ASIA

Astro Radio launches local online Chinese news radio

Astro Radio Malaysia has launched YOU Streaming, it’s first Chinese news online radio brand that will discuss a variety of serious and casual topics such as current affairs, personal finance, economy, property, travel, feng shui and more in a light-hearted way.YOU Streaming will be hosted by local talents including Chien Waei, a TV and radio host, Cheery (Chong Mei), a young content creator, Jess, an experienced broadcast graduate, and Jian Herng, a young content creator.Listeners can stream the channel via the SYOK app and website and catch the following weekday segments live:

Breakfast show, Mondays and Fridays, from 8.30am to 9.30am; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 8.30am to 10.30am, with Chien Waei and Chong Mei presenting a casual and humourous take on current affairs from around the world.
‘A Deep Dive: The Current Affairs Show’, on Thursdays, from 9.30am to 10.30am.
‘The Law Show’ on Mondays, from 11am to 12pm, hosted by two lawyers who will present legal concepts in easy-to-understand layman terms.
‘The Insurance Show’ on Thursdays, from 11am to 12pm, which will share lesser-known facts of the industry and the importance of having insurance.
‘The Property Show’ on Fridays, from 11am to 12pm, delving into tips about property ownership and investment.
A financial talkshow, Mondays and Tuesdays, from 12pm to 1pm; Wednesdays to Fridays, from 12pm to 2pm, with Chien Waei and Jian Herng, covering economic issues, cryptocurrency, financial management, SMEs and network entrepreneurship.
In addition, listeners can enjoy the following weekend segments live on Saturdays:
The Good Vibes Show, from 8am to 9am, teaching listeners to build on their confidence and balancing their energies using metaphysical methods including tarot, meditation and more.
The TCM Show, from 9am to 10am, which will offer listeners information on Chinese medicine and health.
The Aromatherapy Show, from 10am to 11am, presenting the efficacies and taboos of essential oils so listeners can effectively utilize essential oils.
The Fengshui Show, from 11am to 12pm, discussing astrology, luck and fortune.
The Pediatrics Show, from 12pm to 1pm, hosted by Jess and a paediatrician, touching on paediatric pathology and childcare, including for new-borns.
The Book Show, from 1pm to 2pm, where the hosts will review books on topics that cover humanities and social science. […]

ASIA

You Call That Art? The Importance of Thinking Outside the Box

Content from BPRWhat is art, anyway? From one Danish artist’s point of view, it’s pocketing 534,000 kroner in commission ($115,000 in Australian money) from a museum.Earlier this year, the Kunsten Museum of Art in Aalborg, Denmark paid artist Jens Haaning in advance to re-create two older paintings. Instead, he kept the money without doing the job and called it conceptual art.

Haaning labelled his art as Take the Money and Run and it’s simply two blank whiteboard frames without anything on them.Haaning rationalised his artwork this way:“The work is that I have taken their money,” he said. “It’s not theft. It is a breach of contract and breach of contract is part of the work.”The museum is actually displaying the two empty frames on display in its ongoing art show Work it Out.Breach of contract or not….. that’s thinking outside the box (or the square)!It’s important for those in radio (or in any business) to think differently, unconventionally or from a new perspective; not just to confront every issue with the same problem-solving processes.“Inside the box” is analogous with the current assumptions about a situation. Creative thinking acknowledges and rejects the accepted paradigm so as to generate new ideas.“Outside the box” pushes us to explore ideas that are creative and unusual and that are not limited or controlled by rules or tradition.When asked the question “Why do you do it that way?”… we have all heard someone say ”Because that’s the way we’ve always done it”.Well, perhaps next time challenge them to think outside the box for a new, better way of doing things.By David Kidd, BPR […]

ASIA

New head of RRI-Indonesia appointed

The Supervisory Board of Radio Republik Indonesia has appointed Dr Hendrasmo as the new President Director of RRI.He succeeds Mohammad Rohanudin as President Director of the public radio network.Hendrasmo, 49, was previously President Commissioner of PT Prima Insan Sejahtera. He has a long record of public service, including senior positions at the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

He has close ties with RRI, having served as part of an expert team in 2016-18, a consultant and trainer from 2009 to 2014 and a student event host from 1993 to 1997.He holds a Doctorate in Political Science from Padjadjaran University in Bandung and also has a Master’s degree in Political Communication from the University of Sheffield in the UK. […]

ASIA

Afghan media houses seek government assistance

At a meeting in Kabul to assess opportunities and challenges of provincial radio stations, representatives of Afghanistan’s media houses sought government help as some media outlets have been shut down due to lack of financial resources.According to a report by Pajhwok Afghan news, one of the participants at the event, Zahidullah Angar, who heads a private radio station in Khost province, said that stations in many provinces were facing financial difficulties and there was nobody to defend the rights of the media. He also suggested forming a joint committee of government and media representatives to address media problems.He said: “The new government has not yet said if the old media law has been repealed, nor has it said that it should be broadcast accordingly.”

