OANA agencies meet in St. Petersburg

The XIX OANA General Assembly brought together more than a hundred representatives of news agencies from more than 30 countries around the world

The General Assembly of the Organization of Information Agencies of Asia and the Pacific (OANA) will begin its work in St. Petersburg. The meeting of representatives of the "global information majority" during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is organized by TASS.

More than a hundred representatives of news agencies from more than 30 countries gathered in the northern capital for the XIX OANA General Assembly. In news journalism, three-quarters of the information flow passes through agencies that are part of OANA.

The participants of the meeting will hold several meetings, the main topic of which is "Information agencies and challenges of the modern world." Representatives of government agencies, ministries and departments, heads of federal media, public figures and experts, ambassadors of the United Nations member countries, heads of agencies accredited in Russia from the countries of the region are invited to the discussions. It is planned to discuss innovations in the work and features of editorial policy in modern conditions, countering disinformation and fake news, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the work of the media.

It is planned that Director General of the Xinhua News Agency (China), Vice President of OANA Fu Hua and other heads of agencies will speak at the General Assembly. The General Assembly is expected to be attended by Bella Cherkesova, Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Alexander Dynkin, President of IMEMO RAS. TASS will be represented by Director General Andrey Kondrashov and First Deputy Director General Mikhail Guzman.

Members and guests of the General Assembly are expected to take part in SPIEF events.

Two exhibitions will be held during the General Assembly. Thus, "Culture and Journalism through the lens of OANA" will be presented at the SPIEF site. The exhibition includes works by photographers from 25 news agencies. They captured, for example, the process of making conical hats in the Vietnamese village of Vinh Thinh, national dances with changu drums in Pyongyang, the traditional house transfer ceremony in Malaysia, equestrian competitions in Mongolia and Bahrain, an air show in Qatar, and a fireworks festival in the Republic of Korea. According to the organizers, the photos will become a vivid illustration of how culture helps preserve the identity of nations in the context of rapid globalization.

The OANA project also tells about the difficult work of journalists. The heroes of the images were reporters covering floods in Vietnam, protests in the Gaza Strip, and other tense and sometimes dramatic events.

TASS is represented at the exhibition by two works. Dmitry Rogulin's photo captured the festive events at the monument "Motherland is calling!" in Volgograd, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. And Anatoly Sergeev's photo will introduce a landmark event in the life of the agency - in 2024, TASS celebrated its 120th anniversary.

Another exhibition, "Their feat is immortal, their memory is eternal," was prepared by TASS and Xinhua at the SPIEF site. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Victory, the news agencies of Russia and China collected from the archives two dozen photographs telling about the heroic deeds of the Soviet and Chinese peoples in the fight against the German invaders and Japanese militarists during the Great Patriotic War and World War II.

OANA was established on the initiative of the United Nations and UNESCO on December 22, 1961 in Bangkok. It is the world's largest regional media organization, whose goal is to ensure the direct and free exchange of news between news agencies in a region where more than half of the world's population lives. Currently, OANA unites 41 news agencies from 33 countries around the world. In addition to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region (APR), OANA members include agencies from the Middle East, as well as a number of CIS countries. The General Assembly, the highest governing body of the OANA, convenes every three years. Traditionally, the agency that organizes the General Assembly is then elected Chairman of the OANA.

TASS joined the United Nations in 1981. At that time, the country's leadership, realizing the importance of the Asia-Pacific region and seeking cooperation with the Asia-Pacific countries, used all its capabilities, including diplomatic ones, to join the association of the country's main news agency, TASS. TASS is now a member of the governing bodies of the United Nations and has traditionally served as an information bridge between various groups and structures within the United Nations, often acting as their only possible partner in negotiations.

TASS was Chairman of the United Nations twice: from 2000 to 2003 and from 2013 to 2016, and held the General Assembly in 2000 and 2013.