4% of UK listeners tune in to Digital Radio each week, with 40.3% owning at least one Digital Radio at home. 67% use DAB; 15% use DTV and 12% listen online. In 2012, all new models of Ford cars will have digital radio as standard and the majority of all new cars will have it as standard by 2013.
  Contact: Russell Farnworth rfarnworth@twr.org.uk
• EUROPEAN UNION
  The European Parliament has adopted the 5-year Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP) which allows airwaves to be freed up for wireless services such as 4G mobile broadband. Under the programme, EU Member States and the European Commission must authorise the use of the harmonised 2.5-2.69GHz and 900/1,800 MHz spectrum bands by the end of 2012. Some 3.5 million jobs across Europe are supported by radio spectrum, which generates more than 250 billion Euros of economic activity each year.
  Source: Broadbandchoice.co.uk
  
• UK
  Ofcom has published a second consultation on the co-existence of 4G mobile services in the 800 MHz band with digital terrestrial television. The Government will allocate £180 million to fund consumer solutions to TV signal interference resulting from new mobile services. The UK regulators haven’t yet announced the auction date for 4G network coverage and it is already costing mobile operators millions of pounds to ensure the new wireless networks don’t interfere with television signals.
  Source: Ofcom 

• GERMANY
  2012′s Christian Artists Seminar will be held from 29th July to 3rd August at the KSI Conference Centre, Bad Honnef, Germany. There will be more than 80 workshops given by over 60 international teachers in Music, Communication, Visual, Multi-Media and Performing Arts.
  Contact: Magiel La Riviere ca@christianartists.org
  
• UK
  UK’s ITV CEO Adam Crozier has said that Product Placement has not really taken off in the UK because of strict Ofcom rules protecting viewers. Crozier would like to see the regulations loosened so that ITV can take advantage of more agreements – but not at the expense of editorial integrity. “You have to do it in a balanced way. The USA is too far in one direction and we’re too far in the other. A moderation of the rules would be sensible – but I don’t see that happening in the short-term.” he said.
  Source: Broadcast
  

AFRICA

• SOUTH AFRICA
  The Association of Christian Broadcasters will hold its Annual Conference from 7-9 June 2012 in Willow Park, Johannesburg. The Theme for the Conference is “Preparing for your Media Future“. Phil Cooke will be a Keynote Speaker. Natalie Turco has recently taken over ACB’s administrative role from Dave Hotchkiss.
  Contact: Natalie Turco natalieturco1@gmail.com
  
  

ASIA

• JAPAN
  Jesus.net Japan has launched a series of Internet evangelism “stepping-stone” websites in Japan. Jesus.net now operates Christian evangelistic websites in more than 20 languages world-wide and was recently awarded the National Religious Broadcasters’ “Innovation Award” for its global, cutting-edge evangelism strategy. Jesus.net Japan partnered with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association for its “Celebration of Hope” event in Tohuku.
  Contact: Jan-Willem Bosman jwbosman@agape.nl
• FIJI
  Bible League International has supplied 1,700 Bibles to Hindi-speaking churches in Fiji, for children who cannot afford to buy one. Bible League International is partnering with Samaritans Purse in “The Greatest Journey” Bible teaching programme, a follow-up to the Operation Christmas Child project. Local churches have identified children in their communities who will benefit from receiving a Bible.
  Contact: Mike Dworak info@bibleleague.org

• CENTRAL ASIA
  TWR produces and broadcasts Radio Programmes for the Uyghur people, who live mainly in Central Asia and China. TWR hopes to increase these broadcasts to 5 each week. It is estimated that almost 5 million of the 9-10 million people have never heard the Gospel.
  Contact: Russell Farnworth: info@twr.org.uk

• INDIA
  Asia’s “Twitter for Voice” service Bubble Motion has introduced an iPhone app for Bubbly. Bubbly is a mobile-based service for Asia that allows users to send Voice tweets and text messages to other subscribers, similar to Twitter. The new app is being released initially in India, followed by Japan, Indonesia and Philippines.
  Source: The Next Web 
• CHINA
  China’s web payment platform Alipay has announced that its mobile apps have passed 30 million downloads, with 60,000 new activations each day. Revenue from the apps has increased six-fold over the last 12 months. Alipay is used by more than half a million Internet retailers and services in China. Android (53%) is the most popular device for downloads compared with iOS at 27%.
  Source: The Next Web Asia
  
  

AUSTRALASIA

• EASTER CELEBRATIONS
  Fusion Australia is organising another Celebration Parade on Easter Sunday. The event begins in Hyde Park, Sydney at 2.00pm, with the Parade taking place at 3.00pm. The celebration will continue with musical items and other activities. Visit www.sydneyeasterparade.com.au
  Contact: Ben Arawan: contact@sydneyeasterparade.com.au
• CHRISTIAN MEDIA AUSTRALIA
  Christian Media Australia is holding its “Connect 2012” Conference at the Mantra Legends Hotel, Surfers Paradise from 9-11 May 2012. Speakers include Tim Schraeder, a Social Media Specialist; Tim McDermott, who runs a Christian Radio Station in Texas; Hal Short of UCB Media in New Zealand and Todd Isberner. Musician Colin Buchanan will play in concert at the Compassion Awards Dinner.
  Contact: David Turrell david@christianmedia.org.au
  
