Int’l News Agencies Conference to help portray Pakistan’s soft image

ISLAMABAD, May 10 (APP):The two-day International Conference of News Agencies (ICNA) commencing here from May 13, will prove to be instrumental in highlighting Pakistan’s efforts for peace and promoting further collaboration at international level to portray the country’s soft image among the comity of nations.
The event, second of its kind after 1990, is being organized by the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) in connection with the 70 years of the country’s independence, to highlight its journey since inception and to further strengthen bilateral relations with the outer world in the digital era. The conference would be held with the theme “Emerging Professional Challenges to the News Agencies.”
According to APP Managing Director Masood Malik, the conference would provide an opportunity to APP journalists to have a direct and hassle free linkage with their counterparts in other countries for exploring more areas of cooperation and exchange of news.
He said in today’s age of digital communication, the role of national news agencies was of paramount importance as no nation could remain isolated to meet challenges of globalization.
He said in the wake of Pakistan’s special geo-strategic location, it was imperative to highlight the events pertaining to the country and the region to the independent world in their true perspective, so that that information should be disseminated to the people.
APP, he said, had taken the initiative to develop close proactive relations with its international counterparts, which would help enlarge their news coverage on one hand and expand the outreach of some 20 countries on the other.
Masood Malik said the participants of the conference would be apprised as to how Pakistani media had come out after suffering from dark decades of terrorism and how the nation had risen to the challenge and live peacefully.
Heads and representatives of 18 international news agencies from Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey are expected to attend the conference.
Keynote speakers from various sectors will deliver lectures in four main sessions on the topics: ‘Bridging Gap in Social Media: News Promptness versus News Authenticity,’ ‘Role of News Agencies in Digital Era and Mutual Cooperation,’ ‘CPEC: A step forward for Economic Connectivity and Role of Media,’ and ‘Pakistan’s Role in Global and Regional Peace.’
It is pertinent to mention here that APP has bilateral news exchange agreements with 40 international news agencies and is also in the process to sign such accords with 17 others.