ABU NEWS


absence of Alan Williams’ crisp, newsy writing style after this issue.


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At the end of December, Mr Williams retired as ABU News Director after almost 15 years of service at the ABU.


“It has been the best 15 years of my working life,” he said. “I was very lucky to work with Asiavision and its members.”


Prior to joining the ABU, the Australian journal- ist’s career saw stints at TVB-Hong Kong, Radio Australia and RTB-Brunei. He joined the ABU in 1997 as Senior Officer (News) in the Programme Depart- ment and was promoted to Managing Editor of Asia- vision in 1999.


Last year, when he was promoted to ABU News Director, the Publications Department was officially placed under his portfolio. However, he had been involved with ABU News long before then.


As a native English speak- er, Mr Williams became in- tegral to the production of ABU News almost as soon as he joined the ABU. Apart from contributing the major stories to the quar- terly magazine and weekly newsletter, he also over- saw their production.


Over the years, his pro- found knowledge of ABU’s history, its member organi- sations and the key figures of the ABU News Group also served as an invalu- able resource.


Mr Williams primarily


eaders of ABU News will be


likely to notice the


ABU News Director Alan Williams retires


doubled from 10 to 23, while same-day coverage has increased with the introduction of a second satellite feed. These quan- titative changes which Alan initiated have brought qualitative changes.”


Training has always been in demand by Asiavision members and Mr Williams was instrumental in putting into place the training pro- grammes that Asiavision now offers its members. This includes news train- ing as well as technical training.


helmed Asiavision, the daily TV news exchange programme run by the ABU. During his tenure, Asiavision saw a sharp growth in membership over the years.


“Asiavision is a good product and it has better material now. There has been a lot of improvement over the years,” he said.


In the late 1990s, Mr Williams saw through the final stages of Asiavision’s switch from analogue to digital in its daily feed via satellite. The move to digital saw better technical quality in the material exchanged by Asiavision members.


“Because of the digitali- sation of the satellite exchange, Asiavision was able to cut down on the enormous cost of satellite fees. When we were using the C-band, each member had to pay almost US$10,000 a month, regardless of the size of


the organisation – NHK- Japan, SLRC-Sri Lanka or BTV-Bangladesh – all paid the same amount,” explained NHK’s Toshiyuki Sato, who was a News Group member from 1989 to 2003.


“Thanks to digitalisation, all that was needed was the installation of an antenna (KU-band) of just a few meters within our backyards. This cut the membership fee down to half or a third of what it was before.”


Mr Sato also pointed out the crucial role Mr Williams played during periods when there were differences of opinion within the group.


“Alan was always calm and listened to us very carefully. That won the trust of the News Group members.


“I asked him to take over as Managing Editor and since then, Asiavision members have more than


He initiated the Asiavision Advisory Service, which provides journalism and safety training for Asiavi- sion member organisa- tions. From Kabul to Kuch- ing (and many cities in be- tween), several journalists have benefited from this training.


Mr Williams also roped in Canal France International for joint training in locations such as Colombo, Dhaka, Bangkok and Mumbai.


During the past 14 years, he also chaired or modera- ted sessions during the biannual meetings of the WBU’s International Sate- llite Operations Group, which discuss satellite communications issues.


Looking back on his time at the ABU, Mr Williams said he has enjoyed the international aspects of the job, “doing what we can to improve the Asiavision service and broadcasting in the region”.


ABU News 43


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