53rd OANA Executive Board Meeting
September 15, 2024
Moscow, Russia
Executive Board Members held two expert panels before the Meeting:
Panel Session 1: “Principles of Ethical Conduct for Newsrooms”
Moderator: Zaman Rezakhani, OANA Secretary General
Speakers:
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Mr. Moriyasu Chikazawa, Managing Director of International Department of Kyodo
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Mr. Mikhail Petrov, Deputy Director General & Editor-in-Chief of TASS
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Mrs. Doan Thi Tuyet Nhung, Deputy General Director of VNA
Panel Session 2: “Ethical Concerns of AI Implementation in the Media Industry"
Moderator: Mr. Yaroslav Kurilo, International Dept. Deputy Director of TASS
Speakers:
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Mr. Yusuf Ozhan, Deputy Director General and Editor-in-Chief of AA
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Mr. Arul Rajoo, Editor-in-Chief of BERNAMA
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Mr. Mahdi Rahmati, CEO of MNA
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Mr. Akhmad Munir, President Director of ANTARA
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(recorded speech): Mr. Touraj Shiralilou, veteran journalist from IRNA
Minutes of the 53rd OANA Executive Board (& TC) Meeting
Participants (in alphabetic order):
AA (Türkiye), ANTARA (Indonesia), Azertac (Azerbaijan), BERNAMA (Malaysia), BNA (Bahrain), IRNA (Iran), Kyodo News (Japan), MNA (Iran) Montsame (Mongolia), QNA (Qatar), TASS (Russia), VNA (Vietnam), Xinhua (China), Yonhap (South Korea).
OANA Secretary General: Zaman Rezakhani
Absentees: WAM (UAE).
Meeting Highlights
OANA Secretary General presented a summarized report of the previous meeting and the Board members confirmed the minutes.
The SG proposed to extend the deadline for 2024 OANA awards submission until the end of October so that more member news agencies can participate in that event. The Executive Board approved the proposal.
Financial Report
The Secretary General presented a brief report to the Executive Board members on the OANA fund performance. He reminded the Board that OANA account is in South Korea and Yonhap news agency is the account holder.
The account balance on the day of the 53rd EBM was $311.508 + €933
Approval of the Membership Fee
As WAM (UAE) has informed OANA that they need a written document that shows membership fee is $1000,
and since Article 21 of the OANA Statute provides that "the Executive Board may recommend to the General Assembly whenever revision of subscription rates by member's payable is necessary",
The executive board approved the following statement:
The Executive Board decides not to recommend a new annual membership fee amount to the General Assembly and the invoice price will be $1000 in 2025.
Approval of OANA – TRC MOU
The Executive Board approved the Memorandum of Understanding signed between OANA and TRC, the owner of Kazinform news agency of Kazakhstan.
OANA secretary general explained that the document is prepared and signed because TRC needed an agreement in order to pay a membership fee, under their own domestic regulations.
Building a Digital Archive
The SG proposed to create a digital archive so that either all members or the Executive Board members can have access to the MOUs, financial reports, etc.
Expressing his regret, the SG noted that almost all OANA documents have been lost since its foundation in 1961 because they were not properly archived.
The Board unanimously approved this proposal.
Upcoming OANA Events
After short remarks by BERNAMA CEO and TASS Deputy DG, the Executive Board endorsed their proposals for hosting the upcoming EBM and GA.
Accordingly, the 54th Executive Board Meeting will be held in Kuala Lumpur on February ~16-19, 2025.
The 19th OANA General Assembly will be held in Moscow in June 2025.