• ABORIGINAL ARCHDEACON
  Karen Kime has been ordained as the first female Aboriginal Archdeacon in the Anglican Church in Australia. Kime is a strong believer in reconciliation and has served for over 25 years in Anglican parishes. She has spent the last 18 months as acting Rector at St Johns Anglican Church in Wagga Wagga. Reconciliation Australia promotes reconciliation between the Aboriginal peoples and other Australians.
  Contact: Rebecca Gallegos rebecca.gallegos@reconciliation.org.au
  

GLOBAL

MIDDLE EAST

• SAT-7
  SAT-7 has appointed Mr Melih Ekener as Executive Director of its Turkish language channel SAT-7 TURK. Ekener has had over 25 years of experience in the Turkish TV industry as an actor, presenter, producer and director. He was a radio presenter for 14 years on Turkish national radio, and was involved in the founding of Turkish TV channel, KANAL 6.
  Contact: Rachel Fadipe press@sat7trust.org
  
• TURKEY

• USA
  Reverend Bill Skelton has died at the age of 74. Skelton was Chairman of the NRB Board until 2011 and CEO of Love Worth Finding. NRB President Dr Frank Wright said, “His long-standing service in NRB leadership roles has been very influential in shaping the worldwide outreach of the Gospel through electronic media. His words of wisdom, encouragement and challenge have blessed many in the community of Christian broadcasters”. Bill was a visionary Leader in the International Committee for NRB and one of the initiators of the Global Media Partnership.
  Contact: Frank Wright: FWright@nrb.org
  
• CANADA
  Family Life Network’s “Beautiful Unique Girl” (BUgirl) Team is touring across Canada, aiming at girls in grades 5 to 8 with the message that God values them and gives purpose to their lives. FLN coordinates the events with church youth leaders who invite neighbourhood girls to attend. Follow-up is done by local churches. The programme runs from September 1 to May 15. Applications for BUgirls interns, 18-24 years old, are being accepted for the 2012-13 season. Visit www.bugirl.com; contact info@bugirl.com or contact: Nora Plett nplett@fln.ca

• USA
  FEBC has appointed Edward W. Cannon as President of FEBC US. Cannon served Moody Bible Institute for 8 years as Chief Operating Officer and before that worked for British Petroleum. He also serves on the Board of National Religious Broadcasters.
  Contact: Edward Cannon info@febc.org
  
• USA
  A Nielsen survey of 20,000 U.S. mobile customers has found that smartphone ownership is greater in the young and wealthy than would be expected. Among 18-24 year-olds, more than half of respondents own a smartphone, even though 43% are students and those earning less than US$15,000 a year. This result indicates that many young people consider smartphones a necessity not a luxury item.
  Source: Mashable
  

To read the latest regularly updated BBC Technology News:
BBC News

EUROPE

• EUROPEAN COMMISSION
  The European Commission has proposed a reform of the EU’s 1995 data protection rules to strengthen online privacy rights and boost Europe’s digital economy. Currently the 27 Member States implement the rules individually – and differently. The Commission proposes a single Law which will modernise the Data Protection Directive and give more responsibility and accountability to Organisations who process personal data. People will have easier access to their own data, and will also have a “right to be forgotten“. National Data Protection Authorities will be strengthened so they can better enforce the EU rules.
  Source: European Commission Press Release
   

• UK
  CARE is encouraging more Church Leaders to engage politically and socially – in their neighbourhoods and with the Government. When politicians find out that CARE represents some 60,000 Christians and over 3,000 Church Leaders they take more notice of what is said and sometimes ask CARE for help. Throughout 2011, CARE had increasing coverage in the broadcast, printed and online media. The latest issue that CARE is tackling is the decision by the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) to allow advertising on television by private clinics who provide abortions for profit. Conservative MP Nadine Dorries said, “Broadcasters will be making profit through advertising revenue off the back of a service which ends life. It’s appalling.”
  Contact: Nola Leach info@care.org.uk  

   

• CROATIA
  On the occasion of his 65th birthday, Dr Peter Kuzmic was presented with a book written in his honour by the faculty at the Evangelical Theological Seminary (ETS) in Croatia. Kuzmic was the Founder of ETS, which provides education and training in Osijek, Croatia. ETS provides biblical resources to the post-communist world in Eastern Europe and would welcome donations of additional materials such as books and journals, to add to its library.
  Contact: Peter Kuzmic peter.kuzmic@evtos.hr  

   

• UK
  UK’s “theMediaNet” and “Christians in Journalism” are holding a Conference from 9.00am to 5.00pm on Saturday 3rd March 2012 at St James’ Church, Clerkenwell, London. Speakers include BBC’s Reverend Richard Coles, who presents BBC Radio 4′s “Saturday Live“.
  Contact: Ruth McGarahan ruth@themedianet.org 

   

