(MENAFN) The 57th Executive Board Meeting of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) took place on Wednesday in Boao, a coastal town in China’s Hainan province. The session was jointly moderated by Fu Hua, president of China’s Xinhua News Agency, and Andrey Kondrashov, director general of Russia’s TASS news agency.

Executives from OANA member agencies attended, including Anadolu CEO Serdar Karagoz and Strategic Communications and External Relations Manager Bilgehan Ozturk. During the meeting, Mongolia’s national news agency MONTSAME was elected to fill a vacant seat on the organization’s board.

The board issued a joint statement emphasizing the protection of journalists in conflict zones, noting that reporters perform a public service, combating disinformation and defending people's right to information, and that safeguarding their rights should be a priority for state institutions in all countries.

Participants also agreed that the 58th OANA Board Meeting will be hosted by Qatar’s news agency QNA, while the 59th meeting is scheduled to take place at Vietnam’s state-run VNA.

Following the formal session, panels addressed the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on media, its ethical implications, global threats to journalists, and measures necessary for ensuring information security.

Afterward, Karagoz met with Fu Hua and invited him and the Xinhua team to Türkiye for an environmental forum organized by Anadolu ahead of next year’s UN climate change conference COP31, highlighting the role of news organizations in addressing environmental responsibilities.

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