FANA conference concludes in Riyadh

The 41st Conference of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA) concluded on Monday with the participation of a Yemeni delegation headed by the Board Chairman and Editor- in-Chief of Yemen News Agency (Saba) Tareq al-Shami. The conference was opened on Sunday by Abdul Aziz Khoja, Saudi minister of culture and information and chairman of the board of directors of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) in the Saudi capital Riyadh. It decided to hold 42nd-43rd conferences in the Kingdom of Morocco and Kuwait respectively, during the last quarter of 2014-2015. The conference elected Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) and Middle East News Agency (MENA) as two deputies of the president for two years. It also elected Qatar News Agency (QNA), Libyan News Agency (LANA), National News Agency (NNA) and Moroccan Arab Press Agency (MAP) as members of the Secretariat General Commission for two years. The FANA 41st conference issued a number of recommendations, including election of Abdullah bin Fahd Al-Hussain, President of the Federation of the Arab News Agencies (FANA) and President of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), as the FANA president for two coming years. The conference also recommended to allocate a particular logo each year for discussion in its session as a main topic where the Arab news agencies are to bring working papers on the implications of the logo in order to be discussed and issued decisions aiming to develop the relevant agencies. The Assembly discussed a report by the General Secretariat regarding the best report and photo award as well as the resolutions and recommendations adopted at the Assembly's meetings. The Assembly mandated the General Secretariat to send summaries of the reports and photos submitted before May 2014 to members of the awarding committee. The conference instructed FANA Secretariat General to continue communications with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) so that FANA members could benefit from the different capabilities in the international organizations, particularly in the media field. The FANA General Assembly decided to allocate a prize for the most professional coverage for a particular event by a member agency. The conference gave an okay to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)'s bid to hold 43th FANA General Assembly in Kuwait, thanking Sheikh Mubarak bin Daij Al-Sabah, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of (KUNA) for his invitation. The General Assembly asked FANA Secretariat General to coordinate with KUNA as regards holding the next conference in the last quarter of 2015. FANA General Assembly urged the Arab News Agencies to participate in the workshops of the American Institute for Training of Communication Affairs as they are likely going to benefit from the technical engineering issues to be presented in the event as regards the developing of the infrastructure of the Arab news agencies. The conference decided to detract the award for the best website as it should not go for a news agency, but to the designing company. It also underscored the importance of the participation of FANA Secretariat General in all meetings and activities of the media sector and communication affiliated to the Arab League in addition to briefing the relevant authority at the Arab Information Ministers Council on FANA activities. The conference also recommended that a particular theme will be chosen as a main topic for discussion each year at the Arab news agencies annual conference whereas working papers on the topic will be collected from their sources well before the conference to collectively cover all aspects of the topic. The conference discussed a report on holding transformations seminar in the field of communication and its impact of the future role of the news agencies to be held in Bahrain this year. The FANA General Assembly was also briefed on the two decisions issued in the 40th conference of the FANA General Assembly held in Bahrain on 26-27, December, 2012. The conference was briefed on a report provided by the Secretary General regarding his participation in the 15th meetings of Southeast Asia Organization held in Moscow during the period 18-21, September, 2013, in presence of 44 member news agencies of the organization, including Arab news agencies: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Oman. It also discussed issues on the agenda in addition to reports relating to cooperation among the Asian News agencies and the Arab News Agencies. The conference discussed a number of issues regarding holding training courses for editors of the news agencies on the elections and rising the competency of the editors in the coverage of elections.