Participants pose for a group photo at the opening ceremony (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - The 44th Executive Board Meeting of theOrganisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) officially opened in Hanoi on April 19, with the theme of “For a professional and innovative journalism”.
Hosted by the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), the meeting focuses on three main contents, including strategies of news agenciesin response to changes in information use behaviours which focus on video clipsand the YouTube platform; fake news and fact-checking; and regaining trust formainstream news.
In his opening speech, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi, who is alsoa member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC), said thatin the last fivedecades since it became an OANA member in 1969, the VNA has been an activemember of the organisation and made various contributions to activitiesenhancing the development of journalism in the Asia-Pacific.
VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi, who is also a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, delivers an opening speech (Photo: VNA)“The hosting ofthe 44th OANA Executive Board Meeting once again affirms the role and voice ofthe state news agency of Vietnam in this multilateral press forum, the largestof its kind in the region,”he said.
According to the VNA General Director, the world’s population nowstands at 7.7 billion, of whom 52 percent are Internet users. They use theInternet not only to communicate but also to provide information. This hascreated a fierce competition against mainstream news.
“As such, thepress not only competes with each other, but also unfairly competes with theirown traditional readers who are using social networking platforms to spreadinformation. The unfairness that I mention here is that while the press needsto verify information, conduct interviews, or collect relevant data to bringoverall and objective information to the public, many organisations andindividuals use social media accounts to spread unlimited amounts of uncheckedand subjective information with only one click, some with negative intentionsof making profits and causing social chaos,” Loi said.
Furthermore, theco-existence of real and fake information across many communication platformshas made the public lose faith in mainstream news, he said.
Loi affirmed that: “The function of news agencies isproviding source information for press organisations and other partners. The OANA member news agencies have transformed themselves to performthe role of not only providing information but also verifying information to fulfiltheir mission of bringing accurate and humane information to press agencies andreaders.”
The VNAGeneral Director expressed his belief that the meeting will create an opportunity for participants to exchange and share experience tobuild a healthy press environment, meeting the public’s right of access toinformation.
Addressingthe opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, member of the CPVCC,said in recent years, in the wake ofnumerous forms of communications based on modern technologies as well as fastand widespread of faked news, the OANA not only serves as a direct channel to provideinformation to news organisations and partners but also serves as a fact checker o help bolsterthe trust of the public in traditional press.
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, member of the CPVCC addresses the opening ceremony (Photo: VNA)The OANA’s activities, such as building journalism guideline innews reporting, editing, granting of awards in quality journalism and photoexhibitionsre, aimed to improve the effectiveness ofinformation and to strengthen its role as a leading news organisation in theregion and in the world, he said.
Damstressed that since the reform era, Vietnam has mademilestones in its development effort, which have been recognized andappreciated by the international community.
During that journey, the Vietnamese press hasbeen standing side by side with the country, hesaid, adding that there are currently almost 100 news organisations in Vietnam that employ 41,000 workers, ofwhich 19,000 are journalists.
The Vietnamese press and the VNA will continue to play animportant part in bringing the news on the latest policies and laws to thepeople, in protecting citizen rights and to help promote the image of Vietnameseculture and people, Dam said.
The agency’s cooperation and informationexchange with more than 40 international news agencies around the world hasplayed an important part in the promotion of Vietnam as a beautiful country, ofVietnamese people as a friendly and peace-loving people. The VNA will remain a bridge to connectVietnam with our international friends and partners, theDeputy PM added.
“This year’s hosting of the 44th OANA Executive Board Meeting in Hanoi has significant meaning as it marks the 50years the agency has been a part of the OANA. We believe that the 44th OANA meeting will bring a breath of fresh air to the development of theorganisation as well as the member agencies,” henoted.
Meanwhile,OANA President Aslan Aslanov, who is also Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC), said the VNA is one of the most active membersof OANA and its Executive Board.
OANA President Aslan Aslanov, who is also Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan State News Agency (AZERTAC), delivers his speech (Photo: VNA)Byperfectly organizing this meeting and demonstrating its commitment toexcellence and professionalism in news industry, the VNA once again proveditself to be the leading media outlet in the region, he said.
OANA,which includes major news agencies of the region, can grow into a powerfulplatform for addressing the newly emerging challenges. “To this end, we shouldimmediately apply innovations, continue to modernize our organization andcreate more flexible news exchange mechanisms. I believe this is what we allwant and each of us is ready to contribute to this cause,” Aslanov stressed.
OANA was established inBangkok, Thailand, on December 22, 1961, as an initiative of the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
At present, OANA bringstogether 44 news agencies from 35 countries. OANA members are responsible fortwo-thirds of information circulated throughout the world. Every day, OANA membernews agencies publish around 200 news stories, photos and video clips on theOANA website at http://www.oananews.org/.
The organisation holds its general assemblyevery three years to select an Executive Board with 13 member news agencies.The VNA is a member ofthe Executive Board for the 2016-2019 term.
OANA organises its ExecutiveBoard meeting annually under the host of an Executive Board member on a rotarybasis. The meeting provides a venue for leaders of news agencies to shareexperience, update new journalism development trends in the world and discussmeasures to consolidate professional cooperation.
Since joining the OANA in1969, the VNA has proven itself as one of the active members of the organisation.The agency was elected to the OANA Executive Board for two consecutive terms,with each lasting for three years.
The VNA hosted the OANAExecutive Board Meeting in 1989, 1999 and 2005, actively contributing tocompleting the organisation’s targets.
With the role of a “Statenews bank”, the VNA performs its function as the State news agency and providesofficial and mainstream news for its partners at home and abroad via 15 newsdepartments of domestic and foreign service.
Boasting a network of 63 bureaus in all thecities and provinces nationwide and 30 overseas bureaus across the fivecontinents, the VNA has a strong contingent of reporters and editors workingall over the country and in most of the key locations around the world, whichcreates a unique advantage for it.
With more than 60 mediaproducts by more than 1,300 reporters and editors out of its 2,500-strongstaff, the VNA is now the media office having the largest number of productsand forms in the country: bulletins, photos, television programmes, dailies,weeklies, monthlies, magazines, pictorials, books, TV channel, e-newspapers andinformation programmes on mobile platforms.
The agency also delivers news in the largestnumber of languages. In addition to official Vietnamese-language news providedfor domestic and foreign media outlets, stories for foreign services arewritten in English, Chinese, French and Spanish, not to mention print ande-newspapers in 10 languages: Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer, Chinese, Japanese,Korean, Russian, English, French and Spanish.
The VNA has bilateral and multilateralpartnership with more than 40 international news agencies and pressorganisations in the world. The agency’s officialnews is widely published on communication channels of its partners,contributing to improving the effectiveness of disseminating Vietnam’s externalinformation to international friends.-VNA
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