• BULGARIA
  FEB Board Member, Dr Stoyko Petkov will receive the “NRB International Individual Achievement Award” on 21st February during the International Keynote Session at the NRB 2012 Convention. NRB Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Ron Harris said, “Dr Petkov has been a pioneer in Christian media in Bulgaria. His Studio 865 ministry is involved in TV and Radio programme production in Bulgarian and Roma languages, newspaper publishing and Internet ministry. His faithfulness for the Gospel is helping change hearts and lives for Christ“. Studio 865 was founded immediately after the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe 20 years ago.
  Contact: Stoyko Petkov spetkov@studio865.org
   

• UK
  Revelation TV celebrated its 9th birthday with a four live “special” on 14th February. They showed their “Building the Foundation” and “Church without Walls” programmes, as well as sharing plans for the future.
  Contact: Gordon Pettie gordon@revelationtv.com  

• SLOVAKIA
  Slovakia is becoming popular as a good place to start-up a technological business. Slovakia is part of the European Union and the Eurozone, it enjoys a fair tax system and has a great expertise amongst its IT workforce. It is also cheaper than other European cities which attract technical people such as London, Berlin or Stockholm. Google and Facebook already employ many Slovaks in Bratislava, the capital city.
  Source: The Next Web
   

   

• UK
  Sky has signed major deals with the BBC and ITV to bring the two terrestrial broadcasters’ video-on-demand services to its platform. BBC’s iPlayer and ITV Player will be added to Sky’s Anytime+ later this year. Selected ITV archive programmes are available now. This is the first time that content from terrestrial channels has been made available on the service, which comes free as part of the basic Sky HD package.
  Source: Broadcast 

  NORWAY
  Impact, the online safety coordinator of the United Nations, has invited Kids & Media to develop closer co-operation together. Impact has already published an online copy of the “Kids and Media – parental advice“. Kids & Media President Oystein Samnoen has taken part in several news shows on TV and Radio in Norway to discuss cyber-bullying, and is in the process of publishing a book, “Everything parents need to know about children, teens and digital media“.
  Contact: Oystein Samnoen oystein@barnevakten.no

   

• UK
  More than Gold has held its first “Get Set” Training Day in Sussex in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games, with 16 more planned over the next few weeks. The programme offered practical Workshops giving ideas of how to work with youth and children, and run Festivals during the Olympics.
  Contact: Peter Meadows peter.meadows@morethangold.org.uk
  

AFRICA

• SUDAN
  There is growing hostility towards Churches and Christians living in Sudan. Sudan’s Ministry of Guidance and Religious Endowments has threatened to arrest church leaders if they carry out evangelistic activities and do not comply with an order for churches to provide names and contact information. At the beginning of January, Sudan’s President announced that the country’s Constitution will be more entrenched in Sharia Law – and Christianity is now regarded as a foreign religion. Following the secession of South Sudan, more than 350,000 people, mostly Christians, have left Sudan.
  Source: Compass Direct News
  
  

• MALAWI
  The “Discovery” Programme is broadcast in Malawi on Sunday and Tuesday evenings over TWR FM in Lilongwe and on two satellite radio channels. On air at present are “Studies in James’ letter” by John Isherwood, and a series “Handling LIfe’s Problems” by Barry Cunningham. “Discovery” is produced by the Gospel Broadcasting System Ltd in the UK.
  Contact: Keith Stuffins enquiries@gbsradio.org.uk  

• TANZANIA

• MALAWI
  Pastor Mark Zimbiri of Good News Bible Church is organising a five-day Conference in Zomba City Malawi from 7th to 12th June 2012 and is looking for International Speakers to come and speak. Contact: Mark Zimbiri markzimbiri@yahoo.com
  
  

ASIA

• CHINA
  June Hunt’s “Hope for the Heart” Counselling series is connecting with Chinese believers struggling with life’s issues. Working in partnership with ZDL Books in Beijing, her books are being distributed to Chinese book stores. China’s government has allowed many best-selling American evangelical authors to distribute their books legally. The content is closely monitored by government officials, but they believe that some religious literature has a positive influence on families and society.
  Contact: Tammie McAdams tmcadams@hopefortheheart.org 

• NORTH KOREA
  Release International presented a petition with over 48,000 signatures to 10 Downing Street, calling for the British Government to put pressure on North Korea to permit freedom of religion. As part of the event, they staged a funeral procession outside the North Korean Embassy, symbolising the death of freedom under the old Government, and then released white balloons representing hope for a new beginning.
  Contact: info@releaseinternational.org  

   

AUSTRALASIA

• AUDIO BIBLE
  Megavoice International has designed a pocket-sized solar-powered, audio Bible which holds 320 hours of recordings. It is particularly suitable for blind or visually impaired people, and for many parts of the world where people are “oral preference learners“. They also have a new player known as “the Story Teller” which holds 10 hours of audio.
  Contact: Tom Treseder tomtreseder@megavoice.com 

   

• OPEN HOUSE
  Australia’s Sunday night Radio Programme “Open House” began its 2012 season on 5th February with an interview by Leigh Hatcher with Jane Bayliss, daughter of Melbourne News Reader Brian Naylor who lost his life in the Black Saturday bushfires three years ago. Also on Sunday nights, Leigh will run a 4-week series, “Humility – the key to love, life and leadership“. Open House can be heard in Sydney; Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin and Perth.
  Visit: www.theopenhouse.net.au
  

