News agencies highlight 44th OANA Executive Board Meeting

Deputy Director General of the Vietnam News Agency Le Quoc Minh addresses the 44th Meeting of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) Executive Board

Chinese Xinhua News Agency reported that the event centered discussions on topics including fake news and fact-checking.

It quoted the Vietnamese deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam as saying at the opening ceremony that in recent years, in the wake of numerous forms of communications based on modern technologies as well as fast and wide dissemination of fake news, the OANA serves as not only a channel to provide information to news organizations and partners, but also a fact checker to help bolster the trust of the public in traditional press.

According to him, pursuing a more professional and innovative approach to journalism will lend news organizations the strength to captivate audience and bolster the public's confidence, especially when fake news are doing damage to the image of the press.

In his speech at the meeting, OANA President Aslan Aslanov, who is also chairman of the board of AZERTAC (state news agency of Azerbaijan), said that as online media and social networks are expanding and a dangerous trend such as fake news is growing, "we must make continuous efforts in order to address these challenges and maintain the accuracy, objectivity and impartiality of news," according to Xinhua.

He called for OANA members to immediately apply innovations, continue to modernize their organizations and create more flexible news exchange mechanisms, the agency reported.

Themed "For Professional and Innovative Journalism," the meeting was attended by about 40 delegates from China's Xinhua News Agency, Russia's ITAR-TASS, Japan's Kyodo, the Republic of Korea's Yonhap, among others.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijani news agency AZERTAC highlighted the meeting hosted by Vietnamese Prime Minister of Vietnam Nguyen Xuan Phuc with head delegates to the 44th OANA Executive Board Meeting.

According to AZERTAC, at the meeting with the delegation led by OANA President, AZERTAC’s Chairman of the Board Aslan Aslanov, the Vietnamese PM stressed the organization’s regional importance. He said OANA member agencies have a role to play in preventing the spread of fake news.

Aslan Aslanov hailed relations between AZERTAC and VNA, and noted the agencies’ role in providing the people of Azerbaijan and Vietnam with reliable news.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan said Vietnam places a great emphasis on its relations with Azerbaijan, and praised relations between the two countries. He underlined the possibility of opening a direct flight between Hanoi and Baku. The prime minister said many Vietnamese who received higher education in Azerbaijan now hold high state and government offices and contribute to the deepening of relations between the two countries, stated the article.
At the same time, Iran news agency IRNA quoted its representative Gholamreza Nemati as saying that OANA members should exchange their experiences to promote their news agencies based on the changes occurred on media industry on a daily basis. 

It added that the 44th Meeting of the OANA Executive Board focused on three topics: strategies responding to changes in information use orienting towards video clips; fake news and fact-checking; and regaining trust for mainstream news. 

OANA was established in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 22, 1961, as an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

At present, OANA brings together 44 news agencies from 35 countries. OANA members are responsible for two-thirds of information circulated throughout the world.