Îò: Anke Grossmann [Anke@bnc.glasnet.ru]
Îòïðàâëåíî: ÷åòâåðã 14 èþíÿ 2001 12:08
Êîìó: Elena Lazareva (E-mail); Leonid Osokin (E-mail); Olga Makarova;
Sergei Poselski; Shamil Fattakhov (E-mail); Vitally Tsutskov; Volodya
Chupin (E-mail)
Êîïèÿ: Olga Reusche (E-mail)
Òåìà: FW: European Public Information Bulletin n°85

Olga dear, are you getting a copy from them directly or should I sent
you?

Love and greetings, 

yours Anke 

 
-----Original Message-----
From: BIC-OPI Paris [mailto:opiparis@club-internet.fr] 
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2001 1:22 PM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:@front2.grolier.fr;
Subject: European Public Information Bulletin n°85


Dear Friends,

Please find attached issue N° 85 of the European Public
Information Bulletin for the month of  June 2001.

This document is being sent to you in PDF
format and below as plain text in the body of this message.

In order to open the PDF document you will need to have a
PDF reader, which can be downloaded from the Internet at no
charge from the following address: <
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html>.


With loving greetings,
 
Natascha Reeder-Brugiroux
For the Bahá'í International Community
Office of Public Information, Paris
 
45, rue Pergolèse - 75116 Paris - France
Tél.: +33 (0) 1 45 01 78 38
Fax: +33 (0) 1 40 67 15 02 
 
  _____  

EUROPEAN PUBLIC INFORMATION BULLETIN

Issue 85 June 2001- Published by the Office of Public
Information of the Bahá'í International Community - Paris

  _____  

Mount Carmel Terraces Public Information Special
 
Unprecedented media coverage across Europe, as communities promote
opening of Terraces at World Centre of their Faith
 
 
ALBANIA: A 40-minute programme on the Bahá'í World Centre was aired on
national television in Albania on 20 May 2001, as a result of previous
visits by a journalist and a cameraman to the Holy Land. Albanian
Bahá'ís and Counsellor Sohrab Youssefian were interviewed. A local
television station included a Haifa Tourism Board video of the Terraces
for a segment about the Faith in a 90-minute show on religions on 29 May
2001. A Bahá'í spoke over the video, explaining about the Faith and its
key principles, as well as the opening events.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Albania)
 
BELGIUM: A front-page article in the Belgian newspaper, "Le Soir", on 16
May 2001 began by quoting "The Earth is but one country", and commended
the Belgian community for its tolerance under years of wrongfully being
labelled a sect in that country. 
During the inaugural events, the Belgian community also had an "open
house" week and exhibition at the national centre, visited by
journalists and representatives of embassies and non-governmental
organisations.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Belgium)
 
BULGARIA: Short reports were given on two national television stations:
"Kanal 1"during the news at 12:30 on 23 May 2001 and "BTV" on 23 May
2001 during the news at 12:00. Both pieces lasted about 1 minute.
A positive 3-minute report on the Terraces on 23 May 2001, broadcast by
a national radio station, "Horizont", led a Bulgarian woman to call the
national centre to say that she wanted to be a Bahá'í. Another national
radio station "Darrik Radio" aired a report on the evening of 16 May
2001 just a few hours after a press conference held that morning. 
The Bulgarian community plans to hold a national event in order to view
a video of the inaugural events.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Bulgaria)
 
CROATIA: An initial press release sent out widely to media led to a
full-page article in the daily newspaper, "Nedeljna Dalmatia", on 4
April 2001, positively reviewing the Faith, the opening of the Terraces,
and some of the participants. Another article appeared in the "Jutarnji
List" newspaper on 28 April 2001. Television, radio and press were
present at a press conference on 10 May 2001, resulting in a 2-minute
news story on the television evening news and on the radio, and a
half-page article the next day in the "Glas Istre" newspaper, referring
to the peacefulness of the gardens in contrast to the conflict in the
region. "Mir i Dobro" (Peace and Well-Being) announced the opening of
the Terraces on 20 May 2001 and broadcast a 3-minute report, "The
official opening of the Bahá'í Terraces" on 27 May 2001. 
A 3-minute interview with a participant in national dress, before
leaving for Haifa, was aired on television on the evening news on 21 May
2001. Another "HRTV1" show, "Dobro Jutro Hrvatska", aired an interview
with a Croatian Bahá'í on the Faith and the opening of the Terraces, 27
May 2001. A press conference was held in Pula 31 May 2001. 
On 29 May 2001, media were also invited to a press conference on the
environmental and economic impact of the Terraces, with a presentation
by one of the participants.
On Wednesday 6 June, "TV Nova" broadcast a 3-minute report on the
official opening of the Terraces showing Croatian delegates in
traditional costumes and extracts of the video provided by OPI Paris.
(For further information contact the Regional Spiritual Assembly of
Slovenia and Croatia)
 