Ahmad Shah, head of a local station in Uruzgan, said stations in some provinces had stopped broadcasting because they could not pay their employees and called on the government to provide financial assiatence.Maulvi Abdul Wahed, head of strategic relations at the Ministry of Interior, assured security of the media and journalists and demanded that the broadcasts be conducted in accordance with Islamic and national values.He also said that the media should refrain from negative propaganda and spread positive news about the country to the world.Jamal Nasir Farahmand, the minister’s liaison and public relations officer, said the government had a positive attitude towards the media. “There are problems in the media, but we will work together and solve the problems,” he said.Representatives of the media also issued a resolution at the meeting calling on the new government to increase cooperation with the media in accessing information and provide them with credible sources of information.The resolution also said that local authorities in some provinces are imposing illegal restrictions on the media in violation of Islamic law and Afghan law. It also said that women are half of the society and neglecting them would lead to cultural and social crisis in the society. […]

ASIA

2021 ends with the decrease in journo-killings globally: PEC

According to Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the global media safety and rights body, the bygone year witnessed the killing of 79 media employees by assailants in 29 countries marking an improvement in journo-murder index by 14% (where 92 were killed in 2020).PEC has lately confirmed the death of Burmese journalist A Kay Sai (also known as Sai Win Aung) because of serious head injuries by theshell operated by the Myanmar military junta at Maekheewar village of Karen State on 25 December last. Sai (38) was trapped in crossfirebetween the junta forces and KNLA rebels and finally hit by artillery from Tatmadaw.“We strongly condemn the killing of journalists by the Burmese military personnel. Prior to him, Yangon-based freelance photojournalist Ko Soe Naing died under military custody on 14 December. PEC condolences their demise and urges the military dictator Min Aung Hlaing to deliver justice to the bereaved families,” said Blaise Lempen, secretary-general of PEC.

Myanmar (also known as Burma or Brahmadesh) is witnessing a series of unpleasant incidents since a military coup in February 2021 that deposed the democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi-led government in Naypietaw, where the media fraternity also faces unprecedentedatrocities. The military personnel detained nearly 125 journalists in the last 11 months and nearly 30 are still behind bars.Afghanistan emerged as the most dangerous country for journalists with 12 casualties in 2021, followed by Mexico (10 dead), Pakistan (7),India (6), the Philippines, Yemen (4 each), Democratic Republic of Congo (3), Myanmar, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Nigeria,Somalia, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Burkina-Faso and Turkey (2 each).“India has otherwise lost a huge number of scribes to Covid-19 complications since March 2020, only following Brazil (294 corona-media casualties). India (279) is followed by Peru (198), Mexico (122), Colombia (79), Bangladesh (68), USA (66), Italy (60), Venezuela (59), Argentina (46), Indonesia (42), Iran (34), United Kingdom (33), Turkey (29), Pakistan (27) and Nepal (23),” said Nava Thakuria, PEC’s Asia representative. […]

ASIA

Adthos scoops IBC’s Best of 2021: Radio World Award

Adthos has announced that it has won IBC’s Best of 2021: Radio World Award.

Launched earlier this year, the Adthos platform combines an innovative ad-server designed specifically for radio, with Adthos Creative Studio which provides advanced text to speech and synthetic voice technology to create audio advertising on the go.
The first release of the platform featured first-of-a-kind ad-serving technology specifically created for radio and online streaming. The second release offers the first broadcast-quality AI- generated voice technology to create powerful, targeted advertising at a moment’s notice.
Demonstrating the possibilities, in November this year, the platform launched a readymade campaign for radio stations focused on encouraging vaccine uptake which could be downloaded and used for free.
Using Adthos Creative Studio it was possible to generate 13.000 geo-targeted creatives in 70 different languages, all within a matter of hours.
CEO of Adthos, Raoul Wedel says: “The team has worked incredibly hard on bringing Adthos to fruition and to receive independent recognition of everything we have achieved is fantastic. And we’ll have even more to share in 2022.” […]