Forge OANA Community, Bernama Suggests

As Asean takes pride in heralding a community this year, it would be interesting if  the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) could build its own community to enhance cooperation in facing various challenges.

Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) General Manager Datuk Zulkefli Salleh when submitting the idea, said an OANA community would mean members participating actively in its activities and sharing their expertise as the organisation faces present and future challenges.
"More importantly, it would allow OANA members to receive news about happenings and events taking place in another member's country from its news agency's own perspective," he said in his welcoming remarks at the opening of the 38th OANA Executive Board Meeting in Kuala Lumpur today.
Zulkefli said it was an honour for Bernama to host the meeting as Malaysia has assumed the chairmanship of Asean since January 1 for a one year term which would be capped with the launch of the Asean community, the culmination of almost five decades of region building.
He said both entities were formed in the 1960s -- the 10-member Asean in 1967 and the 44-strong OANA in 1961.
The concept of community was no longer limited in terms of geographical location since the advent of the Internet, as people could now gather virtually in an online community and share common interest regardless of their physical location, he said.
Zulkefli said an OANA community could encourage members to play a larger role in their respective societies and country.
While in terms of news coverage, the members could highlight certain topics that would appeal internationally with member agencies providing reports from their respective countries, he added.
"Imagine if all members contribute their news items daily to the OANA news pool, we would have a wider selection of stories on the newswire," he said.
Bernama was given the honour to host the meeting during the previous board meeting held in Bahrain last year.
This year's meeting, themed, "The Advent of Social Media and Challenges Confronting News Agencies" is attended by board members including Russia's TASS, China's Xinhua, South Korea's Yonhap, Indonesia's Antara, Emirates News Agency (WAM), Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Bahrain News Agency (BNA) and Iran's IRNA.
Touching on this year's theme, Zulkefli noted that it was incumbent upon Bernama to constantly be on the alert to improve its information and communication capabilities, especially with Malaysia striving to be a regional communication hub.
Taking advantage of the hyper connectivity of the social media, he said, Bernama had created accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as another alternative to channel news and photographs speedily.
"We have been able to reach out to more people especially the younger generation through the social media platform but more needs to be done," he said.
Thus, he hoped the meeting would enable Bernama to share experience with other delegates and adopt the best practice for the organisation to meet the growing demand.
-- BERNAMA