OANA executive meeting discusses changing media landscape

SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Yonhap) -- An association of leading Asia-Pacific news agencies convened in Seoul on Monday to discuss ways to further cooperation in the fast-changing media landscape. The 39th Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) Executive Board Meeting will run for two days at the head office of Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's top news wire. The meeting gathers 48 leaders of 22 news agencies across the region, including China's Xinhua, Japan's Kyodo and Britain-based Reuters, the latter of which holds an observer status. Cuba's Prensa Latina, also not an OANA member, is represented by a journalist at the conference, according to Yonhap. "As smartphones have come into wide use, people can now read news that is happening constantly anytime and anywhere," Yonhap News Agency CEO Park No-hwang said. "Those who used to get their news through newspapers and news programs once a day are now habitually checking breaking news in their spare time." Park said this change of behavior can "offer a huge opportunity for news agencies." "As tens of thousands of news items are pouring out of portal sites with Internet media mushrooming, the 'accuracy and speed of news' that news agencies have championed have come to the forefront." In the country report by Russia's TASS news agency, Sergei Mikhailov, CEO of the agency, said TASS has gained a firmer foothold domestically and globally over the past year. "TASS was pushing ahead with systematic efforts to strengthen and expand its technological base and the range of media products and services, including niche-oriented ones," Mikhailov, who also heads the OANA Executive Board, said. Kyodo News Agency's Masaki Fukuyama said as the host national news agency of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Kyodo has faced the challenge of understanding consumers who use smartphones or social media everyday. "Around the time the Tokyo Olympics is held, devices and the telecommunications environment are expected to have advanced further and technologies for showing graphics and moving images on smartphones are also expected to have developed significantly," he said. China's Xinhua News Agency also said it has initiated and developed several platforms of newspapers, financial services, TV and new media reports to better meet subscribers' needs. It said a new mobile application, XINHUA NEWS, released last year, has been downloaded 92 million times and is expected to top 100 million by the end of this year. On Monday, Yonhap, which is hosting the meeting for the first time in two decades, signed an agreement with BERNAMA, the Malaysian National News Agency, to expand news exchanges to include not just text but also photos and videos. A similar agreement is to be signed later this week with Azerbaijan's AZERTAC. Also on Monday, the Media Technology Bureau of Yonhap was named the first winner of the OANA Awards, which was established this year. The award distinguishes those who have contributed significantly to enhancing OANA members' cooperation and improving news quality, according to the organization. OANA said the Executive Board Meeting will adopt the 2015 OANA Seoul Declaration at the closing ceremony Tuesday. OANA was established in 1961 to create a network of regional news agencies and expand cooperation. Current members are comprised of 43 news agencies in 35 countries. sojungpark@yna.co.kr (END)