GLOBAL

OLYMPICS
Broadcasters’ increasing reliance on wireless kit will contribute to unprecedented levels of demand for spectrum at this year’s Olympic Games, according to Ofcom. Ofcom estimates that up to 20,000 wireless frequencies will be used during the games – more than double the number usually assigned in a year. It said that wireless cameras, microphones, walkie-talkies, talkback systems, timing and scoring equipment and sports commentary systems will all contribute to a “unique logistical challenge never faced before by the UK“. To cope, Ofcom will borrow spectrum from public sector bodies and unused frequencies freed up by the digital switchover.
Source: Broadcast
 

SMARTPHONES
Data from a recent survey by comScore shows that Smartphone penetration has reached 42% across the “EU5” – UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany, compared with 39% in the USA. Symbian is the dominant operating system in the EU5 with 32% market share, compared with 28% for Android and 21% for iOS. It also found that 75% of smartphone owners use their phones to browse the web, use an app or download content – with the most popular m-commerce activity being accessing a bank account (20.3% of users) and visiting an online retailer (13.9%). 21.8% of smartphone owners had used their device to take a photo of a product, 14.9% had called or texted a friend about a product and 10.9% had scanned a barcode.
Source: EConsultancy.com
 

DIGITAL SIGNAGE
Intel Corporation has announced a new digital signage product that can tailor advertising to individual shoppers by automatically recognising their age and gender. The Intel Audience Impression Metric Suite (Intel AIM Suite) is designed to bring personalised content to consumers, while also gathering data on age, gender and length of attention. Optical sensors on the signage analyse the pattern of the viewer’s face, including their eye socket and nose, to determine anonymous demographic information. Intel says that the market for digital signage is set to increase from US$1.3bn in 2010 to US$4.5bn by 2016.
Source: EConsultancy.com 

 

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
“There has been a clear trend for courts in Europe and North America to prioritise equality and non-discrimination above religion, placing the right to religious freedom in danger“, says Professor Trigg, Oxford University. In his new book he says that judges increasingly curtail the religious views of people in favour of other social priorities, and warns of a trend of the courts placing their own definitions of what is “core to a religion’s belief system”.
Source: Church of England Newspaper 

MIDDLE EAST

• IRAN
  Ofcom, the UK’s Regulator, has revoked the Licence held by Press TV Ltd, as a result of the company broadcasting an interview obtained under duress from a journalist held in an Iranian prison. Ofcom found Press TV to have breached the Broadcasting Code and have imposed a £100,000 fine. Press TV was removed from the Sky TV platform at the end of January.
  Source: Ofcom  

• IRAN
  Overcoming Media censorship in Iran is becoming more difficult as the Religious Authorities are confiscating or destroying satellite dishes and receivers, seizing computers and phones used to communicate with the outside world. Nearly all social media sites are blocked and every internet subscriber has to promise in writing not to access “non-Islamic” sites. This crackdown is affecting viewers of SAT-7 PARS in Iran. The Channel is doing everything it can to overcome these communications barriers but challenges remain.
  Contact: Rachel Fadipe rachelfadipe@sat7trust.org
   

NORTH AMERICA

• USA
  FEB will attend the National Religious Broadcasters’ (NRB) Convention in Nashville, Tennessee from 18-21 February 2012. Harvey and Marlies Thomas will be at Booth #246 in the NRB Exhibition and FEB is also a Sponsor for the NRB International Reception on Saturday 18 February at 17.00. Delegates to NRB will be welcome to visit the FEB Stand.
  Contact: Harvey Thomas feb@feb.org  

   

• USA
  The American Baptist International Ministries (IM) begin celebrating 200 years of global mission in 2012. Its 3-year bicentennial theme is Mission3 – reflecting entering its 3rd century of mission; the triune God and its three mission focus on evangelism, health and healing and anti-human trafficking. IM will hold a 7-day World Mission Conference from 18-25 May 2012 at the Green Lake Conference Center, Green Lake, Wisconsin.
  Visit: www.internationalministries.org/read/38513-may-2012-hear-the-call 

   

• USA
  Love Worth Finding Ministries has appointed Cary E. Vaughn as the ministry’s new CEO. Vaughn fills the vacancy created by last September’s retirement of longtime NRB Board and Executive Committee member Bill Skelton. Love Worth Finding is celebrating its 25th year in ministry and has nearly 2,300 radio stations and relays in over 150 countries.
  Contact: Cary Vaughn cvaughn@lwf.org
  

***********************************************
FEB DRESDEN CONFERENCE 22-25 MARCH 2012

WAYNE PEDERSON, PRESIDENT OF HCJB WILL SPEAK AT THE CLOSING PLENARY OF THE FEB CONFERENCE ON “THE 21ST CENTURY CHRISTIAN VOICE IN SOCIETY“. HE IS ALSO LEADING THE MORNING BIBLE STUDIES AND WILL BE LOOKING AT JESUS AND PAUL – “1ST CENTURY VOICES IN SOCIETY“.

Other Programme Speakers include Gary Hoogvliet (United Christian Broadcasters); Felix Widmer (Trans World Radio Europe); Wilfried Schulte (Neues Leben); David Nolent (Top Chretien); Henryk Krol (CCM); and Dr Bex Lewis (from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Winchester).

