United against copyright ...

The Organisation of Asia Pacific News Agencies (OANA) will have to collectively fight the copyright issue instead of letting members to deal with it on their own, said OANA president Hilmi Bengi.
Wrapping-up a two-day OANA Executive Board meeting in Ulan Bator today (Wednesday), Bengi said the problem had greatly affected income of news agencies operating on commercial basis.

"The Internet news aggregators gather our output and give them out for free," said Bengi, adding that he hoped that OANA could have a separate meeting to discuss the issue.
He said as the meeting was for the executive board, its participation and issues raised were rather restricted.
However Bengi said country reports presented by every board member were useful as they could share experience especially in new products like television service.
Members also picked out winners for a photo contest held on the sidelines of the meeting. Kyodo won the grand award and special prize for its submission on tsunami, Anadolu for best picture while the other special prize went to Montsame.
The board members later met Mongolian Parliament Speaker D.Demberel at Parliament House.
The 11-member board comprises of Anadolu of Turkey as president, four vice-presidents, namely Bernama (Malaysia), Antara (Indonesia), Itar-TASS (Russia) and IRNA (Iran). The remaining members are Yonhap South Korea, Press Trust of India (PTI), Azertaj (Azerbaijan), Australian Associated Press (AAP), Xinhua (China) and Montsame (Mongolia).
Formed in 1961 to encourage the free flow of news and information exchange among news agencies in Asia-Pacific, the 43-strong OANA will celebrate its 50th anniversary at its birth place Bangkok in December.

Bangkok anniversary bash for OANA

A special event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) will be held in December at its birthplace -- Bangkok.

OANA President Hilmi Bengi made the announcement at the start of the organization's 33rd executive board meeting in Ulan Bator today (Tuesday).
He thanked the Thai News Agency (TNA) for agreeing to host the celebration,
which Bengi described as "the most important event".
OANA was formed with the backing of UNESCO in December 1961, as an effort to facilitate a free flow of news and information in Asia and the Pacific.
TNA Editor-in-Chief for Asean News Division Noraphon Pacharoen said the Thai
agency has slated Dec 7 to 9, for the OANA event.
Mongolian Prime Minister S.Batbold who addressed the meeting, said the role, significance, prestige and influence of the organization that unifies the region's news agencies was high.
"News agencies have always been playing important roles in countries' history. Their importance remained unchanged today," he said.
The meeting approved National News Agency (NNA)of Lebanon's application for membership, boosting the number to 43 news agencies from 34 countries.
It also reviewed decisions made at the last OANA General Assembly in Istanbul (November) and was briefed by Anadolu of Turkey on the new OANA website.
The 11-member board comprised Anadolu of Turkey as president, four vice-presidents, namely Bernama (Malaysia), Antara (Indonesia), Itar-TASS(Russia) and IRNA (Iran).
The remaining members are Yonhap South Korea, Press Trust of India(PTI), Azertaj (Azerbaijan), Australian Associated Press (AAP), Xinhua (China) and Montsame (Mongolia).

OANA holds meeting in Ulan Bator ...

Leading Asia-Pacific news agencies are meeting in this Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator this week to enhance cooperation as content providers to cater for a wide range of clients with high expectations.
The 33rd Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA)Executive Board
Meeting will look into ways of how to improve the news content disseminated
among member countries.
It will also focus on multimedia news exchange management, moving forward
from just news and photo exchanges that had long been the focus of the 42-member
organisation.
Mongolian Prime Minister S. Batbold is scheduled to address the meeting on
Tuesday after opening remarks by new OANA President Hilmi Bengi, elected at the
OANA General Assembly in Istanbul, last November.
T. Baasansuren, president of host Mongolian news agency Montsame, in a joint
invitation with Bengi, said they were confident that the Ulan Bator meeting
would foster relations and interaction among member agencies.
The upcoming meeting was special because it coincided with the 50th
anniversary of OANA and the 90th anniversary of Montsame, they said.
The 11-member board comprises Anadolu of Turkey, as president, four
vice-presidents, namely Bernama (Malaysia), Antara (Indonesia), Itar-TASS
(Russia) and IRNA (Iran).
The remaining members are Yonhap (South Korea), Press Trust of India (PTI),
Azertaj (Azerbaijan), Australian Associated Press (AAP), Xinhua (China) and
Montsame (Mongolia).
Bernama is represented by General Manager Datuk Hasnul Hassan who had
proposed a video clip exchange as a way forward for member agencies to enhance
multimedia cooperation.
Bernama has conducted a trial run for the video exchange or clearing house
with four member agencies, including Montsame, in recent months.