Asia-Pacific Leading News Agencies Meet To Enhance Cooperation

TOKYO, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- The big shift in the media industry does not mean the end for news agencies, said Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) president, Kemal Ozturk. He said although social media was a great tool to gather and disseminate news, it had innate problems. "It’s a minefield where there are a lot of hoaxes, fake identities, false stories, slander, disinformation, and unethical and graphic pictures of indecency. People hardly stick to media ethics and guidelines on social platforms. "As news agencies, we know our own strengths and that we still have a lot of influence and guiding power on the media in general," he said when addressing OANA’s 34th executive board meeting, here, on Thursday. The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), a vice-president in the 44 member-organisation, is represented by its general manager, Hasnul Hassan. Ozturk, director-general of Turkish Anadolu Agency, said OANA members should remain alert to avoid broadcasting news and images that could shock people and lead them to feelings of hatred, hostility and discrimination against one another. He submitted a proposed OANA Ethical Guidelines that will be discussed at the OANA General Assembly at the end of next year in Moscow. "In this declaration, we both promise to fulfil the public right to accurate and reliable information and also declare our will to uphold the media ethical guidelines," he said. The meeting also agreed to hold a technical committee meeting in Istanbul in April as well as discussed several issues such as the future of the news agencies, news sharing and cooperation. The two-day meeting is hosted by Kyodo, the Japanese news agency. -- BERNAMA