OANA MEMBERS TO BOOST MULTIMEDIA COOPERATION

From Ahmad Zukiman Zain

SEOUL, April 23 (Bernama) -- Faced with challenges of the digital age, the
Organisation of Asia Pacific News Agencies (OANA) will enhance multimedia
cooperation to meet growing subscriber demand.

In what is termed as the "Seoul Declaration" to mark their meeting here, the
40-strong alliance recommended members to expand content exchanges to include
news material in the form of video and audio clips, edited television programmes
and interactive graphics.

The organisation also agreed to develop a system through which information
on new services could be shared at all times between member agencies in order to
meet subscribers need, said the declaration read out by South Korea's Yonhap
News Agency President Park Jung-Chan at the close of the summit here Friday.

The four-day meeting, hosted by Yonhap to commemorate its 30th anniversary,
sought to broaden multilateral cooperation among OANA members in the face of a
rapidly changing global media environment.

Founded in 1961 on the initiative of Unesco, the organisation is aimed at
securing direct and free exchange of news in the region.

From the use of air mail services in its early days, OANA's news exchange
platforms had grown over the years to its current Internet-based OANA Newswire,
pooling up to five stories from each member daily for common use.

The meeting also proposed that OANA actively promote personnel and
information exchanges with other regional news agency organisations such as the
Association of Balkan News Agencies (ABNA), Alliance of Mediterranean News
Agencies (AMAN), International Islamic News Agency (IINA) and Federation of Arab
News Agencies (FANA).

OANA would also devise plans to expand existing personnel exchanges to
include regular training programmes for journalists.

It will also develop a practical system to assist smaller news agencies to
enhance their technological and operational capabilities.

Earlier, heads of delegations of the OANA participants met South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak at the Blue House.

Bernama was represented by General Manager Hasnul Hassan.
-- BERNAMA


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