Canadian B'caster At Indigenous TV Conference

PUBLICITY RELEASE
THURSDAY AUGUST 9 2007

Canadian Broadcaster To Address Indigenous Television Conference

A member of the original advisory board that developed the concept for Canada’s first Aboriginal television network will be a featured guest speaker at the inaugural World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference to be held in New Zealand in March next year.

Canadian Jean LaRose – who was appointed chief executive of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) in 2002 – was previously the media relations officer and director of communications for the Assembly of First Nations, a position he held for eight years. A member of the Abenakis First Nation of Odanak, Mr LaRose has held various posts within the federal government, primarily in the area of communications.

The conference – WITBC ‘08 – will be hosted by New Zealand’s national indigenous broadcaster, Maori Television, and is the first ever gathering of indigenous television leaders from throughout the world.

Internationally renowned speakers who are industry experts in broadcasting, media and Indigenous languages include the leader of Welsh-language channel S4C, John Walter Jones, and the chief executive of Australia’s first national indigenous television service, Patricia Turner, which was launched in Sydney last month (July).

A World Indigenous Television Broadcasters Network will also be launched as part of the three-day event.

Maori Television chief executive Jim Mather says Mr LaRose led APTN through a very successful license renewal process in 2005. This now allows the network to access greater revenues as it moves forward to increase its range of programming and meet the technological challenges facing the industry shift to high definition television.

“Mr LaRose is adamant that APTN will become the key institution through which Aboriginal peoples in Canada will share their stories amongst themselves, with all Canadians and the rest of the world,” says Mr Mather.

“As a featured guest speaker at WITBC ’08, we will hear what strategies the indigenous network is employing to ensure it becomes the fourth national broadcaster in Canada by its tenth anniversary in 2009.”

Leaders, producers and planners involved in indigenous and public television can register their interest to attend the World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference at www.witbc.org.

ENDS

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