CZECH REPUBLIC: Bahá'í participants were interviewed for 8 minutes on a
popular morning news show. Images from "Associated Press" were included,
and the Bahá'ís talked openly about the Faith.
Another 3 interviews were given to a radio programme, and 2 more radio
pieces about the opening are planned. 
As a result of the 40-minute video provided by OPI Paris on the opening
of the Terraces, the Czech TV has decided to broadcast a 3 parts series
(3x7 minutes) as a feature programme at prime time shortly.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Czech Republic)
 
FRANCE: Articles have been published in national press such as in a
current affairs weekly, "L'Express", in a Christian weekly, "Témoignage
Chrétien", interviewing 2 French participants, in "La Vie" under the
title "Un jardin pour tous les peuples du monde" (A garden for all the
peoples of the world), in the Protestant weekly "Réforme", in "Notre
Histoire" and in "Actualité des religions". Dozen of articles in
regional and local newspapers also reported on the Terraces: "Nice
Matin" and "Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace", which ran a positive article
on 23 May entitled "Les Bahá'ís tournés vers Haïfa" (The Bahá'ís turned
to Haifa). "Canal+", a national television broadcast company, aired a
segment on the Terraces on its news channel, "ITV" and the cable channel
"Voyages" (Travels) broadcast a feature programme on the Terraces.
Radio coverage included reports on the national radio stations "Europe
1", "France Inter" and the international radio station "Radio France
Internationale". The Israeli Francophone radio station "La voix
d'Israël" (The voice of Israël) will broadcast a 20-minute interview
with a French Bahá'í who attended the opening of the Terraces. 
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
France)
 
GERMANY: The important "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" newspaper
published 2 articles about the opening on 22 May 2001, and the German
wire news service, "DPA", sent out an advance story on 17 May 2001. In
addition, the German "SAT 1" television channel aired a very positive
3-minute news story on the evening of 22 May 2001, describing the
opening as a sign of hope in Israel. 
A radio interview was due to be aired on the "SWR2" radio station, and
Bahá'ís gathered at the House of Worship and other locations to watch
the live satellite link. 
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Germany)
 
HUNGARY: A national private television station, "TV2", aired 2 reports
on the opening on 21 May 2001, with interviews, and in the evening news,
focusing on the gardens and the international gathering held in Haïfa
and on 22 May the opening of the Terraces was mentioned twice in the
afternoon and in the evening news broadcasts. An English language weekly
newspaper, "The Budapest Sun", and a prestigious weekly magazine, "hvg",
also wrote lengthy articles about the events. 
The Bahá'í community is also preparing materials for a 30-minute
programme for Hungarian national television.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Hungary)
 
IRELAND: "TG4", the Irish language TV station retransmitted extracts
from a European broadcast on the opening of the Terraces.
A 10 minute interview with Professor Seosamh Watson was aired on "Raidio
na Life", the Irish language radio station of Dublin.  The interview
featured the opening of the Terraces, and Prof. Watson was asked if he
thought the "gardens would improve peace prospects in the Middle East".
An article was published on the 30 May 2001 issue of the "Limerick Post"
mentioning that 5 members of the local Bahá'í community had attended the
inaugural events.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Ireland)
 
ITALY: Articles were published in "La Stampa" and "Travel", and the
Israeli Tourist Office sent out press releases to 70 newspapers. The
Bahá'í community also mailed press kits to media before the events. A
direct satellite link was set up at the Centre for Bahá'í Studies in
Acuto, which the mayor and the municipal administration agreed to
attend. 
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Italy)
 
LUXEMBOURG: Coverage has appeared in 4 national newspapers, "Tageblatt"
on 10 May 2001, "Letzebuerger Journal" on 15 May, "Republicain Lorrain"
on 15 May 2001 and "Luxemburger  Wort" on 23 May 2001 and on 3 radio
stations, the youth "Eldoradio" radio station, "Radio Ara" and on "Radio
RTL". There are also possibilities of further broadcasts by the "Radio
Socio-Culturelle" station. The national centre was opened for live
viewing of the events.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Luxembourg)
 
