OANA: Sharing knowledge about technology - Key to the development of news agencies

Photo caption — VNA Director General Vu Viet Trang and TASS News Agency Director General Andrey Kondrashov (left) discussed the direction of cooperation between the two agencies. Photo: Cong Tuyen/VNA reporter in China

The conference with the theme “Media in the modern world : Technology and the safety of journalists” gathered 34 delegates from 12 news agencies that are members of the Executive Committee. The delegation of Vietnam News Agency (VNA) led by General Director Vu Viet Trang attended the conference.

In his welcome speech at the Conference, Comrade Fu Hua, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and head of Xinhua News Agency, affirmed the importance of the Asia -Pacific region - the growth center of the world. For the region to develop rapidly in the coming time, news agencies need to promote cooperation and promote mutual trust. He emphasized the opportunities and challenges that technology and artificial intelligence are bringing to the press, including news agencies. Comrade Fu Hua expressed his belief that this Conference is a useful opportunity for agencies to share experiences in developing technology to serve the press in the digital age.

The current President of OANA, General Director of TASS News Agency (Russian Federation) Andrey Kondrashov emphasized the important role of the largest multilateral press organization in the region in coordinating to solve the problems that journalists and news agencies are facing, which are the challenges from fake news created by artificial intelligence (Gen AI) and the threat to the life and health of reporters working in hot spots around the world - those who are facing danger to bring original and accurate information to the public; at the same time, he emphasized the need for ethical codes when using AI and Gen AI in press agencies to ensure access to original information created by professional journalists.

Within the framework of the Conference, two thematic discussion sessions took place. Speaking at the first discussion session with the theme "AI and Media Transformation: Innovation and Ethics", VNA representative, journalist Vo Hoang Long, Deputy Head of the Editorial Department of VietnamPlus e-newspaper, presented a paper "AI and journalism: When machines help people increase their storytelling power". The paper emphasized the spirit of innovation and creativity that has helped VietnamPlus quickly absorb and apply useful AI tools to the editorial office's operations, using technology to exploit VNA's strengths, creating many impressive press products, positively impacting society.

The conference approved the expansion of the Executive Committee membership by adding MONTSAME News Agency (Mongolia) as the 13th member; adopted the Joint Statement on the safety of journalists working in conflict and disaster hotspots; and agreed that QNA News Agency (Qatar) will host the 58th OANA Executive Committee Meeting in 2026. The conference signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between OANA and the Boao Business Forum to share resources and support the promotion of economic development, trade and cultural exchanges in the Asia- Pacific region.

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