Frank Melloul

Frank Melloul was born on 2 July 1973 in Fribourg, Switzerland. A media personality and foreign affairs specialist, Melloul was Communications Advisor to former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, as well as a Director of Strategy, Research and International Business Development at France Médias Monde (formerly known as Audiovisuel extérieur de la France), an international holding company comprising France 24, Radio France Internationale (RFI), Monte Carlo Doualiya and TV5 Monde. Since 2013, he has been running the Israel-based international news channel i24news.

Education

Melloul studied law but is not a lawyer, and obtained a degree in International relations at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva in 1999. He later acquired a master's degree in international relations at the Écoles des hautes études internationales et politiques (EHEI) in 2000, a Masters in Negotiation at Paris XI (2001); auditor Joint Defense College.

Politics

Upon completing his studies, Melloul joined France's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in 2001 as a special assistant to the Director of Strategic Affairs, Security and Disarmament. He worked as an editor on the "Crisis Management and European Security and Defense Politics" portfolio. He was then appointed director of communications and press relations at the Ministry of European Affairs, under Noelle Lenoir's leadership (2002–2003).[1] He later worked as Deputy Spokesperson at Quai d'Orsay from 2003 to 2004 and was responsible for strategic affairs, security, disarmament, terrorism, the Middle East, North Africa and the United Nations during the Iraq crisis. In April 2004, Melloul was appointed Press and Communications Advisor to Dominique de Villepin's Ministry of Interior, Internal Security and Local Freedoms, with a special focus on international issues and the war against terrorism. Afterwards, he was named Advisor to the Prime Minister and was put in charge of Communications and Media Relations from 2005 to 2007.[2] From March 2009 to June 2009, Melloul participated in the AfPak (Afghanistan-Pakistan) negotiations at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs as an Advisor to Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Pierre Lellouche. He was then named Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State for European Affairs from June to August 2009 in order to implement the committee's roadmap.[3] In June 2010, Melloul was tasked by UMP party Secretary-General Xavier Bertrand with the mission of broadening France's influence on the international scene. In a report he submitted on 12 October 2010,[4] Melloul proposed a number of recommendations to improve the country's diplomatic stance.[5]

Television

Melloul held the position of Director of Strategic and International Development at the international news channel France 24 from May 2007 to June 2008, before becoming Director of Strategy, Development and Public Affairs at the France Médias Monde holding company in July 2008 [6] and then being appointed in February 2012 to head the Strategy, Research and International Business Development division. He continued contributing to the latter regarding strategic thinking on the influence of international French media with Alain de Pouzilhac, France Médias Monde's former CEO. Melloul also spearheaded the creation of a network of "strategists" - international media personalities who regularly meet with the BBC, Deutsche Welle, the Broadcasting Board of Governors and Radio Netherland Worldwide's strategists.[7]

On 22 August 2012 he was a candidate for the presidency position at France Médias Monde[8] with the CSA after Alain de Pouzilhac retired, but Marie-Christine Saragosse's candidacy was ultimately approved.

Melloul is the founder and CEO[9] of the international Israeli news channel i24news [10] (of which he owns 15% in holdings), which began broadcasting in July 2013 in English, French and Arabic,[11] under the leadership of Patrick Drahi.[12] Through the launch of i24NEWS, Melloul's aim was to show the world that there was a place for new journalism from the one democracy in the region. Moreover, Melloul hired a hundred and sixty journalists, many of whom are bilingual Israelis, with others hailing from countries such as South Africa, France, Belgium, Egypt, and the United States.[13]

One year after the launch of i24NEWS, Melloul comments the very optimistic figures of the channel: the i24NEWS viewer watches the channel for one hour a day on average, which is an outstanding figure.[14] According to a controversial 2015 investigative report by magazine L'Obs, the i24 news channel, although intended to compete with heavyweight broadcasters, failed to achieve their expected success.

Throughout the years, Melloul's aim was to expand the international news channel as a global network media.[15] i24NEWS was launched in the United States in 2017 and started to broadcast from Times Square on 13 February 2017[16] through Optimum, Suddenlink,[17] Mediacom, Comcast[18] and Spectrum operators, representing a worldwide audience of 15 million households.[18] Melloul has always been convinced that the American audience is deeply interested by the Middle East news and much larger, which opens perspectives of development [19]

Melloul appointed Robert Wheelock (ex-ABC), David Shuster (ex-MSNBC), and Dan Raviv (ex-CBS) as part of this new American team.[20] In 2017, the channel was nominated in the news category of Global Prizes of the Emmy International award [21] and EutelSat TV Awards [22]

Four years after the launch of i24NEWS, Melloul i24NEWS CEO fought for the channel to be broadcast in Israel. According to the Israeli law, news broadcasts can be aired on cable or satellite, but only by an independent news producer. Thus, the owners of the broadcast medium cannot also own the news media. For Melloul, there was a paradox that i24NEWS was not broadcast in Israel, and there was a fundamental misunderstanding in this designation, and it is possible that its source is in the fact that this channel is a new hybrid which had yet to be seen in the industry on one hand, most of the journalists are broadcasting from Israel; on the other hand, the channel's content is directed to a global audience. In absurd fashion, as things stand today, the channel broadcasts to many countries all over the world, to more than one billion households, and the only place in which it cannot be aired is Israel.[23]

