Hanoi, April 20, Elshan Shahbalayev, AZERTAC

The 44th Executive Board meeting of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), chaired by AZERTAC and hosted by Vietnam’s VNA news agency, wrapped up in Hanoi. The closing ceremony featured several sessions.

Addressing the event, OANA Secretary General Vugar Seyidov highlighted the organization`s work as well as the agenda of the meeting.

Touching upon the topics discussed at the meeting, OANA President, AZERTAC Chairman of the Board Aslan Aslanov said that news agencies face serious challenges today. “The problem of fake news is the most pressing issue today as it plagues news agencies the most. But the traditions of journalism that we count on during our daily work serve as a shield against fake and confusing news. All OANA member agencies boast long years of history and experience, some even are almost hundred years old. That's why OANA is truly a team of the most reliable news producers. At a time when fake news has become widespread, this is our greatest advantage and our greatest asset,” Aslan Aslanov said.

He drew the participants` attention to the issues of improvement of OANA's activity. He said that the proposals, which were put forward by AZERTAC, as a chair of the organization and discussed during the previous Executive Board Meeting held in Tehran, were born out of need. “What kind of needs? They include the improvement of the OANA Charter, renewal of the website, which is 7 years old and uses old technologies, benefiting from the best practices of Xinhua, Anadolu Agency, TASS, Australian Associated Press, Kyodo and many other leading member agencies. Ill-timed introduction of innovations may put any organization at risk of becoming inefficient. Everything is in our hands. We therefore stand ready to support any initiatives in this regard both now and in the future for the sake of our common interests,” the OANA President said.

OANA Secretary General Vugar Seyidov presented the proposals made by the Executive Board’s Working Group for their inclusion in the Charter of the organization. The proposals, which include amendments and additions relating to the membership criteria in OANA, were approved by the Executive Board members and recommended to be submitted to the General Assembly due in Seoul this November for voting.

Representatives of the Yonhap and VNA news agencies made reports on the fight against fake news, ways of identifying them through fact-checking.

Then winners of the organization’s "Excellence Award" contest were announced. Xinhua and VNA news agencies were voted the winners, followed by Russia’s TASS and AZERTAC (Children's Knowledge Portal).

The ceremony also featured the announcements by Yonhap and BTA new agencies regarding the preparations for the forthcoming General Assembly in Seoul and the News Agencies World Congress in Sofia.

In his concluding remarks, Aslan Aslanov said that AZERTAC, as the president of the OANA and News Agencies World Congress, assisted the BTA and Yonhap news agencies in organizational works. He said AZERTAC will spare no efforts to continue its support throughout its presidency. Aslan Aslanov thanked the OANA Executive Board members for their active participation in the meeting.