Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS) focus its mandate in three specific content genres based on its founding principle as ‘People’s Media’.

Its Director General, Dr Wilasinee Phiphitkul disclosed that news, documentary and entertainment combined are the three key broadcast content since its inception 12 years ago.

As a public broadcaster adheres to self-governing philosophy and ethic, Thai PBS has built its brand by providing a “life-long learning experiences for all strata of the society”.  It representing the people’s local issues through various social  activities in three aspects – on air, on the ground and online programming segments.

Hence, Thai PBS has earned the “Trustworthy Media Broadcaster” with its tagline “Transformative Learning Space for All” which is unique and inclusive to serve all sectors of the society.

Dr Wilasinee was briefing AIBD team led by the Director, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam during a goodwill visit to Thai PBS in Bangkok.

On training requests, she hoped AIBD could help coordinate workshop on strategic management to change the mind-set and workflow of the station’s personnel bought about by digital convergence.

Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam, the Director of AIBD payed a courtesy call on the Honourable Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), Shri Ravi Mital, IAS  on the 15 January 2020, at the MIB Office in Shastri Bahwan New Delhi. Shri Ravi shared his insight on the changing trends of media and the Digital Age, and the further efforts by the Government of India on working closely with the international media organisation for the betterment of the Asia Pacific region.

Ms Gnanapragasam said that AIBD, as an international intergovernmental organisation, has a mandate to advise and educate its member governments and organisations on issues and trends shaping the media industry. The director added that AIBD looks forward to a more vibrant collaboration in the area of knowledge sharing in the region.

Elaborating on the AIBD ‘Anti Fake News Initiative’ the Director stated that it is important to empower the people with media literacy awareness and advocacy.

The insightful discussion ended with the Honourable Secretary agreeing to the plan of organising seminar or short conference on Fake News and Data Regulation outside Delhi. Mr Vikram Sahay, the Joint Secretary of MIB, was also present at the meeting.

Visit to Prasar Bharati House in Copernicus Marg, New Delhi

Next Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam, the Director of AIBD called upon Shri Shashi Vempati, Chief Executive Officer, Prasar Bharati. During the meeting the Director highlighted AIBD’s key activities and initiatives. Shri Vempati, discussed the many challenging factors on how to drive and monetise an organisation with an aging workforce.

The focal person for Prasar Bharati, Mr Sunil, Addl. Director General (Engineering) who is also the Directorate General Doordarshan and Mr Raman Kumar, Director in-charge of all the international relations for Prasar Bharati including Doordarshan and All Radio India, were also present for this meeting.

Visiting Doordarshan (DDI) and All India Radio (AIR)

A request to engage Indian experts for training from Doordarshan and having additional technical workshops to enhance capacity building was discussed during the meeting at Doordarshan. The Director reiterated that AIBD is happy to partner with DDI to organise such future collaborations in the region.

Meanwhile at the meeting in All India Radio, Dr Sangeeta Goel, Addl. Director General, suggested Workshop on Gender Sensitisation and Seminar on Media Literacy for future collaborations.

Visits to Broadcast Engineering Consultant (BECIL) and Consortium of Education (CEC)

The next day was reserved for the affiliate members of AIBD, with the first visit to Mr George Kuruvilla, the Chairman & Managing Director of Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL), whereby both two sides discussed about possible partnerships in 2020 and beyond. The BECIL agreed to support AIBD in providing trainers/experts and consultancy for AIBD member countries in the field of broadcasting, telecommunications for the media and technology development in the region.

This was followed by a meeting in the IUAC Campus of the Consortium for Educational Communication(CEC), where Ms Gnanapragasam met Prof. Jagat Bhushan Nadda, Director CEC.

He was joined by his renowned team-Mr Nageshwar Nath, Joint Director (HW), Dr Sunil Mehru, Joint Director, Mr Navin Soi, Chief Administrative Officer and Mr K.S. Mahejan, Consultant. Prof Jagat shared the information on the establishment of CEC as one of the Inter-University Centres set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India in 1993, focussing on Digitalised Higher Education with Content Across Diverse Disciplinary Stream. Ms Gnanapragasam spoke of how honoured AIBD is to be part of CEC`s vison to illuminate the path of digitalisation of higher education, to address the issues of equity, access and quality in higher education, through broadcast and non-broadcast media in India. She added that AIBD prepared to collaborate with CEC in any training activities and initiative for digital media and technology development in the region. 

AIBD/NABM Sub-Regional Workshop on Studio & Newsroom Automation in Kingsway Camp, 13-17 January 2020

AIBD in collaboration with Prasar Bharati and NABM conducted a Sub–Regional Workshop on Studio & Newsroom Automation in Delhi from 13 to 17 January 2020.

