News executives meet in Seoul to plan future of Asiavision news exchange scheme
News executives for many of the Asia-Pacific’s leading broadcasters met in Korea to discuss the future of the ABU Asiavision news exchange scheme.
More than 50 heads of news, ABU secretariat members and other media experts met at the KBS headquarters in Seoul for the ABU News Group Meeting. The annual meeting is a chance for representatives of Asiavision members to track the progress of the regional news exchange service and plan for the future.
Delegates were welcomed to Seoul by Ms Ryu Hyun-soon, Executive Vice President of host broadcaster Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), who said they lived in disruptive times, especially in the fast- changing Asia-Pacific region, riding the digital wave of technological change.
“Rather than pushing against the wave of change and innovation, we have to learn to ride it,” she said. “Tools of the digital revolution like SNS, smart devices and broadcasting across various platforms can contribute to excellent global reporting. For public service broadcasters like KBS, getting the news out to our audience in a fast, accurate and effective way is a critical part of our mission to serve the public. We have learned not to shy away from new technology, but rather, to embrace it.”
KBS News & Sports Executive Managing Director, Mr Lim Chang Gun, paid tribute to the cooperation, support and encouragement they had received from AVN and ABU Members around the Asia-Pacific for better news coverage.
“Given that all of the participants here have something to offer your professional network, vision and knowledge base through active discussion and experiences, the ABU News Group Meeting in Seoul will mark a grand milestone for Asiavision on its path to greater development in the future,” he said.
ABU Secretary-General Dr Javad Mottaghi thanked KBS and its managers and staff for hosting both the News Group Meeting and the Global News Forum the following day, a special forum which he said opened discussions of important regional news issues beyond the members of Asiavision who attended the NGM.
He also spoke about the changes Asiavision has experienced in the past two years – the expansion of membership, the migration to a new exchange platform, a changed AVN logo, upgrade of the operational system and improved financial management.
ABU News Group Chair Ms Prattana Nuntaratpun said the meeting marked another watershed in AVN history.
“I firmly believe that where there is a dream, there is a way,” she said. “As long as we keep dreaming that Asiavision will be smarter, faster and stronger than ever, we will be able to make it come true by all means in future.”