THE NETHERLANDS: Five articles were published in large national and
regional newspapers, resulting from reporting by Dutch correspondents in
Israel. The Bahá'í World Centre press kit was translated into Dutch and
sent to every local community, for use in contacting local press. 
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Netherlands)
 
NORWAY: "NRK", the biggest broadcasting corporation in Norway, recorded
the opening events for later use. Due to the composer Lasse Thoresen's
role in the events, all the major newspapers carried articles, with
almost a full-page report in the second largest newspaper. (For details
of media coverage in Norway, go to: < http://www.bahai.no/meny.html>
under "Mediaomtale").
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Norway)
 
PORTUGAL: Press releases were sent to national media, and are being
followed up by personal contacts.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Portugal)
 
ROMANIA: The Bahá'ís were able to use the dignified "Queen Marie" room
of the Hilton Hotel in Bucharest as the venue for a live satellite
viewing on 22 May 2001. The event was co-sponsored by Israel's EL AL
airlines, and attended by over 200 guests, more than three-quarters of
whom were prominent non-Bahá'ís, including the Ambassador of Israel to
Romania, a member of Parliament responsible for Minorities, Secretaries
of State and representatives from various ministries. Other guests were
architects, musicians, representatives of leading religions, major
television stations, the Spiritual Department of the National Radio, and
numerous other friends of the Faith. The event was covered well by "PRO
TV", the nation's most popular station, and by 2 major national
newspapers. 
National radio also interviewed the director of the North Israel
Symphony Orchestra by telephone, who commented on the spiritual and
harmonious atmosphere prevalent among the participants. The station
broadcast the entire concert of 22 May 2001. 
A press conference was being organised after the participants returned. 
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Romania)
 
RUSSIA: A report will be published in the next Bulletin.
 
SLOVENIA: Ljubljana's major daily newspaper, "Delo", published a large
article on the opening of the Terraces, with two colour photographs.
"Kranj Radio" has broadcast an interview, and "Slovene TV" intends to
include a report in its monthly program on religions in Slovenia. 
(For further information contact the Regional Spiritual Assembly of
Slovenia and Croatia)
 
SPAIN: In Spain, 7 public information officers teamed up with 29 local
communities to inform the media of the opening events and make use of
the live satellite links. To date, the events have been covered in 8
newspapers, 8 radio stations and in 5 television broadcasts. Fourteen
television stations are waiting for video recordings of the events and
some newspapers have planned to feature photographs of the Spanish
participants in Haifa. Journalists and local authorities attended live
satellite viewing of the events in 4 communities, and overall 15
localities tuned into the broadcast.
Press releases were sent to the tourism industry and media in Spain,
Portugal and Latin America by the Israel Tourism Board in Spain. 
The occasion also led to new opportunities for service, with many of the
Bahá'ís involved in contacting media interested in continuing to serve
in this field.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Spain)
 
SWITZERLAND: During the official opening of the International Book and
Press Salon in Switzerland, Federal Counsellor Ruth Dreyfuss commented
on the opening of the Terraces in Haifa. As she passed by the Bahá'í
stand she said, "The Bahá'ís, I know, you have the inauguration of your
World Centre in Haifa on 22 May". 
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Switzerland)
 
TURKEY: "CNN" Türk national television station did a 2-minute report on
the Terraces entitled "The World Centre of the Bahá'ís opened in
Haifa/Israel" on 23 May 2001 at 09:09. On the same day another national
television station "NTV" aired a 3-minute report "Bahá'ís gathered in
Haifa at the Carmel Terraces" at 18:49 on the "Looking to World"
programme. On 24 May 2001 the "Good Morning Turkey" programme on the
"Star" television station broadcast twice a brief report entitled "A
Garden with 19 Terraces opened in Haifa City".
During a special gathering, organised for the Bahá'ís in the Istanbul
Küçükçekmece Bahá'í Office on 22 and 23 May 2001, about 75 friends
watched the event on the satellite broadcast. In Ankara another live
viewing of the inauguration events was organised for the Bahá'ís on 23
May 2001 in the Çankaya Bahá'í Office.
One national and 7 local newspapers covered the events, with an emphasis
on the impact of the gardens on peace.  An article on 13 May 2001 in the
national daily "Sabah" also referred positively to the status of the
community in Turkey. 
Radio coverage included "Radio 34" and "Istanbul FM" "Call for Peace" on
22 May 2001.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of
Turkey)
 
