Opportunities

Call for programmes: 31st International URTI Grand Prix for Author’s Documentary
Arman Trophy

URTI organizes, with the support of UNESCO and the entirety of the international audiovisual organizations, the first audiovisual International Grand Prix. 81 countries were thus represented for the 2011 edition.

In television, the International URTI Grand Prix for Author’s Documentary enjoys a great renown thanks to an important participation and to selected programmes of quality (223 documentaries selected in competition by 140 channels in 2011).

Each television channel can register for free one or two documentaries.

Grand Prix URTI: USD 5,000 to the awarded director.
URTI will support the international broadcast of the ten programmes with the statute of finalist by distributing in more than a hundred countries a brochure aiming to ensure their promotion and to support the sale of their rights.

You can fill the registration form directly online on the Web site:
 and following >  Grand Prix  >  Grand Prix TV  >
Feel free to contact the URTI team for further information

The 8th SAARF Symposium - Provisional programme –
Theme
Media Research Challenges – Dawn of a New Age:
Measurement in a Multi-Platform Future

Date: Wednesday 22 February 2012
Venue: The Fairway Hotel & Golf Resort, Setperk Street, Randpark, Randburg
Gauteng Province, South Africa

This is the eighth SAARF Symposium to be held by SAARF to provide all our stakeholders from the advertising, marketing, media and research industries the opportunity to be informed by leading international experts in the field of Media Audience and Product/Brand Research. Attendees will be able to share in the latest thinking about our digital future and life in a multi-platform world.

Topics such as the future of readership measurement and the status of internet audience measurement will be addressed and there will be opportunities to discuss how audience measurement is evolving to face new needs in the media landscape.

Speakers that have been invited are from the UK, the Netherlands, Australia and the USA and are all well-known international experts and leaders in the field of media audience research.

Leendert van Meerem, Managing Director Intomart GfK Group, The Netherlands
Megan Clarken, Managing Director- Media; Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa -  Nielsen, Australia
Andrew Green, Chief Marketing Officer, Ipsos MediaCT, UK
Pete Doe, Senior Vice President, Data Integration, The Nielsen Company, USA
Kate Bramich, Director, MediaCT, Ipsos MORI, UK
 

The Symposium will take place on the Wednesday 22 February 2012 and Registration will start at 08:30.

The Symposium will end with Cocktails and there will be sufficient time for questions and one-on-one discussions with the International speakers during breaks and during the cocktail party

Sponsors: Companies who are interested in sponsoring towards the conference are invited to contact Fiona (Fiona@saarf.co.za).  Sponsors will be acknowledged in the run-up correspondence and at the event.

Provisional Programme
08:30        Registration
SESSION 1
Chair: Dr Paul Haupt, SAARF CEO
09:00        Opening and Welcome, Paul Haupt, SAARF CEO
09:20        Leendert van Meerem, Managing Director Intomart GfK Group, The Netherlands
The Digital Consumer
The last two years has shown a dramatic growth in the development of the Digital Consumer. Smart phones and Tablets bring new functionalities that very rapidly transformed the consumer into a 24/7 mobile internet user. “Apps” is the buzzword.
Intomart GfK monitors this development every 6 months and the changes are shown.
Is print dead, television under threat or are these developments creating new readers, viewers and listeners? And finally, how do we measure all this in future?
10:05        Andrew Green, Chief Marketing Officer, Ipsos MediaCT, UK
The Future of Readership Measurement
In this presentation, Andrew looks at some of the key measurement challenges facing newspapers and magazines, as audiences increasingly embrace digital platforms and publishers have to fight even harder for scarce advertising revenues.
10:50        Tea/coffee/refreshments
SESSION 2
Chair: Dr Tiffany Tracey, Senior Technical Support Executive, SAARF
11:20        Megan Clarken, Managing Director–Media; Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa-Nielsen, Australia
Accountability in Digital Media
The global trends in digital media across Online, Mobile and Social and the movement towards convergence of Media Platforms will be covered. The accountability that exists in the traditional media space and the need for this to extend across Digital Media in order to grow AdSpend, will be addressed. Examples of markets that have successfully implemented a measurement currency for Online and why this has been necessary, with specific reference to the recent Australian tender process, will be discussed. In closing, it will be shown how this fits into a converged media world and some take aways for the future will be given.
12:05        Leendert van Meerem, Managing Director Intomart GfK Group, The Netherlands
Internet measurement in the Netherlands
If we look at the Web as a new separate medium it needs an audience measurement currency. In many countries the audience measurement of the Internet is under discussion. Concepts such as user centric, site centric, small panels, big panels, cookies, tags, toolbar applications, reliable measurement of private usage in the office, at work all are part of this debate.
This discussion in the Netherlands has led to a new total approach to the Internet currency from 2012.
12:50        Lunch
SESSION 3
Chair: Mpho Mathebula, Technical Support Executive
14:00        Kate Bramich, Director, MediaCT- Ipsos MORI, UK
Radio Measurement in a Digital UK
This presentation will focus on the short term and long term objectives of RAJAR, the UK’s radio audience measurement survey, within the context of the UK marketplace and digital trends.
14:45        Pete Doe, Senior Vice President, Data Integration, The Nielsen Company, USA
Making better bets: improving targeting reliability and precision
Using brand target data can improve the precision of advertising planning compared with standard demographic planning. However, the cost of this improved precision is predictability: more precise targets have smaller sample sizes and research findings are therefore less stable. This paper shows how we can systematically identify reliable target index data, whatever the media and the targets being considered.
15:30        Tea/coffee/refreshments
SESSION 4
Chair: Dr Michelle Boehme, Technical Manager, SAARF
16:00        To be Confirmed
16:45        Summary and close, Michelle Boehme, Technical Manager, SAARF
NOTE:  SAARF reserves the right to make changes to the programme as dictated by the availability of speakers or due to any other circumstances.

Nieman-Berkman fellowship in innovative journalism open [Worldwide]

Deadline: 15/2/2012
Journalists worldwide working for a news organization in a business, technology, or leadership capacity can apply for a US$60,000 fellowship at Harvard.

The Nieman Foundation for Journalism and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society will host one fellow for an academic year to carry out a research project on journalism innovation.

Candidates must propose a project relating to journalism’s digital transformation. Examples might include ideas for new revenue streams to fund journalism, the construction of new tools for reporting or research into news consumption patterns.

Fellows receive additional allowances for housing, childcare and health insurance.

Applicants must submit a personal statement, project proposal, work samples, four recommendation letters and a leave of absence letter by February 15.

Eligibility
The Nieman-Berkman Fellowship is open to both United States citizens and citizens of other countries.

Candidates should either be working journalists or work for a news organization in a business, technology, or leadership capacity. Independent journalists are also welcome to apply.

The Nieman Foundation and the Berkman Center share a commitment to diversity and encourage applications from members of underrepresented groups.

Learn more about the requirements and stipulations for eligibility.

For more information, click here.

According to the African Development Bank today, "the middle class in Africa is about the size of the middle class in India or China." The African middle class accounted for only a quarter of the population in 1980, they now represent 34.3%. The increase is even more impressive in terms of number: they were 111 million in 1980, they were 313 million in 2010. This increase will certainly have an impact on media investment and audience research.

The African Media Initiative (AMI) and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) have launched a strategic partnership to provide professional training and other forms of technical support to develop media businesses across the African continent.