Amir Jahangir Represents Pakistan at the 5th AIB
Awards 2009 in London

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.