UNITED KINGDOM: A good, 5-minute report was aired on the prestigious
national "BBC Radio 4" station on 20 May 2001, with interviews with the
architect, the director of the Office of Public Information in Haifa,
and one of the composers, Lasse Thoresen. (To hear the report go to:
www.bbc.co.uk/religion/tv_radio/sunday.shtml). A 15-minute report by a
Bahá'í journalist will be carried on the "BBC World Service" radio on 8
June (12:45 GMT), 11 June (17:45 and 23:45 GMT), and 13 June (03:30
GMT).
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of the
United Kingdom)
 
UKRAINE: The Terraces were featured in a 2,5-minute, well-made story on
a primetime evening news programme on the "ICTV" national station on 16
May 2001, as a result of a presentation to the media the day before. A
film crew from the station also attended the inaugural events to prepare
a further television report which was aired in the evening news of 28
May 2001 at 19:00, 21:00 and 23:00. The Faith was mentioned as the
latest monotheistic religion with a diverse membership and Bahá'u'lláh
was stated as being the founder. On 29 May 2001, a 7-minute report on
the Faith was aired by "Kiev TV" on "City News" at 21:00. This recent
coverage constitutes the first ever extensive TV coverage on the Faith
in the Ukraine.
(For further information contact the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Ukraine)
 
(All European communities are invited to continue sending reports of any
public information activities, events, successes etc. related to the
Terraces' inauguration events to BIC-OPI Paris for publication in the
next issue of the European Public Information Bulletin. News which have
been received after the closing date of this issue will be reported in
the next Bulletin).
 

Terraces Videos and Public Information CD-ROM
BIC-OPI Paris in collaboration with the Audio-Visual Committee of the
NSA of France has sent out videos of the Terraces' inauguration events
to NSAs in Europe and the Francophone world. The footage, 40 minutes in
length and cut from the live satellite broadcast, is available both in
VHS (Pal and Secam) and Beta-Pal professional versions (for use by
television stations). An English or French version is being sent to each
country according to its language. An international version (in Beta-Pal
format) with split audio tracks and intended to facilitate the process
of translating the video into the different European languages is also
being prepared.  All versions may be ordered from the Librairie Bahá'íe
in France (45 rue Pergolèse, 75116 Paris, France, Tel.: +33
1.45.01.83.53, Fax: +33 1.45.00.05.79, E-mail:
libahaie@club-internet.fr).
 
BIC-OPI Paris has compiled a CD-ROM of the proceedings of the recent 8th
European Public Information Management Seminar held in Acuto, Italy, 31
March - 1 April 2001. Intended to aid the friends in their follow-up
work with the media for the Terraces, it also includes the contents of
the CD-ROM prepared for the Terraces press kit. The OPI Paris CD-ROM has
been sent to the Seminar participants and to NSAs in Europe and the
Francophone world with the Terraces videos. 
(For further information contact BIC-OPI Paris)
 
Royalty and dignitaries honour Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum
HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, joined around 150 diplomats
and distinguished guests at a glittering event to pay tribute to the
life of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum on 15 May 2001 in London. The
evening was arranged by Her Grace the Duchess of Abercorn and her Arts
for Nature organisation, of which the Duke of Edinburgh is Patron.
Rúhíyyih Khánum was a founding supporter of Arts for Nature and took a
great interest in its aim: to utilise the arts to encourage people of
means and influence to make their contribution to preserving the world's
natural beauty.
After dinner, guests viewed selected nature paintings from the
collection of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh and architectural drawings by
the Hand of the Cause of God, William Sutherland Maxwell. The main focus
of the evening was a theatrical performance inspired by Rúhíyyih
Khánum's life and written by Canadian-born actress, Beverley Evans.
Entitled "A life so noble", the performance took four major aspects of
Rúhíyyih Khánum's life and character and personified them in four women
actresses. The actresses, including West End personality Maria Friedman,
were supported by four other women - from Botswana, Macau, Bolivia and
Iran. 
Rúhíyyih Khánum's own poem, "This is Faith", was set to music by
composer William Lovelady, and performed by a quintet from the Guildhall
School of Music. The evening ended with a recording of Rúhíyyih Khánum
speaking at a meeting in Belfast where she told the friends how much she
disliked saying goodbye. 
Every guest took away a specially produced gift brochure and a copy of
the book, "Prescription for Living". In his closing remarks, the Duke of
Edinburgh praised Rúhíyyih Khánum's tireless work for raising awareness
of the environment and her contributions to the network of Religions and
Conservation. 
(For further information contact the Bahá'í Information Office of the
United Kingdom)
 
 
