52nd OANA Executive Board Meeting
March 7, 2024
Tokyo, Japan
Executive Board Members held two special panels before the Meeting:
Panel Session 1: “How can news agencies reach younger audiences?”
Moderator: Mr. Moriyasu Chikazawa, Kyodo Managing Director of International Department
Speakers:
・Ms. Vu Viet Trang, VNA General Director
・Mr. Kim Hyeon-Jun, Yonhap Executive Director
・Mr. Mohammad Mahdi Rahmati, MNA CEO
Panel Session 2: “How can news agencies diversify revenue streams?”
Moderator: Mr. Zaman Rezakhani, Secretary General of OANA
Speakers:
・Mr. Osamu Yoshimuta, deputy chief editor of Kyodo Economic News Section
・Mr. Kiril Valchev, BTA Director General and OANA's Special Guest
・Ms. Hazal Duran, Anadolu Strategic Communications & Brand Management
Then the 52nd EBM was held.
Minutes of the 52nd OANA Executive Board Meeting
Participants (in alphabetic order):
AA (Türkiye), ANTARA (Indonesia), AZERTAC (Azerbaijan), BTA (Special Guest from Bulgaria), IRNA (Iran), KYODO NEWS (Japan), MNA (Iran) MONTSAME (Mongolia), QNA (Qatar), TASS (Russia), VNA (Vietnam), WAM (UAE), XINHUA (China), YONHAP (South Korea).
OANA President: Ali Naderi (Managing Director of IRNA)
OANA Secretary General: Zaman Rezakhani
Meeting Highlights
Secretary General thanked Kyodo for hosting the 52nd Executive Board Meeting. He presented a summarized report of the previous meeting and the Board members confirmed the minutes.
Financial Report
The Secretary General presented a brief report to the Executive Board members on the OANA fund performance. A written report is also distributed among the members.
Voting on Participation Encouragement Measures
The trilateral OANA working group (AA, VNA, IRNA) put forward the following proposals to encourage OANA members' active engagement in the organization's activities:
- Diversifying OANA Award to include "photo contest" and "best article award". The contests can be subject-based and the topics may change annually. In 2024, OANA will hold competitions for the Best Photography and Best Article about tourism and cultural heritage. The purpose of getting onto this subject (tourism and cultural heritage) is to present and promote correct images of OANA member countries.
- Inviting new members to the Executive Board. OANA has elected two new members to its Executive Board in the past couple of years in order to replace old members that were not active. In line with this strategy, OANA will invite NNA from Lebanon to the Technical Committee and will invite ANTARA from Indonesia to replace NNA in the Executive Board. OANA president will send emails to all OANA members to make sure the General Assembly members confirm the new members of Executive Board and Technical Committee.
Both measures were approved by the Executive Board.
Report on Social Media Activities
A short report was delivered to the Board on the upcoming activities of OANA on social media.
Secretary General explained that a YouTube channel has been created and all important OANA videos, including speeches in special panels, will be uploaded on the channel to share with members.
Request for Keeping Profiles Updates
Members were asked to check their profile on OANA website and let the Secretariat know in case any piece of information needs to be changed.
Report on the MOU with Asian Mayors' Forum
The Secretary General presented a report to the Executive Board about the recently-signed MoU between OANA and Asian Mayors Forum.
Next OANA EBM Venue
TASS news agency was nominated to host the next OANA Executive Board Meeting on September 11-15. Members voted for it.
