Approaching Its Centennial, Azertac Focuses On Social Media And Multimedia Platforms

By R.Ravichandran KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- The Azerbaijan State News Agency (Azertac) is adapting well to changes in the digital era through the extensive use of social media platforms to enhance the efficiency of its news production. Chairman of the Board of Azertac Aslan Aslanov said that the Agency, which is celebrating its centennial anniversary next year, has established a Multimedia and Information Resources Department to further develop the usage of social media and multimedia for its news platforms. He pointed out that currently, Azertac had created 40 social media networks and five web sites, fully leveraging on social media to increase the readership of its news and contents and to speed up its news delivery to its clients. Azertac launched its multimedia productions division in 2011. "Social media is very important to deliver news and contents as fast as possible. There is no other way forward for world media,” he told Bernama International News Service during a discussion and interview session at Azertec headquarters in Baku, Azerbaijan, recently. The session was also attended by Azertac’s Head of International Department, Suleyman D.Ibrahimov and Editor-in-Chief of its Multimedia and Information Resources Department Elshan Shahbalaye. Azertac and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) signed an agreement on cooperation for news exchange in October 2014. Bernama is also an executive Board member of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), of which Azertac is chair. Aslanov, who is also the President of OANA, said Azertac fully realised the potentials of modern media and the importance of innovative techniques to attract a larger audience and customer base. "If you only put out news in the plain-text format, maybe 1,000 to 2,000 readers will read, but if it is in the multimedia format, you will get a couple of million readers. "Today, nobody is interested in reading the plain text...readers, especially the younger generation, are more interested to read and watch news in the form of videos, photos, infographic and so on," he explained. In a discussion that spanned more than an hour, Aslanov also informed that Azertac's new headquarters will open in March next year in conjunction with its centennial anniversary. He also explained that contrary to popular belief, Azertac is actually an independently-run media entity although it receives some funding from the Azerbaijani government. "It was established on March 1, 1920, as Azertac, as a state agency, but since 2017 our structure has changed. We only keep the name...just the memory of history," he said. During the Soviet era, Azertac operates under various names but after Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991, the name (Azertac) was restored Aslanov also said that Azertac largely operates on its own funding and its source of income is largely derived from advertisements placed on its video news, websites and other platforms by companies, government agencies and individuals. Azertac also sells news to local print and electronic media. "The economic and business news is the most profitable,” he said. Aslanov further said that Azertac has bureaus in 21 countries and Azertac produces news and information in eight languages, namely Azerbaijani, English, Russia, Chinese, German, French, Spanish and Arabic. Azertac has about 300 staffs and within Azerbaijan, it has bureaus in 10 locations throughout the country, and sends out a minimum of 650 news items per day, he said. Aslanov said Azertac plans to open four more bureaus by end of this year and starting next year, including its first in Latin America (Argentina), besides Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and South Korea. -- BERNAMA