Tehran, SANA-Participants in the 18th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), held in the capital city of Tehran, affirmed that mass media must not pose threat to sovereignty and independence of counties around the world.
According to “Tehran Declaration” issued at the conclusion of OANA meetings, attended by SANA, represented by its Director-General Eyad Wannous, the participants underlined keenness on increasing the level of cooperation among the member agencies to overcome challenges facing the flow of news and to prevent monopolizing them, with the aim of keeping up-to-date with the latest news in all fields.
The declaration also called for facilitating flow of news and information in Asia and the Pacific Ocean and making them available for all people across the world without discrimination.
It demanded to break the dominance of Western mainstream media on public opinion, in addition to providing the mechanism of cooperation among the member agencies to work as one website run for facilitating the news exchange and for effective participation in collecting information.
The declaration also stressed the importance of commitment to peace and understanding among nations, in addition to promoting cooperation ties between OANA and other agencies for mutual benefits and combating hatred speech.
The next meeting of OANA will be held after three years in Moscow as Russian TASS won the voting to host the meetings.
On the sidelines of the meetings, SANA director-General, Eyad Wannous, discussed with Mehr News Agency counterpart, Muhammad Shajaian, the importance of diversifying the media content, particularly in the social and culture topics in light of the ties that bind the two peoples in the social, historic and cultural domains.
Activities of 18th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) kicked off in Tehran on Monday, hosted by the IRNA, with the participation of the Syrian Arab News Agency represented by its general director Eyad Wannous.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)