ABU News Group elects new leadership team at Istanbul meeting

More than 50 Asiavision (AVN) members including 20 newsroom heads have attended the annual ABU News Group meeting where they elected a new Chair and Vice Chairs and were briefed on preparations for the second Global News Forum to be held in Japan next year.

The ABU News Group met for three days from 18 August, hosted by Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) in Istanbul. During the meeting, Joao Francisco Pinto of TDM-Macau was elected as chairman with two vice-chairs, Kenji Kohno of NHK-Japan and Lee Jae-kang of KBS-Korea.

The Global News Forum (GNF) 2015 briefing was given by hosts NHK-Japan.

KBS-Korea presented a review of the first GNF held in Seoul in 2013, there was an evaluation of Asiavision operations then presentations from partners including the Broadcasting Board of Governors of the US (BBG), the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU), APTN and CNN International.

The second day was dedicated to seminars by NHK, KBS, APTN, CNN International, TRT, BBG and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism of Columbia University. On the final day, participants went on a study tour of the TRT news studios.