THE CONFERENCE OPENS THURSDAY EVENING MARCH 22ND AND CONCLUDES WITH THE SATURDAY NIGHT PLENARY AT 8.00PM REGISTRATION FORMS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.FEB.ORG/CONFERENCE OR CONTACT THE FEB OFFICE AT FEB@FEB.ORG.

PLEASE BOOK A PLACE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AS WE NEED TO CONFIRM NUMBERS WITH THE KIM HOTEL BY FEBRUARY 15TH - AFTER THAT WE CANNOT GUARANTEE ACCOMMODATION ON SITE.
Contact: feb@feb.org

***********************************************

EUROPE

• EUROPEAN UNION
  The European Parliament has backed proposals to open up more EU documents to public scrutiny. The proposals include digital data such as audio and video recordings as well as text. They would also reveal how ministers vote at EU meetings to improve accountability and to limit the exceptions under which information can be withheld on the grounds of security or intellectual property rights. Maros Sefcovic, EU Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations said that many of the amendments will be accepted by the Commission.
  Source: European Parliament 

   

• UK – PROTECTION OF MINORS
  The British Phonographic Industry’s (BPI) Parental Advisory Scheme has been extended to mark explicit content in digital music and video downloads using a logo signposting unsuitable files on sites including iTunes, HMV and Amazon. The scheme will provide consistent labelling – and should help parents to monitor their children’s online music and videos.
  Source:BBC News  

   

• SPAIN
  International Media Ministries (IMM) hosts “Connect 2012” a three-day Conference in Madrid from 17-19 April 2012. Phil Cooke will be the Guest Speaker, and Workshops will include: “Website and Design“; “Working with Oral Learners“; “Video over IP“; “Expectations with Media” and “Media beyond Sunday Morning”. On 19th April there will be a Gala Dinner to celebrate 30 years of IMM, with Guest Speaker Greg Mundis. Visit www.imm.edu
  Contact: Tamara@imm.edu

• SERBIA
  In 2011, the Serbian Bible Society published the Gospel of Mark in the southern Serbian Roma dialect. One of the main translators, Serif Bakic is pastor of a Roma church in Leskovac, and oversees the ministry of Ikonos. Ikonos produces programmes in the Romano-Serbian dialect.
  Contact: office@twr-serbia.org

• UK
  Premier Christian Media submitted a Report, “The Marginalisation of Christianity in British Public Life“, to a recent UK Parliamentary Inquiry investigating Religious Discrimination. It found that a significant number of UK Christians perceive a strong bias exists against Christians in public life and increased marginalisation of Christianity. Christians believe that the media often represents Christianity in a negative and misleading way. There has also been inconsistency in the way Law Courts interpret equality laws in relation to Christians.
  Contact: Sharon Molloy sharon.molloy@premier.org.uk  

   

   

• SWITZERLAND
  Swiss TV is to introduce HDTV on 29th February 2012 on six TV Stations. Fenster zum Sonntag will broadcast a programme in HD for the first time on March 3rd 2012 “Erstens kommt es anders”.
  Contact: Juergen Single juergen.single@sonntag.ch
   

   

   

• CZECH REPUBLIC
  The Czech Republic’s Coalition Government has approved a multibillion dollar plan to compensate Christian groups for property seized by the former Communist regime. The plan is expected to be passed by Parliament. Czech churches will get 56% of their former property back and 59 billion koruna ($2.9 billion) in financial compensation, paid to them over the next 30 years. In return, the state will gradually stop covering their expenses, including salaries over 17 years. In 1948, the Communist regime confiscated all the property owned by churches.
  Source: Associated Press
   

   

   

• HUNGARY
  Hungary could face legal action from the European Commission if it fails to bring its new constitutional provisions into line with European Union law. The Commission is concerned that the Hungarian media law may restrict press freedom. Hungary’s Constitutional Court has also rejected the country’s restrictive new Church Law as well as its Media Law and the criminal code. The Church Law, which would have taken effect on January 1st, only includes 14 Christian churches and Jewish congregations, forcing all others to seek recognition from lawmakers. The Hungarian Court has also rejected aspects of the Media Law, including rules on content regulation and confidential sources.
  Source: European Voice 

   

AFRICA

• WEST AFRICA
  “The last quarter of 2011 showed a growth in the responses from viewers of Christian television programmes in West Africa”, reported Martien Timmer, International Director of 3xM. In November alone, 3xM colleagues in West Africa received 45,000 responses, of which 35,000 were from Central African Republic.
  Contact: Martien Timmer info@3xm.nl 

   

• SOUTH AFRICA
  A commercial FM Radio Licence for Durban has been awarded to One Gospel KNI FM for a Gospel Music Station. This is the first commercial radio broadcast licence awarded to the Association of Christian Broadcasters (ACB) and the culmination of two ACB members working together. The station will be broadcasting in isiZulu and will be on air in May.
  Contact: Dave Hotchkiss djhotchkiss@telkomsa.net  

   

   

• SOUTH AFRICA
  South African Regulator ICASA has issued a 145-page discussion document on the broadcast regulatory framework for the digital era. There will be regional presentations and a March deadline for written comments.
  Contact: Dave Hotchkiss info@acb.org.za
  