AIBD Director, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam, and the Compliance & Strategy Operation Officer, AIBD, Ms Lee Lai Mee were present at the certificate awarding ceremony. The Director took the opportunity to thank the CEO for the successful organisation and conclusion of the workshop. Six foreign participants of the workshop had the honour of receiving their certificates personally from the CEO in his office.

After the training concluded, AIBD team met with the Addl. Director General NABM, Gp Captain Ashok Nigam and discussed on possible collaborations in future training activities

Mdm. Nor Yahati Awang has been appointed as the new Director General of Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) effective from January 2020.  With many years of public service experience, her entry into the Department of Broadcasting (RTM) is set to bring fresh changes to the Organisation.

She Graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources from Universiti Putra Malaysia (formerly Agricultural University of Malaysia) and a Master’s Degree in International Development from the International University of Japan. She served the country with successful stints at major ministries, including Department of Public Services; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Tourism & Culture; and the Education Service Commission.  She was also chosen to participate in the government-corporate cross-fertilisation exercise for two years, serving at Blue Archipelago Berhad, a subsidiary of Khazanah Malaysia Berhad.

With over 25 years in public service, she was instrumental in planning and executing many national plans in public service management, tourism and education.  Ever since coming on board at RTM, she has been actively involved in the Transformation Plan of this pioneer broadcasting organisation in Malaysia.

The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) wishes to work with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn Bhd or MDEC on several feasible projects in 2020.

Director, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam said as an international inter-governmental organisation, AIBD is duty bound to help realise the aspirations of its members.

AIBD hopes to partner MEDC to conduct the following activities for the enhancement of the members’ knowledge in tandem with the Fourth Industrial Revolution:

a.     AI Data Week in early October;

b.     Conduct AI basic course online;

c.      Cross-Border Data Sharing among Government to Government (G2G);

d.     Feasible training workshop on AI and related areas on Data       Management.

This is the outcome of the discussion with MDEC’s Director of Data Economy, Ir. Dr. Karl Ng during a courtesy call by the Director, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam.

As Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) has launched a year-long ‘Angkor Anti-Fake News Initiative’ a group of officials led by the Director, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam, visited Singapore to learn and discuss about their recently enacted law- ‘Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019’ (POFMA).

The officials from POFMA, Ministry of Communications and Information, and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) were present during the meeting.

Ms Philomena said that AIBD, as an independent inter-governmental organisation, has a mandate to advice and educate its member governments and organisations on issues and trends shaping the media industry.

Speaking on ‘fake news’ the Director said a lot of the governments are considering introducing a legislation to deal with ‘fake news’. “A hastily made law could be detrimental in a democratic society. It is important to provide different perspectives to our members who are considering such a legislation to be put in place,” she said, adding that since Singapore has already passed a law it would be better to learn its best practices.

The officials from POFMA said that it wasn’t easy to come up with such a law. Various meetings and discussions with stakeholders at all levels were held before the enactment. It was also put up on public domain for feedback and suggestions, they said.

Ms Philomena said that AIBD is organising various activities on the issue in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and during the Asia Media Summit (AMS) in Kathmandu, Nepal next year. “As Singapore is a member of AIBD I would like to invite you all to come aboard this mission to share your best practices and experiences to other members”.

The AIBD officials also met with other members and partners during the two-day visit. At the Netflix, AIBD’s newest member, the two sides discussed about possible partnerships in 2020 and beyond. The Netflix agreed to support and be part of the Asia Media Summit in Kathmandu, Nepal next year.

At the Whiteways Systems Private Limited, an affiliate member of AIBD, the officials exchanged ideas on how technology is shaping the broadcasting industry. Ms Philomena said that the theme of AMS 2020- ‘Envisioning Tomorrow’ is to look at the concerns, challenges and way forward for the broadcasting industry in the next decade. “The Summit will cover both the content and technological aspects of the change taking place,” she added. Mr. Aale Raza, the Director of Whiteways said that change is overwhelming and if broadcasters cannot embrace it they would soon become irrelevant. He added that he will be looking forward to taking part in the AMS 2020.

Meeting with the officials at the Channel News Asia, MediaCorp, the Director highlighted AIBD’s key activities and initiatives. Ms Philomena said that MediaCorp was once a very active member of AIBD. “We would like to renew and revive this partnership. CNA has received many of our AIBD awards. There is so much to learn from you and I have no doubt that it will be beneficial for both the parties”.

The team also met with the Broadcast Asia Group and discussed about AIBD’s participation in the BroadcastAsia 2020 in June.

The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) being a regional inter-governmental organisation, wants to work with all governments on media information literacy (MIL) programmes in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Director, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam said as such, AIBD hopes to enhance bilateral relationships with all governments in the region by creating greater awareness on media information literacy among the peoples.   The move is to use the media responsibly and to promote a better media literacy for all populace in the Asia-Pacific Region.

