In his presentation, he said fake news remains a big concern for news agencies and media outlets around the world, and the VNA is no exception.
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General Director of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Nguyen Duc Loi speaks at the 17th OANA General Assembly. |
Fake news has come in a more sophisticated manner as technology further develops and cost reduces.
“Experts have predicted that as artificial intelligence is applied widely in the process of producing media contents, fake news made by machines will also be born with overwhelming quantity,” Loi noted.
He called on authentic journalists to act instead of waiting for authorised agencies to promulgate new laws, for technology to change their algorithm, or for users to become smarter to get away from fake news as they bear heavy responsibility for the society.
Loi cited many studies on the future of the press affirming that the goal of the press now is not to attract the attention of the public any more but to regain their trust.
“How to rebuild public trust in high quality press contents is always a big question for managers, news agencies, editorial offices and journalists themselves,” he pointed out.
According to the VNA leader, to combat fake news, his agency has worked hard to interact with leaders through the Chatbot software that won the OANA Award for Excellence in News Agency Quality in 2018.
He suggested news agencies act to cope with the information that incites hates and racial discrimination or distorts the truth to harm individuals, organisations and countries, apart from pouring more investments in technologies to produce high-quality news.
In his remarks, Cho Sung-boo, President and CEO of the host country’s Yonhap News Agency, said global news agencies are facing unprecedented challenges, and they should turn these into new opportunities.
He also called on the news agencies to continuously produce new products in new forms, and revamp the ways to deliver them.
At a working session on November 8, OANA member news agencies elected Yonhap as OANA Chair for the 2019-2022 tenure. This is the first time the news agency has taken over the position since its establishment in 1980.
News agencies from Azerbaijan (AZERTAC), Russia (TASS), Turkey (Anadolu) and China (Xinhua) will assume the post of OANA Vice Chairs.
The 17th General Assembly also elected the OANA Executive Board with 13 news agencies, the Technical Committee comprising of seven news agencies and a four-member ethics committee for 2019-2022. The VNA continue to win a seat at the OANA Executive Board.
The WAFA News Agency of Palestine has become observer of the organisation.
OANA members agreed to adopt the minutes amending the OANA Statute, which was approved at the 44th Executive Board Meeting in Hanoi in April.
The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) of Iran will host the 18th General Assembly in Iran in 2022.
In the Seoul Declaration adopted at the meeting, OANA member news agencies pointed out challenges they are facing amidst the robust development of technology and the spread of fake news. The declaration also supports the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.
On this occasion, the 45th and 46th meetings of the OANA Executive Board were also held in Seoul.
The Executive Board elected Lee Dong-min, a journalist of Yonhap, as OANA Secretary General.
The Montsame News Agency of Mongolia will host the 47th Meeting of the OANA Executive Board in Ulan Bator from April 16-18 next year.
Within the framework of the 17th General Assembly, the VNA and Xinhua, first-prize winners of the OANA Award for Excellence in News Agency Quality as announced at the 44th Executive Board Meeting, were honoured.
On the sidelines of the event, VNA General Director Loi met with Yonhap President and CEO Cho who highly valued the fruitful relations between the two news agencies, contributing to boosting the Vietnam-RoK relationship.
The host expressed his hope for more support and cooperation from the VNA in the time ahead.
For his part, Loi said the relationship with Yonhap is one of the most successful, effective and diverse ties between the VNA and its partners.
The VNA’s VNEWS TV Channel and e-newspaper are using effectively TV news of Yonhap, he said, calling on the agency to produce and share news with more diverse contents in both Korean and Vietnamese with the VNA.
OANA news agencies are responsible for two-thirds of information produced throughout the world. Every day, they publish around 200 news stories, photos and video clips on the OANA website http://www.oananews.org.
Since joining the OANA in 1969, the VNA has proven itself as one of the active members of the organisation. It is now a member of the OANA Executive Board, and hosted the OANA Executive Board Meetings in 1989, 1999, 2005 and 2019, actively contributing to completing the organisation’s targets.
Source: VNA