(Continued from Page 6) their horrific stories on camera behind a mask in order to protect their identities and themselves. Our Current Affairs manager, who is a creative and energetic 28-year-old journalist/lawyer, developed the series. CNN gave the premiere prominent coverage. It devoted not only a major story to the project, but in its expanded “Back Story” program, the correspondent expanded on the details of the issues surrounding the abuse of women, the awful statistics, and what organizations are doing here to eliminate the problems. Additionally, the BBC and BBC World News, along with the CBC, CBS News, Public Radio International in the U.S., the Huffington Post and other news organizations and/or websites devoted space to the program. Another important initiative we started was a monthly prime time current affairs series entitled Kabul Debate Live. Last year, the taped program had a limited run. This year we decided to produce the series live, again with a studio audience, but with a twist. Each member of the 150-plus audience could vote on the question being posed to our guests using interactive voting devices, similar to the ones used on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. The viewers at home could vote via SMS using a special four-digit code. The first program, which aired at 7 p.m. last February, posed the question of whether the Afghan security forces could take over from the international forces in 2014. The studio audience overwhelmingly voted “no” while the viewers at home, numbering around 10,000 voted 57 percent in favor. As we say, “to be continued.” Our second program in the series started last March and airs at 6 p.m. The topic: Should there be enduring international military bases after 2014? We have additional current affairs projects in production now for broadcast beginning in Q2 and Q3. Additionally, we started carrying Euronews in Farsi (a similar Persian dialect) twice daily, at breakfast time and late night. Dari is spoken widely here, and those who speak and write Dari understand the Farsi dialect, which is the prominent language in Iran. This is the first time Euronews is being seen in Central Asia and Afghanistan. Amidst all the new strategic and commercial initiatives, Afghanistan and Kabul City have been rocked with an increase in violence. For the seventh time in as many weeks, suicide bombers have been striking in and outside of Kabul. The weather has been miserable. Earlier in February we were hit with snow and rain, making the already frigid temperatures a bit more uncomfortable. In mid-February, there were two holidays in Afghanistan — Liberation Day (from the Russians) and Prophet Mohammad’s Birthday. That gave me a chance to get away for three days in Dubai, which was absolutely wonderful, as always. I’m taking a week’s leave to go to the DISCOP Istanbul conference, which is the first time DISCOP, a growing media market and conference, is to be held in that wonderful Middle Eastern city. And it won’t be too long before MIP-TV in Cannes, so hoping to see some of you in either Istanbul or Cannes. The Lazaruses Get Hospital Coverage Herb Lazarus, the president of Carsey-Werner International TV distribution, and his award-winning artist wife Shelley, were featured on the front cover of the Winter 2011 edition of Catalyst, the quarterly publication of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of Los Angeles, CA. The Lazaruses’ inside feature story remembered their son Robert, who died in 2005 at the age of 43 from pulmonary complications from an earlier treatment for a Hodgkin’s lymphoma on his heart. The Lazaruses started a memorial fund to raisemoney for the rehabilitation unit at Cedars-Sinai dedicated to Robert, who was a successful executive in the cable television business and later in the dot-com industry. Famous quotes Have you noticed that vinyl records are back in? VideoAge Daily’s My2¢, January 23, 2011 Vinyl records spin back into vogue. USA Today, Money, February 25, 2011 ready ENTERTAINMENT ACTION HD CRIME LIFESTYLE FOR THE D E V E L O P M E N T • D I S T R I B U T I O N • R E P R E S E N T A T I O N Visit us at Stand R31.17 Visit cableready.net to view all available programs +1-203-855-7979 l info@cableready.net WORLD Email sales@cableready.net to schedule a meeting at MIPTV! V I D E O • A G E AP R I L 2 0 1 1 8
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