ASIA

• INDIA
  India is being closely monitored by human rights groups as there are signs that enmity towards Christians is growing. Christians have been threatened and attacked by extremists, with several incidents around Christmas time. The All India Christian Council is asking the Indian Government to pass a bill to curb communal violence and seek justice for victims, and has also launched a nation-wide prayer campaign.
  Source: Christian Today  

   

AUSTRALASIA

• CHRISTIAN DIGITAL RADIO
  The growth of digital radio in Australia has been faster and stronger than most other countries, with research showing that over 960,000 Australians in metropolitan cities are tuning into digital radio. More than 600,000 digital radios have been sold since the end of 2009. Inspire Digital is Australia’s newest Christian radio station, broadcasting on DAB+ in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.
  Visit www.inspiredigital.com 

   

• VISION RADIO NETWORK
  Sydney has another new Christian Radio Station launched in December by Vision Radio Network. It broadcasts on 1611AM and includes contemporary Christian music, messages from international Speakers and Bible teaching. Vision Radio Network now has 514 locations around Australia.
  Contact: Ian Worby iworby@ucb.com.au
  

GLOBAL

OLYMPICS
FEB Member, 2K Plus International Sports Media, will be reporting from the 2012 Olympic Games in London for over 1000 radio stations around the world. They will produce reports, news and features with a Christian perspective in six languages including English, Arabic, French, Creole, Portuguese and Spanish. 2K Plus works in partnership with major Christian broadcasters such as TWR, HCJB Global, FEBA and CVC – and is currently looking for a French language producer and two English language journalists on a voluntary or secondment basis.
Contact: Adrian Barnard office@2kplus.org.uk 

 

• OLYMPICS
  ‘More than Gold‘ is running 11 Church Workshops throughout the UK from February to April in the run-up to the Olympics. The “Get Set Training Day” Workshops will give Churches ideas and resources on how to run Community Festivals; Using Sport to impact every age-group; Reaching Children and Youth and Using International Mission Teams.
  Contact: David Willson info@morethangold.org.uk  

   

• APPS DOWNLOADS HITS RECORD HIGH
  According to analytics firm Flurry, over 1.2 billion apps were downloaded in the last week of December. The USA was responsible for nearly half of the downloads, followed by China and the UK. The UK had 81 million downloads, with Canada having 41 million, and both France and Germany 40 million. USA had 509 million and China had 99 million. Flurry also estimated that nearly 7 million Android devices and iPhones were activated on Christmas Day.
  Source: BBC Technology
   

   

   

• BROWSER & TEXT MESSAGING USAGE
  Although Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is still the world’s most popular browser, both it and Mozilla’s Firefox have lost market share to Google’s Chrome in 2011, which is now firmly in second place. Internet Explorer currently has a 39% market share, Chrome 27% and Firefox 25%. Also, a recent Forbes Report indicates that text messaging may be on the decline. In Finland 8.5 million text messages were sent on Christmas Eve 2011, down 22% from 10.9 million sent on the same day in 2010. Hong Kong reported a 14% drop and Australia a 9% decrease. It seems that more people are using free social networking sites to send messages via the internet.
  Source: Mashable  

   

MIDDLE EAST

TOUCHLESS SMARTPHONES AND TVS
According to a small Israeli start-up company called XTRA3D – there will soon be no need for TV remote controls as you will be able to make hand gestures to control the channels and adjust the volume. XTRA3D is a developer of motion capture technology and has just received an US$8m investment to bring the first motion-control smartphone to the market early in 2012. Webcams and 2D cameras are used to extract 3D out of a 2D image and the company claims that the technology can be installed into any consumer electronics device.
Source: BBC Technology News 

 

 

• PROJECT HANNAH LAUNCHES IN ARABIC
  TWR launched Project Hannah broadcasts in Arabic in the first week of January 2012. The weekly “Women of Hope” 30-minute programmes are broadcast on Saturdays at 9.11pm (21.11) on 1233 kHz AM/MW. Schedules for other Arabic programmes can be found at www.arabicprograms.org
  Contact: Branko Bjelajac bbjelajac@twr.org
  

USA

• CHRISTIANITY IS WORLD’S LARGEST RELIGION
  According to a recent study “Global Christianity” conducted by the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, Christians are by far the largest religious group in the world. A hundred years ago Europe was the centre of world Christianity, but today the Americas are home to more than a third of all Christians. The United States has the world’s largest Christian population of more than 247 million, followed by Brazil and Mexico. China is also in the top ten, with an estimated 67 million. The study calculates that there are nearly 2.2 billion Christians around the world – about one third of the world’s population. Islam is the world’s second largest religion with 1.6 billion followers. The number of Christians in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased from about 9 million in 1910, to 516 million today.
  Source: CNN 

   

• SUPREME COURT DECISION
  The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Religious workers cannot sue for job discrimination, saying for the first time that churches – not courts – are the best judges of whether clergy and other religious employees should be hired or fired. It tempered its decision by refusing to describe what constitutes a religious employee so it is unclear whether anti-discrimination laws protect them or not.
  Source: Religion News
  

Harvey has been working extensively this autumn to network with various Organisations which are working on “Protection of Children” issues and to link them to each other. These include EuroISPA; EAVI; Kids & Media; SaferMedia and EURALVA.

