News leaders to chart region’s future in new digital age

Senior journalists, editors and other leaders in broadcast news from across the Asia-Pacific and around the world will gather in Korea later this year for the region’s first global forum on news in the Media 3.0 era.

Organised by the ABU and Korean Broadcasting System, the Seoul conference in September will examine the changing roles of journalism in the digital era and offer a venue for newsroom decision-makers, media professionals and journalists in the field to share experiences on the impact of new media.

KBS President and CEO Mr Gil Hwan-young says guest speakers will include journalists of a high calibre from major Asia-Pacific networks such as BBC World News, CNN and Al Jazeera.

“It will also provide a chance to share Asian vision on the future of new media,” he says.

The forum “Breaking the News in the Media 3.0 Era” follows on from discussions at the ABU General Assembly in Seoul last year and is being held in conjunction with a meeting of the ABU’s News Group on 4 September 2013.

ABU Secretary-General Dr Javad Mottaghi says the conference is vital in a time of exponential media change, when rapidly changing technologies provide challenges for broadcasters and their audiences, though this in itself was also an advantage.

“Never before have journalists, editors, producers and others in our industry had so many tools to not only question what is happening to our professions but also to share the answers,” he says.

As practical demonstrations of possible ways forward, participants will be communicating with each other at the Forum using paperless, two-way communications on the spot and via touch-screen discussions by SNS. These are being sponsored by Korean Ministry of ICT and Samsung Electronics. More information on the Global News Forum can be obtained from the ABU https://www.abu.org.my/