KUALA LUMPUR: News agencies from around the world are meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria for three days starting Thursday for their sixth congress to discuss the future of news-making, reported the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).
More than 200 delegates from 100 countries, including the heads of leading news agencies from the five continents, prominent journalists and figures from the social media are participating in the June 13-15 congress in the Bulgarian capital city.
Delegates will focus their discussions on fake news, artificial intelligence, the new models of ownership of news agencies and the new sources of information.
Malaysia is represented by the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Nurini Kassim and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Domestic News Service Datuk Mokhtar Hussain.
In his opening remarks as reported by BTA, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said that the Congress offers a chance to discuss the trends, challenges and opportunities for news agencies.
Radev said the social media boom has destroyed the previously established algorithms for acquiring, collecting, processing, analysing and disseminating information.
The president also warned that the destructive effect of information now has the potential to be more dangerous than bombs and missiles.
“Today, the truth is often drowned in fake news as speed (of reporting) takes precedence over credibility,” he said.
Radev also said that professional news agencies and media outlets are facing growing financial issues, which he said lead to political and economic dependence and the undermining of professional and ethical standards.
He pointed out that the motto of the forum, ‘The Future of News’, is actually about the future of mankind.
“Digitalisation has already changed our perception of the world because information is in abundant supply, but in reality, it is the most scarce commodity,” the President said.
The Bulgarian president also thanked BTA for its hard work in organising and hosting the forum.
BTA director-general Maxim Minchev, in his speech, described the congress as the largest media event of the year in Bulgaria.
Minchev said that news journalism is one of the last bastions of real and double-checked news, and it needs sources of inspiration as much as it needs sources of financing.
The work in the panels of the Sixth Congress will be live-streamed on the websites of the congress (https://www.nawc.bg/) and BTA website (http://www.bta.bg/). – Bernama