Harvey Thomas is a Licensed Lobbyist, who presents the interests of Christian Communicators to the European Union (EU), on behalf of the Fellowship of European Broadcasters.

Harvey participated in the EAVI Conference in Budapest, Hungary from 6-7 December at their invitation. EAVI is the European Association for Viewers Interests – an Organisation promoting Media Literacy Educational programmes. The Conference was held in association with the Visual World Foundation with the theme of “Media Education and the Citizen.” He interviewed Paolo Celot, Secretary General of EAVI, on the Media Education of European citizens, which is a central focus for EAVI.

SNIPPETS
DECEMBER 2011

1991 – 2011:
FEB CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF SERVICE AND FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRISTIAN COMMUNICATORS. THANK YOU ALL – AND WE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND A PEACEFUL NEW YEAR

In this Edition: Europe; Africa; Asia; Central America; Global; Middle East; USA

EUROPE

• FEB DRESDEN CONFERENCE 2012
  David Nolent from TopChretien and Gary Hoogvliet have confirmed as Speakers for the 2012 FEB Conference, Kim Hotel, Dresden, 22-25 March 2012. David Nolent is Director of Evangelism for TopChretien, France, and Gary Hoogvliet is Director of Broadcasting for UCB in the UK. Other Speakers include Felix Widmer; Thorsten Grahn; Wayne Pederson; Bex Lewis; Henryk Krol and Wilfried Schulte. Registration Forms are available online or contact the FEB Office.
  Contact: feb@feb.org

• HUNGARY
  FEB Chairman, Harvey Thomas, participated in the European Association for Viewers Interests (EAVI) Conference in Budapest on 6-7 December. The Conference was held in association with the Visual World Foundation with the theme of “Media Education and the Citizen”. Harvey interviewed EAVI Secretary General, Paolo Celot on the Media Education of European citizens, which is a central focus for EAVI.
  Contact: Irena Panayotova irena.panayotova@eavi.eu

• UK
  UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced that 20 UK towns and cities are expected to get their own local TV stations. The first “pioneer” areas include Belfast, Brighton and Hove, Cardiff, Glasgow, Grimsby, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Swansea. Over 65 towns applied earlier this year. The government hopes to licence the first local stations from summer 2012. “I am confident these new stations will provide local communities with programming which is relevant to their daily lives, will support local democracry and enhance local communities”, said Mr Hunt.
  Source: BBC News
  

• EUROPEAN COMMISSION
  Technology and Media Companies including Apple, Google and Facebook have joined a coalition put together by the European Commission to “deliver a better Internet for our children“. The initiative, led by EC Vice President Neelie Kroes, has agreed a Statement of Purpose covering 5 areas: Simple reporting devices to enable effecting reporting and responses to content that is harmful to children; age-appropriate privacy settings; wider use of content classification; wider availability and use of parental control; and effective take-down of abusive material. FEB is actively supporting this initiative and is discussing additional measures to protect Minors with MEPs and Officials.
  Source: European Commission

• UK
  The Baptist Times Newspaper is to close at the end of 2011 after 156 years of continuous weekly publication. A special edition will be published in January 2012 to celebrate the paper’s history and the contribution it has made to the life of the Baptist Church. Falling cirulation and the difficulties of selling advertising space has contributed to its demise. However, the Baptist Times will survive as an online resource from next spring, with a news digest, opinion pieces and features at www.baptisttimes.co.uk
  Contact: Mark Woods editor@baptisttimes.co.uk

• NORWAY
  Norea Media Mission’s General Manager, Tore Askildsen has been elected as Mayor for Mandal for the Christian Democratic Party (KrF). Martin Birkedal is acting as General Manager of Norea.
  Contact Martin Birkedal martin.birkedal@norea.no

• UK
  Meryl Streep’s performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (UK Release date: 6 January 2012) has had many comments – both positive and negative. Damaris Trust has created a free package of Resources for Church and Community Groups, exploring some of the significant life issues featured in this film. Visit www.damaris.org/theironlady
  Contact: Holly Price holly.price@damaris.org

• EUROPEAN UNION
  The European Union’s Civil Liberties Committee has proposed amendments to current Regulations aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability and democracy in the EU by allowing greater public access to EU documents, and setting out principles and exceptions to such access on the grounds of public or private interest. The amended Regulation 1049/2001 will be put to a Parliamentary vote in December.
  Source: European Union

• UK
  The TWR-UK website now has a section called, “We speak your language” containing a selection of broadcasts available in Arabic, Cantonese, Polish, Bengali, Hindi and other languages. These programmes are suitable for those who are residents in the UK but whose “Heart language” is not English.Visit www.twr.org.uk
  Contact: Russell Farnworth info@twr.org.uk

• NETHERLANDS
  “Mobilising Your Mission” is the theme for the ICCM’s International Conference on Computing and Mission 2012 being held 8-11 February 2012 in Zelhem, Netherlands. David Housholder from Interserve USA is the keynote speaker. The Conference will include 12 technical workshops.
  Contact: Mick Leggett itdept@hcjb.org.uk

• UK
  The Evangelical Alliance has Researched how UK Evangelicals use old and newer forms of communication. In the last week, 97.3% had used email to an individual; 55.1% had sent group email; 45.9% had posted messages on social networks; 43% had commented on other people’s pages and 39.4% had used the internet from a mobile phone. Only 12.5% used Twitter; 9% had taken part in a conference call or video conference; 8.9% had uploaded a video clip to Youtube or a similar service and 2.6% had appeared on radio or TV.

