Amir Jahangir Represents Pakistan at the fifth Awards Ceremony of the Association for International Broadcasters in London

Islamabad, 4th November: The Association for International Broadcasters (AIB) held its 5th award ceremony at a gala evening in London. For the first time in the history of the awards, a representative of the Pakistani media industry was part of the exclusive international jury. Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of SAMAA TV, one of Pakistan’s leading Urdu news channels was among the 20-jury members, which included leading international media and business representatives from across the world.

The Association for International Broadcasters (AIB) Media Excellence Awards is an annual award program to celebrate creativity and to reward success. These awards are unique in the field of international electronic media by offering independent assessment of quality, using external and peer review by respected professionals from the broadcasting and wider media industries.

The AIB Awards recognize the special skills and needs of the international broadcasting industry – an industry that is constantly evolving and increasing its reach through new delivery platforms. The AIBs are independent and attract entries from throughout the world, representing the best of international radio and TV. The fourteen different categories cover the broad spectrum from single news events to long-term investigation and from traditional terrestrial broadcasting to innovative use of multi-platform formats.

The annual AIB Awards for media excellence have honored BBC Persian TV, France 24, Deutsche Welle and BBC World News, amongst others. The winners were selected from a pool of 200 entries from 26 countries.

The recently established BBC Persian TV won the award for the ‘Clearest coverage of a single news event’ for the Iranian elections. The winner of ‘Most innovative technology’ was France 24 for its iPhone application, at launch the first such app to appear. BBC World News anchor Zeinab Badawi was named ‘International personality of the year’, the judges describing her as “a clear winner”.

This is the fifth consecutive year for the AIB International Media Excellence Award. This year more than 300 entries from more than 30 different countries were received and a shortlist of entries was compiled from which the judges made their final selections.

Speaking at the occasion Amir Jahangir said, “The independence of media and its growing following and influence is not only bringing about a socio-economic change but a complete re-engineering of the entire political structure; with more research, development of specific academic infrastructures, induction of technology and more innovative forms of journalism.”

“Pakistan is standing at the crossroads of extremism and globalization, which puts a great responsibility on the media in terms of cultivating hope for the society to fight against extremism and terrorism”, said Amir Jahangir.

Mr. Jahangir further said “Societies and countries of the future will be successful not because their people work harder, but because they work smarter. Creativity and innovation are essential capabilities for working smarter.” He added, “The world needs to recognize the key role which a free and independent media plays in providing citizens with timely and accurate information and in giving them a voice in society.”

AIB Chief Executive Simon Spanswick said, “The AIBs celebrate the best in broadcasting worldwide and the winners highlight how professional output is continuing to stand out and offer genuine value in an age of user-generated content. The AIBs also demonstrate how broadcasters are using new technology both to improve program making and to reach out and involve their audiences more fully.”

Speaking about the inclusion in the jury, CEO SAMAA TV said” the selection gives a great sense of achievement; however our achievement lies more in the fact that we will be representing Pakistan on an international forum and positioning our country and industry among the top media and business people in the world.” He expressed his gratitude to AIB for providing him the opportunity to be in the prestigious jury and congratulated all winning entries.

“Our support in bringing innovation to the reporting mechanisms in Pakistan, has played a crucial element in the selection, however, this is just the beginning. SAMAA TV will continue to strive towards our target, which is a responsible Pakistani media working as a partner for the education and for a more informed and empowered Pakistan,” said Jahangir.

In April 2009, the VINNOVA-Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism honored Mr. Amir Jahangir as the Program Advisor to the Research Center on Global Media Development and Journalism. Mr. Jahangir has also played a crucial role in improving health reporting from Pakistan in this regard as well. The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) provides information, networking and insight for the international broadcasting industry - cross media, cross border, cross-cultural.

Its membership brings together international TV and radio stations, news agencies, satellite operators, regulators, research institutes and providers of technology. It covers TV, radio, online and mobile and its publications reach over 25,000 people in broadcasting and related sectors.

SAMAA TV is one of Pakistan’s leading private satellite television channels, which takes pride in its fair, factual and independent news coverage through its on-the-hour bulletins, breaking stories, incisive political analysis and current affairs programs. The channel is the first media channel is Pakistan to have established a well-integrated Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Program as part of it business activities. SAMAA TV’s CSR program carries various initiatives within health, education, environment and outreach programs focusing on improving the socio-economic situation of Pakistan.

The channel has also made a niche for itself through its programs on women and youth issues besides infotainment and sports. SAMAA TV, launched in December 2007 has network of district correspondents and five (5) bureaus across Pakistan along with international stringers in the Middle East, Europe and North America.