ID :
118253
Fri, 04/23/2010 - 09:32
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/118253
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MNA insists on democratic information society at OANA meeting
SEOUL, South Korea, April 23 (MNA) – Parviz Esmaeili, the managing director of the Mehr News Agency, told the OANA meeting on Thursday that news agencies around the world, including those member to the OANA, should promote a “global democratic information society”.
The Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) conference, which was opened officially by South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan on Thursday, will run for four days.
The meeting is focusing on the “challenges and opportunities facing the member new agencies”.
Following is the text of Esmaeili’s speech to the OANA conference:
Honorable colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, let me express my gratitude to OANA President Mr. Ahmad Mukhlis Yusuf, and the YONHAP News Agency’s President Mr. Park Jung-Chan, and the secretariat of the OANA for the excellent arrangements of the summit. I would also like to extend my congratulations to my dear colleagues at YONHAP on the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the news agency. I wish them, the South Korean nation, and the government the most success in their future endeavors.
Answering the question “what will be the most important matter of thinking for us, as the director generals of the news agencies, in the next ten years” I would like to briefly say that there are great surprises awaiting us when information and digital technology merge with other forms of technology, such as nanotechnology.
Esmaeili addresses OANA summit in Seoul
Meanwhile, it seems we don’t know where we are in the era of the information technology. We have not gotten a common understanding of challenges and opportunities in the digital age.
While most are worried about the economic impacts of technology, I’m very apprehensive of social and professional responsibilities of media.
Let me put my concerns forward:
A) Despite great opportunities we have in the future, there is no guarantee of fair and accurate dissemination of information because: 1- dissemination of information is largely dependent on technology and the mankind’s role has been minimized in the process; 2- Companies and governments, based on the power of their communication tools, gain dominance over media with the consequent challenges such as disinformation.
B) Social virtual networks will become dominant in the information market in the next coming years; this is an opportunity. Policies should be adopted to protect privacy and avoid creating profiles and false identities; otherwise the flow of information will be a bitter fruit of anarchism rather than promotion of democracy.
Establishing a global democratic information society is the main goal of news agencies around the world, particularly those in OANA. To that end, there should be equal opportunities for all the people to take advantage of the communication tools and networks.
C) According to some people, we are in the “one citizen, one media” age, where “news” are of greater importance than “news agencies”, so protecting both news values – such as speed and accuracy -- and guarding the structure of official media are among other challenges facing us.
D)The emergence of “citizen journalist”, though can create a great reform in dissemination of news in a transparent way, there is also a fear that our reporters abdicate professionalism and, instead of presenting verified reports, turn to editors of unprofessional reports provided by common citizens.
E) A reform in the communications technology has gradually led to a diversification in releasing news and at the same time made it impossible to stay in the race without being equipped with them. “Photojournalism” and “video-journalism” necessitates retraining reporters and has imposed hefty costs in providing equipment and renewing communications tools for wider interaction with addressees.
F) An economic view toward news will somehow diminish the social responsibilities of reporters. We should devise new ways and meet financial needs through collective efforts of our colleagues in a way that the rights so our addressees will not be undermined.
G) I have not yet found answer to this question: Does communication technology respect privacy? Probably the most important question is: Who is responsible for disbursement or storage of information? The answer today seems to be that no one is accountable. If this is the case then how can we verify the truthfulness of news presented to citizens?
Dear colleagues:
Communications technology is a combination of opportunities and threats. We should never be oblivious to collective thinking to turn threats into opportunities. A possible spread of rumors, invention of forged profiles, intrusion of public and personal privacy, censorship, threat of local cultures, and a decline in professional ethics threaten us all.
These threats are a “common pain” and as an Iranian poet has said “this common pain can never be cured singlehandedly.”
We” should stand together to resolve problems. OANA and the Seoul conferences have provided exactly that.
Thank you.
The Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) conference, which was opened officially by South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan on Thursday, will run for four days.
The meeting is focusing on the “challenges and opportunities facing the member new agencies”.
Following is the text of Esmaeili’s speech to the OANA conference:
Honorable colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, let me express my gratitude to OANA President Mr. Ahmad Mukhlis Yusuf, and the YONHAP News Agency’s President Mr. Park Jung-Chan, and the secretariat of the OANA for the excellent arrangements of the summit. I would also like to extend my congratulations to my dear colleagues at YONHAP on the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the news agency. I wish them, the South Korean nation, and the government the most success in their future endeavors.
Answering the question “what will be the most important matter of thinking for us, as the director generals of the news agencies, in the next ten years” I would like to briefly say that there are great surprises awaiting us when information and digital technology merge with other forms of technology, such as nanotechnology.
Esmaeili addresses OANA summit in Seoul
Meanwhile, it seems we don’t know where we are in the era of the information technology. We have not gotten a common understanding of challenges and opportunities in the digital age.
While most are worried about the economic impacts of technology, I’m very apprehensive of social and professional responsibilities of media.
Let me put my concerns forward:
A) Despite great opportunities we have in the future, there is no guarantee of fair and accurate dissemination of information because: 1- dissemination of information is largely dependent on technology and the mankind’s role has been minimized in the process; 2- Companies and governments, based on the power of their communication tools, gain dominance over media with the consequent challenges such as disinformation.
B) Social virtual networks will become dominant in the information market in the next coming years; this is an opportunity. Policies should be adopted to protect privacy and avoid creating profiles and false identities; otherwise the flow of information will be a bitter fruit of anarchism rather than promotion of democracy.
Establishing a global democratic information society is the main goal of news agencies around the world, particularly those in OANA. To that end, there should be equal opportunities for all the people to take advantage of the communication tools and networks.
C) According to some people, we are in the “one citizen, one media” age, where “news” are of greater importance than “news agencies”, so protecting both news values – such as speed and accuracy -- and guarding the structure of official media are among other challenges facing us.
D)The emergence of “citizen journalist”, though can create a great reform in dissemination of news in a transparent way, there is also a fear that our reporters abdicate professionalism and, instead of presenting verified reports, turn to editors of unprofessional reports provided by common citizens.
E) A reform in the communications technology has gradually led to a diversification in releasing news and at the same time made it impossible to stay in the race without being equipped with them. “Photojournalism” and “video-journalism” necessitates retraining reporters and has imposed hefty costs in providing equipment and renewing communications tools for wider interaction with addressees.
F) An economic view toward news will somehow diminish the social responsibilities of reporters. We should devise new ways and meet financial needs through collective efforts of our colleagues in a way that the rights so our addressees will not be undermined.
G) I have not yet found answer to this question: Does communication technology respect privacy? Probably the most important question is: Who is responsible for disbursement or storage of information? The answer today seems to be that no one is accountable. If this is the case then how can we verify the truthfulness of news presented to citizens?
Dear colleagues:
Communications technology is a combination of opportunities and threats. We should never be oblivious to collective thinking to turn threats into opportunities. A possible spread of rumors, invention of forged profiles, intrusion of public and personal privacy, censorship, threat of local cultures, and a decline in professional ethics threaten us all.
These threats are a “common pain” and as an Iranian poet has said “this common pain can never be cured singlehandedly.”
We” should stand together to resolve problems. OANA and the Seoul conferences have provided exactly that.
Thank you.