  88% of respondents agreed that the internet provides an excellent way for Churches and Christian organisations to communicate although it was apparent that going online is currently an individual preference rather than a cultural norm in Church Communities. Online giving to charities went up 85% between 2008 and 2011 – with 53.6% of the survey respondents making donations online; 13.1% by text; 81.9% by cash or cheque and 85.1% by direct debit or standing order.
  Contact: Lauren Sibuns l.sibuns@eauk.org

• FRANCE

• SPAIN
  “Mi Esperanza” (My Hope) is a national evangelistic event taking place in Spain from 15-17 December. 1400 evangelical churches are taking part and inviting people to homes to hear a 30 minute TV programme with testimonies, music and a brief evangelistic message from Billy Graham. Spain’s population is 46 million – with approximately 450,000 Evangelicals.
  Contact: Ana Maria Huck eea.malaga@evangelismoenaccion.com

• UK
  Correction: The OneSheep Consortium website www.onesheep.org will not publish content as mentioned in last month’s “Snippet“, it will be a sign-up form for their email newsletter. HCJB Global and FEBA UK are founding members of the OneSheep Consortium which aims to help Christian enterprise by empowering content creaters to produce media that connects.
  Contact: Mark Taylor mtaylor@feba.org.uk
  

AFRICA

• SOUTH AFRICA
  African Enterprise will hold a city-wide Mission in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa from 12-18 August 2012 50 years after the first AE Mission in Pietermaritzburg. This will be followed on 19 August by a Jubilee Celebration at the AE Centre.
  Contact: Miles Giljam m.giljam@aeint.org
  

ASIA

• KOREA
  According to “The Next Web” – new legislation from Korea’s Communications Committee will see authorities begin to censor social networking and mobile applications before the end of 2011. Separate teams will also be formed to monitor radio and programming channels. Korean web users and civil protection groups argue that the new teams will limit citizens’ freedom of speech – and that social networking services are a “personal media for communication that cannot be censored”.
  Source: The Next Web
• GUAM
  TWR President Lauren Libby visited the island of Guam to celebrate the on-air dedication of two newly upgraded 250,000 watt digital-capable Thomson transmitters, which have been installed to provide increased signal coverage to China and south-east Asia. The new transmitters join three existing 100,000 watt units.
  Contact: Branko Bjelajac bbjelajac@twr.org

• VIETNAM
  The Bill Gates Foundation has provided a US$30m donation to a rural Internet initiative in Vietnam. The donation, together with $3.64m worth of Microsoft software will go towards a government initiative providing basic computer skills and the internet to 760,000 people. 12,070 internet-ready computers will be set up in 1,900 public libraries in 40 of Vietnam’s most disadvantaged provinces. Currently only 31.6% of the population has access to the internet at home.
  Source: The Next Web
  

CENTRAL AMERICA

• JAMAICA
  The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, will visit Jamaica from January 21-31 2012 to kick-off a year of events to mark the 50th Anniversary of the country’s independence from Britain. He will preach at an ecumenical service in Montego Bay and a special service at the Cathedral in Spanish Town. Director of the Jamaican Tourist Board, Elizabeth Fox, said, “2012 marks the start of a significant year in Jamaica’s history. Jamaicans are deeply religious people and Jamaica has more churches per square mile than any other country in the world. We hope that religious groups will come back and visit during the Archbishop’s visit.”
  Source Christian Today

GLOBAL

• LinguaDMS
  TWR International has developed LinguaDMS (LDMS), a new online tool to manage, archive and distribute digital files such as videos, audio files and text documents. LDMS serves content to websites, mobile applications, Internet radio and terrestrial broadcast outlets. It will complement the traditional broadcast stations around the world and will continue to evolve as digital technology changes.
  Contact: Felix Widmer fwidmer@cttw.at

MIDDLE EAST

• CYPRUS
  SAT-7 PARS is now available on IPTV Television. GLWiZ is the largest source of web-streamed Iranian television worldwide with over 120 channels and hundreds of thousands of subscribers. This media platform allows SAT-7 to reach a wider audience in Europe and as far as North America. GLWiZ and most other IPTV sites are currently blocked within Iran. Viewers can watch the low resolution feed for free at www.glwiz.com or pay for a high resolution version.
  Contact: Rita Elmounayer ritaelmounayer@sat7.org
  

NORTH AMERICA

• CANADA
  BBC Worldwide has launched iPlayer in Canada. The Canadian version offers up to 1500 hours of viewing and a subscription service accesses a full selection of programmes. Canada is the 16th country to have the commercial iPlayer, with launches earlier this year in Australia, Western Europe and Scandinavia. Plans to launch in the USA have been delayed to allow time to focus on some editorial and technical issues.
  Source: C21Media.net