Baku will host several summits of the major
international media on November 16-18 - the 5th World Congress of
News Agencies, the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of
Asia-Pacific News Agencies and the 22nd session of the Council of
CIS Heads of News Agencies.
Co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and AzerTAc, these
events will bring together heads and representatives of more than
100 news agencies, which shape the global information policy,
international media experts, UN and UNESCO officials, and
representatives of regional media organizations.
The joint opening ceremony of the News Agencies World Congress
and the OANA General Assembly will take place at the Heydar Aliyev
Center on November 16. AzerTAc will take on a three-year presidency
(2016-2019) of the Congress at the event.
The slogan of the 5th News Agencies World Congress is 'New
Challenges for News Agencies'. The Congress will feature several
sessions, including 'The future of news consumption', 'News
agencies – challenges and opportunities of new technologies and
social media', 'News agency innovation', 'Training journalists for
a multi-media future', 'Protecting the journalists’ mission:
freedom, access, safety and conflict zones'. It will also feature
discussion on problems facing journalism, which is now in
experiencing rapid transformation, and forms of cooperation between
news agencies and different social media platforms.
Speakers at the sessions will include presidents of the News
Agencies World Congress, OANA, EANA, FANA, managers of Associated
Press, Reuters, Xinhua, Anadolu Agency, TASS, Agence France-Press,
Press Association, EFE, Yonhap, Kyodo, TT, SPA, BTA, AAP, IRNA,
DPA, Notimex, ATPE and other leading news agencies, Los Angeles
Times newspaper, Al Arabiya television channel, and experts from
Tripod Advisors, News Corp, PwC, Axel Springer, Stibo Accelerator
media companies.
The Congress will also see the presentation of a photo album
featuring nearly 600 photographs by the participating agencies,
which was published through partnership between the Heydar Aliyev
Foundation and Baku Media Center.
The 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific
News Agencies will be held at JW Marriott Absheron Baku hotel on
November 18, bringing together more than 80 heads and
representatives of 40 news agencies.
The agenda of the session of the Council of CIS Heads of News
Agencies encompasses a wide range of issues, including review of
the organization`s activities in 2016, implementation of joint
projects, and expansion of news exchange.