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BEIJING: Editors from Asia's leading newspaper organizations concluded their annual board meeting in Beijing on Friday with pledges of cooperation and exchanges of skills, and efforts to monetize content to interested news outlets.
An active alliance of 21 newspapers in Asia, Asia News Network, or ANN, is a platform for exchanges of stories, photos and skills and as well as journalists among its member newspapers.
The annual board meeting, which was held following a climate change forum a day earlier, also explored potential business opportunities with Yahoo! where selected content from ANN members would be made available to users of the online portal.
In 2008, ANN and Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (DPA) signed an agreement under which DPA would distribute news and articles published in member newspapers of ANN throughout the world.
China's State Council Information Office said it would continue to support ANN and push Chinese media to forge tighter links with counterparts in other Asian countries. In his keynote address, Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, said China appreciates the unique role ANN plays in encouraging media partnership and its efforts to promote Asian journalists reporting on Asia.
He said he hoped that both government information agencies and media organizations commit to more exchanges and collaboration to increase understanding on common issues affecting Asia.
Shared resources could boost regional development in helping Asians understand each other better, he added.
In addition, editors from the 21 member newspapers presented a summary of the media situation in their countries or regions. The alliance also got a pledge of increased cooperation from Konrad-Adenauer- Stiftung (KAS), the German foundation.
"I convinced the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) to strengthen administrative cooperation with ANN. We'll be able to sign an agreement with ANN for long-term cooperation," said Paul Linnarz, Director of Media Program Asia at KAS Singapore in his welcome remarks.
As part of its Asia media program, KAS has been sponsoring ANN's operations since its inception in 1999.