India was elected as the new President of the AIBD General Conference during the 44th Annual Gathering/17th AIBD General Conference and Associated Meetings in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 3 August 2018.

Sri Lanka was re-elected as the Vice President of the General Conference. 

The AIBD General Conference met from 2-4 August 2018 to discuss the Institute’s year-long performance as well as future strategies, and approve resolutions that impact its operations.

Shri Fayyaz Sheheryar, Director General of All India Radio, who represented India, said he was humbled and honoured by the election.

“I will try to meet the high expectations of AIBD. As my country holds the AIBD in high esteem, we will work hard to make AIBD a more renowned international organisation”, he said.

He also said that AIBD has lots of potential to do good, especially for poor broadcasters. “We shall keep working on the path shown by the outgoing president and work in tandem with all members and the newly re-elected Vice President from Sri Lanka.”

India replaced Iran whose term ended this year following its election for a two-year term from August 2016. 

Outgoing President of the AIBD General Conference Dr Abbas Naseri Taheri, Advisor to IRIB President and Director General of International Affairs, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, thanked members and summed up some of the challenges the GC raised in its meetings. These include seeking more transparency in AIBD finances, revising training modules amid the changing media landscape, overhauling the Strategic Plan Team as a think tank, and refining procedures and rules critical to the Institute’s operations.

Mr Thusira Malawwethantri, SLRC Director General, who represented Sri Lanka, thanked members for the vote of confidence in re-electing his country and promised to continue working together for the betterment of AIBD. 

3 Members Voted, 2 others Re-elected to the Executive Board

Iran, Maldives and Nepal were elected as new members of the AIBD Executive Board (EXBO).  Cambodia and Pakistan were re-elected to the Board. They complete the entire nine-member EXBO that also includes Bhutan, China, Korea, and the Philippines.  India, having been elected as a member of the EXBO during the 16th General Conference in Maldives in August 2017, becomes an ex-officio member of the EXBO as it is elected as President of the GC as mentioned above.

Full members who attended the AIBD General Conference and its Associated Meetings voted for the five members to the Executive Board.

After the GC, the EXBO voted Pakistan as its Chairman, and Maldives as Vice-Chairman.

The Board meets once every year to examine the Institute’s annual performance and administration and strategies for the future.

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Finance and Mass Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera of Sri Lanka called on the media industry to provide accurate, fruitful and faster reporting instead of compromising values in the face of stiff competition.

With the emergence of new media and social media, he said a new generational group called millennials is now actively participating in shaping our society. He added that they are IT savvy, very interconnected, independent and powerful communicators.

“We must work hard to preserve our professional journalism values. Journalists are duty bound to report news without  fabrication despite temptation to compete with those who propagate false information”, the Finance Minister said in his speech during the inaugural ceremony of the 17th General Conference held in Colombo on 2nd August 2018.

Minister Samaraweera also called on governments to abandon censorship in this era as it is a self-defeating exercise and uphold values like free expression and media freedom in the region.

From the perspective of government, he said, “we cannot fear traditional and new media”, and imposing censorship and restrictions to control media “undermine fundamental values in our societies and violate our basic human rights.”

He also said that AIBD as an “inter-governmental organisation should continue to train broadcasters and build the best skills to gain broader freedom for media. Our government is ready to support your efforts.”

He cited Sri Lanka’s efforts to have greater openness and transparency for all citizens through the enactment of the Right to Information Act, which can also lead to a vibrant free media in the country.

Sri Lankan Tourism Minister John Amaratunga also spoke at the inauguration ceremony, citing the key role of broadcasters in influencing global thinking in many issues. He said broadcasting remains a strong platform in the region, especially in drawing attention to what Sri Lanka has to offer as a secure, safe and attractive tourist destination.

In his welcoming remarks, Dr Abbas Taheri, President of the AIBD General Conference and Advisor to IRIB President and Director General of International Affairs, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, identified key initiatives of AIBD to deal with the fast evolving media landscape.

“Ultimately our mission is to continue to offer a regional platform for effective discourse and exchange of information and experience. AIBD will also provide innovative training programmes and relevant research to build human resource capacity and competence,” he said.

Mr Thusira Malawwethantri, SLRC Director General, delivered the opening remarks on behalf of the host organising committee.

He described the General Conference as a unique event, bringing in key broadcasters to reflect on the state of media and find ways to achieve higher quality of journalism amidst the great complexity and competition in the region.

He thanked the support given by both private and public sectors in ensuring a successful conference.

A highlight of the inaugural ceremony was the presentation of the AIBD Awards 2018. These include the AIBD TV Award for the Best TV Programme on Youth Mental Health, AIBD TV Award for the Best TV Programme on Netizens for Uplifting Society through Internet, AIBD Radio Award for the Best Radio Programme on Diversity through Sports, and the Reinhard Keune Memorial Award for the Best Radio Programme on Uplifting Communities through Sustainable Tourism.

In the same occasion, AIBD members were treated to a colourful cultural dance.

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Key government officials of Sri Lanka will grace the Inaugural Ceremony of the AIBD 44th Annual Gathering and 17th General Conference & Associated Meetings in Colombo on 2nd August 2018.

