2-day world conference of news agencies opens in Islamabad tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: A two-day International Conference of News Agencies (ICNA) to highlight Pakistan’s constructive image and promote collaboration among news, disseminating bodies to cope with the challenges of media revolution, will be held on May 13-14.

The conference, to be instrumental in promoting country’s soft image amongst comity of nations, will have participants from 20 countries including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.

The event, being organised under the theme, “Pakistan’s Media Opportunities and Challenges with special focus on News Agencies Emerging Professional Challenges,'' would provide the participants an opportunity to discuss current challenges and evolve a strategy. The initiative by the APP would help develop close proactive relations with other news agencies and multiply the outreach of participating countries.

APP Managing Director Masood Malik said the conference would provide an opportunity to journalists for a direct and hassle-free linkage with counterparts in other countries to explore new areas of cooperation. He said APP has taken this initiative to cope with the situation and emerging competitive environment for news agencies in the world. In this age of digital communication, the role of news agencies was of paramount importance as no nation could remain isolated to meet challenges of globalization.

The conference would hold important sessions on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Media Connectivity, Emerging Future Challenges to News Agencies and Role of News Agencies in Digital Era and Mutual Cooperation.

Keynote speakers from different sectors would deliver lectures in four main and two interactive sessions. The foreign participants would be apprised about the way Pakistan has coped with the challenge of terrorism and its efforts for peace. Recognizing connectivity as a hallmark of the current era, the conference would help identify the technical and professional hurdles in the way of smooth collaboration and exchange of news that at time necessitates dependence on indirect sources of news.