She expressed her views during a courtesy call on the Ambassador of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to Malaysia, His Excellency Houmdaophone Soukhaseum at Laos’ Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

In his reciprocal remarks, the Envoy has assured to render whatever assistance needed to AIBD in executing these meaningful activities for the betterment of the society at large.

The Director of AIBD, Mrs. Philomena Gnanapragasam, called on the Ambassador of Maldives in Malaysia, Her Excellency Visham Ali in Kuala Lumpur on 4th November 2019. The meeting was part of the series of courtesy visits that the new Director is making to rebuild AIBD’s networks and partnerships.

The Director highlighted that Maldives has been a member of AIBD for a long time and appreciated the efforts in supporting the activities of AIBD. She said that AIBD is launching new initiatives and activities, exploring opportunities so that the member countries and organisations are benefitted in the end.

Ms Gnanapragasam briefed the Ambassador on some of the key activities being undertaken by AIBD, such as Angkor Anti-Fake News Initiative, Asia Media Summit 2020 in Nepal and Information Ministers’ Conclave in Samoa next year among others.

Congratulating on her appointment, the Ambassador reassured Maldives would remain an active partner and a member of AIBD. Her Excellency stated the need for assistance on adjusting and adapting to constantly evolving technology and reiterated the importance of AIBD’s role in providing this assistance.

The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) is ever ready to help our members in realizing their training needs and capacity building in the broadcasting arena.

Director, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam said AIBD as an international media training institute, will facilitate relevant technical training workshop to prepare our members in facing the broadcasting industry challenges in tandem with the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).

She made these remarks during a benchmarking study meet-up with a 4-member delegation from the Training Centre Division of Television Republic of Indonesia (TVRI) or PUSDIKLAT at AIBD’s premises in Kuala Lumpur.

In the pipeline, AIBD will collaborate with TVRI to hold In-Country workshops on Hybrid-DBBT, Data Journalism and Mobile Journalism or MoJo.

Led by the Head of PUSDIKLAT, Ms Ade Wandina Siregar, the Indonesian delegation was briefed on the 18 Procedures of ISO 9001:2015 which certified AIBD as an International Standards Organisation under the category of quality management system.  The Institute was assessed and certified for carrying out the various activities including training, consultancy, publication, content production, conference and workshop organization.

AIBD’s programme managers also shared the various training programme modules and activities including the Asia Media Summit (AMS) conference which is the flag-ship event of AIBD.

PUSDIKLAT hopes to improve its management of the entire training programme starting from Evaluation, Planning, Implementation and Utilization of training facilities optimally with the knowledge gained from the benchmarking study meet-up with AIBD.

The Korea Radio Promotion Agency (RAPA) has agreed to support a pre-summit workshop during the Asia Media Summit (AMS) in Kathmandu, Nepal next year. This was announced during the meeting held between the officials of RAPA and AIBD in Seoul, Korea on 24th October, 2019. The Secretary General of the Association, Mr. Choi Sang Kyoo, said they would be happy to be a part of the AMS.

Thanking the RAPA officials the AIBD Director, Ms Philomena Gnanapragasam, said the workshop will greatly benefit the members. “When it comes to technology advancements, most of our member organisations look towards Korea. Such a partnership is relevant and timely,” she added.

On the AIBD/MSIT/RAPA project ‘Support the Improvement of the Broadcasting Environment’ the Secretary General apologised that the 2020 project will not take place due to limited budget from the government. However, he promised that they would consider more than one country for the 2021 project. The Director said that the project is a good initiative. “It was announced during our General Conference and most of our member countries are looking forward to receive the support,” she said, adding that the technological know-how of Korea will greatly help AIBD members, which are mostly public service broadcasters.

The meeting also saw discussions on future partnerships between the two organisations.

The RAPA is an agency working closely with the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) of the Republic of Korea. They promote commercialization and dissemination of new technologies using radio wave among others.

The AIBD officials also visited the Incheon Community Media Foundation (CMF) Centre in Seoul and interacted with the officials there. The officials from the Centre made a detailed presentation about the Foundation, and their roles and responsibilities.

Among many initiatives the Foundation provides media education support to every layer of the society, including people with disabilities.

The Centre in Incheon has state-of-the art facilities like recording studios for both audio and videos, Virtual Reality and Drone Shooting facilities, and Multi Channel Network (MCN). All the facilities are provided free to public. They also collaborate with Universities and broadcasters.

The AIBD Director said that the media literacy efforts by CMP was an interesting concept to be replicated by other member countries. She added that CMF should invite media people from other countries to showcase their initiatives on fostering media literacy. “I will definitely talk about this concept to our partners and members,” Ms Gnanapragasam said.

The above meetings were made possible through the efforts of Mr Bae, Jung Seob, Special Advisory Officer to AIBD from Korea.