The Israeli legislation finally approved Melloul's request in May 2017. Melloul says it is a double satisfaction. First this law project had a consensus among the Knesset and received the support of the whole political spectrum. Second, the legislation acknowledged the professionalism of the channel and its influence on a global scale.[24]

MK Nachman Shai, the initiator of the law, said once the bill was passed: "Today, we have bridged a gap that has been particularly prominent for foreign-language speakers with regard to Israeli television broadcasts, most of which deal with Israeli affairs. Channel i24news has proven over the years that it meets professional standards, serving a wide audience outside the borders of Israel and now also within Israel [25]

In August 2018, i24NEWS began to broadcast in Israel on HOT, in English, French and Arabic.[26][27]

Working with 300 employees worldwide, i24News broadcast from studios in Tel Aviv, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Washington, DC, to over 1 billion households during 2019.[28]

References
  1. Nomination. JORF n°186 du 10 août 2002 page 13748 texte n° 64, Arrêté du 1er août 2002 portant nomination au cabinet de la ministre déléguée, JORF, France, 10 August 2002.
  2. Nomination. JORF n°3 du 5 janvier 2005 page texte n° 45, Arrêté du 23 décembre 2004 portant nomination au cabinet du ministre, JORF, France, 23 December 2004.
  3. Nomination. JORF n°0153 du 4 juillet 2009 page texte n° 44 , Arrêté du 25 juin 2009 portant nomination au cabinet du secrétaire d'Etat chargé des affaires européennes , JORF, France, 25 June 2009.
  4. Une diplomatie publique à la française.RAPPORT À M. LE SECRETAIRE GENERAL DE L’UMP, Développement de l’influence de la France sur la scène internationale, Une diplomatie publique à la française Frank MELLOUL, UMP, France, Octobre, 2010.
  5. Rapport Frank Melloul, UMP.Libération, le 14 Octobre 2010, Frank Melloul, un villepiniste félicité à l’UMP, Libération, France, 14, Octobre, 2010.
  6. Directeur de la stratégie, du développement et des affaires publiques de l'AEF. Le Figaro, 04 Novembre 2011 , AEF : «Ceux qui font la révolution nous regardent» In terview Frank Melloul, Le Figaro, France, 04, November 2011.
  7. Meeting with BBC, DW and BBG.Le Figaro, le 29 Aout, 2011, France 24 : Juppé gère l'après Ockrent, Le Figaro, France, 29, August, 2011.
  8. Candidat Presidence.La Croix, le 10 Octobre 2012, Nomination a RFI et France 24, La Croix, France, 10, Octobre, 2012.
  9. "Global network i24NEWS expands into US national coverage". www.israelhayom.com. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  10. Frank Melloul, nouveau directeur d'i24news. Le Figaro, 17 Avril 2013 , «i24 News apportera un autre regard que celui d'Al-Jazeera»In interview Frank Melloul, Le Figaro, France, 17,April, 2013.
  11. June 2013, TVTechnology 25. "i24news Will Bring English, French, Arabic Coverage to Israel". TVTechnology. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  12. Margalit, Ruth. "The Israeli Answer to Al Jazeera". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  13. Margalit, Ruth. "The Israeli Answer to Al Jazeera". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  14. "i24news reaches 75 million households in Europe". Broadband TV News. 2014-07-11. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  15. "Altice USA Debuts i24News, New Cable News Network". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  16. JTA. "Israel's i24news to launch US channel". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  17. "Israel's i24news to launch US channel". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2017-01-29. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  18. Littleton, Cynthia (2019-02-21). "Altice Aims to Carve Out Niche in Cable With Global-Themed i24News". Variety. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  19. Bembaron, Elsa (2017-01-27). "La chaîne i24 News lancée au États-Unis le 13 février". Le Figaro.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  20. "David Shuster Named Anchor, Managing Editor of i24NEWS". adweek.it. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  21. "Israeli TV station nominated for International Emmy Award". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  22. "Finalists announced for the Eutelsat TV Awards 2015". Broadband TV News. 2015-09-09. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  23. Averbach, Li-or (10 December 2015). "Drahi's i24news seeks to broadcast within Israel". Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  24. "I24News, la chaîne d'info de Patrick Drahi, autorisée à diffuser en Israël". Les Echos (in French). 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  25. "i24News channel set to broadcast in Israel". Ynetnews. 2017-05-30. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  26. "i24NEWS begins English broadcasts in Israel". en.globes.co.il (in Hebrew). 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  27. "ערוץ החדשות i24 news מתחיל לשדר בישראל באנגלית: "בקרוב גם בעברית"". www.maariv.co.il. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
  28. "TV station i24News starts broadcasts to Israel". France 24. 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
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