General Director of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Nguyen Duc Loi speaks at the 17th OANA General Assembly. (Photo: VNA)Seoul (VNA) – GeneralDirector of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Nguyen Duc Loi has highlightednecessary efforts and actions to win public trust in the fight against fakenews, while addressing the 17th General Assembly of the Organisationof Asia-Pacific News Agency (OANA) that is taking place in the Republic ofKorea (RoK) from November 6-9.
In his presentation, he saidfake news remains a big concern for news agencies and media outlets around theworld, and the VNA is no exception.
Fake news has come in a moresophisticated manner as technology further develops and cost reduces.
“Experts have predicted thatas artificial intelligence is applied widely in the process of producing mediacontents, fake news made by machines will also be born with overwhelmingquantity,” Loi noted.
He called on authenticjournalists to act instead of waiting for authorised agencies to promulgate newlaws, for technology to change their algorithm, or for users to become smarterto get away from fake news as they bear heavy responsibility for the society.
Loi cited many studies onthe future of the press affirming that the goal of the press now is not toattract the attention of the public any more but to regain their trust.
“How to rebuild public trustin high quality press contents is always a big question for managers, newsagencies, editorial offices and journalists themselves,” he pointed out.
According to the VNA leader,to combat fake news, his agency has worked hard to interact with leadersthrough the Chatbot software that won the OANAAward for Excellence in News Agency Quality in 2018.
Hesuggested news agencies act to cope with the information that incites hates andracial discrimination or distorts the truth to harm individuals, organisationsand countries, apart from pouring more investments in technologies to producehigh-quality news.
In his remarks, ChoSung-boo, President and CEO of the host country’s Yonhap News Agency, said globalnews agencies are facing unprecedented challenges, and they should turn theseinto new opportunities.
He also called on the newsagencies to continuously produce new products in new forms, and revamp the waysto deliver them.
At a working session of the 17th OANA General Assembly (Photo: VNA)At a working session onNovember 8, OANA member news agencies elected Yonhap as OANA Chair for the2019-2022 tenure. This is the first time the news agency has taken over theposition since its establishment in 1980.
News agencies fromAzerbaijan (AZERTAC), Russia (TASS), Turkey (Anadolu) and China (Xinhua) willassume the post of OANA Vice Chairs.
The 17th GeneralAssembly also elected the OANA Executive Board with 13 news agencies, theTechnical Committee comprising of seven news agencies and a four-member ethicscommittee for 2019-2022. The VNA continue to win a seat at the OANA ExecutiveBoard.
The WAFA News Agency ofPalestine has become observer of the organisation.
OANA members agreed to adoptthe minutes amending the OANA Statute, which was approved at the 44th Executive Board Meeting in Hanoi in April.
The Islamic Republic NewsAgency (IRNA) of Iran will host the 18th General Assembly in Iran in2022.
In the Seoul Declarationadopted at the meeting, OANA member news agencies pointed out challenges theyare facing amidst the robust development of technology and the spread of fakenews. The declaration also supports the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
On this occasion, the 45th and 46th meetings of the OANA Executive Board were also held in Seoul.
The Executive Board electedLee Dong-min, a journalist of Yonhap, as OANA Secretary General.
The Montsame News Agency ofMongolia will host the 47th Meeting of the OANA Executive Board inUlan Bator from April 16-18 next year.
Within the framework of the17th General Assembly, the VNA and Xinhua, first-prize winners ofthe OANA Award for Excellence in News Agency Quality as announced at the 44th Executive Board Meeting, were honoured.
At the meeting between VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi and Yonhap President and CEO Cho Sung-boo (Photo: VNA)On the sidelines of theevent, VNA General Director Loi met with Yonhap President and CEO Cho whohighly valued the fruitful relations between the two news agencies,contributing to boosting the Vietnam-RoK relationship.
The host expressed his hopefor more support and cooperation from the VNA in the time ahead.
For his part, Loi said therelationship with Yonhap is one of the most successful, effective and diverseties between the VNA and its partners.
The VNA’s VNEWS TV Channeland e-newspaper are using effectively TV news of Yonhap, he said, calling onthe agency to produce and share news with more diverse contents in both Koreanand Vietnamese with the VNA.
OANA nowhas 43 member news agencies from 35 countries in the region. The agenciesare responsible for two-thirds of information produced throughout the world. Everyday, they publish around 200 news stories, photos and video clips on the OANAwebsite http://www.oananews.org.
Sincejoining the OANA in 1969, the VNA has proven itself as one of the active membersof the organisation. It is now a member of the OANA Executive Board, and hostedthe OANA Executive Board Meetings in 1989, 1999, 2005 and 2019, activelycontributing to completing the organisation’s targets./.
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