Close to 60 AIBD delegates are attending the meetings that will review the Institute’s year-long achievements and examine future plans to meet their training needs and other development concerns. The General Conference will also elect its President, Vice President and some members of the Executive Board.

Mr Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Finance and Mass Media of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, will deliver the keynote address while Dr Abbas Taheri, President of the AIBD General Conference and Advisor to IRIB President and Director General of International Affairs, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, will deliver the welcome remarks.

Mr John Amaratunga, Sri Lankan Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs, will also address the conference.

During the Inaugural Ceremony, top officials of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), host of this year’s General Conference, will also grace the event. They are Ms Inoka Satyangani Keethinanda, SLRC Chairperson, and Mr Thusira Malawwethantri, SLRC Director General, who will deliver the opening remarks on behalf of the host organising committee.

Another highlight of the ceremony is the presentation of the AIBD Awards 2018. These include the   AIBD TV Award for the Best TV Programme on Youth Mental Health, AIBD TV Award for the Best TV Programme on Netizens for Uplifting society through internet, AIBD Radio Award for the Best Radio Programme on Diversity through Sports, and the Reinhard Keune Memorial Award for the Best Radio Programme on Uplifting Communities through Sustainable Tourism.

Mr Thusira Chintaka Malawwe Thantri, Director General of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, and Chairman of AIBD’s Strategic Plan Team, says the Right to Information Act which Sri Lanka recentlypassed signals the return of democracy in the country.

Mr Thusira Chintaka Malawwe Thantri, Director General of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, and Chairman of AIBD’s Strategic Plan Team, says the Right to Information Act which Sri Lanka recentlypassed signals the return of democracy in the country.

Speaking during the Members and Partners’ Forum at the 43rd AIBD Annual Gathering/16th General Conference, Mr Thantri said getting approval for the Act was a long struggle spearheaded by press freedom organisations.

The Right to Information Act was approved on 3 February 2017, providing citizens access to public information includingasserts declarations by members of Parliament.

“According to the Act, any citizen should get the information within a maximum of 28 days,” Thantri said.

Another speaker at the Forum was Professor Rajbir Singh, Director of the Consortium for Educational Communication, India. He delivered a brief presentation on digital educational content production and dissemination, an evolving agenda for broadcasters in developing nations. This initiative, he said, can reduce cost of education and make it more accessible to developing and poor countries. 

Dr Singh explained hisbroadcasting strategy for educational content sharing, to include creation of  dedicated specialised channels for subjects/domains; priority/ prime timing educational programmes on general channels/non-educational channels; syncing broadcasting with real classes schedule and timing, and broadcasting through DTH and Web and use of multi platform for the same content.

“AIBD can play a crucial role in disseminating education through technology which may go a long way in content sharing of educational content in Higher education among its member so that we all march on the road to development”, he said.

Calls for more in-country training workshops and sustainability concerns dominated discussions among AIBD members who participated in the 43rd Annual Gathering/16th AIBD General Conference in Maldives.

Calls for more in-country training workshops and sustainability concerns dominated discussions among AIBD members who participated in the 43rd Annual Gathering/16th AIBD General Conference in Maldives.

Close to 50 full and affiliate memberrepresentatives from16 countries attended the conference on 22 August 2017 to examine the Institute’s annual performance and future direction.

Discussions focused on the need for additional in-country workshops in member states, among them, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Maldives, the Philippines,Sri Lanka and Thailand. Training topics being requested cover mobile journalism, election reporting, media management, community radio, citizen journalism, archiving, documentary production, and training of trainers. Some members also requested the AIBD secretariat to look into offering online courses as a way to reach out to more members and reduce cost of training.

AIBD Director Mr Chang Jin presented the Institute’s annual performance. They implemented 36 training activities that benefited 840 broadcasters mostly from Asia Pacific and Africa from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. These workshops covered a variety of topics to includeTV camera editing/lighting/production, digitization, production of children/youth programmes, radio production, disaster risk reduction, new media and social media.

Fifty percent (50%) of the activities were in-country, while 47% were regional and 3% were sub-regional. A majority of the participants were self funded, about 84%, while 7% were partly funded, and 9% fully-funded.

Dr Javad Mottaghi, ABU Secretary General, said they are willing to coordinate with and help AIBD in pushing joint activities to meet members’ needs in some areas including election reporting, training of trainers and development of online courses.

The Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) has offered to open more applications for AIBD members who wish to participate in future training workshops on content, being organised by the Korea Radio Promotions Agency or RAPA.

The Consortium for Educational Content in India said they are willing to assistAIBD to produce educational programmes and use infographics.

Mr Chang agreed with members to pursue additional funds for training and said the Institute would review the list of activities lined up in the future to respond to members’ needs. While he acknowledges the importance of online courses, he said they would also continue with face-to-face training sessions to enhance capacity building. He will coordinate with the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) for its offer to help AIBD develop online courses.

Members also engaged in extensive discussions on sustainability issues, examining the status of member states’ subscription payments and AIBD’s annual budget.

Chang Jin raised concerns over the decrease in international programme support and delay in the payment of subscription arrears. He appealed to members to pay up early so that the Institute will have the necessary funds to carry out its operations.

On the membership campaign, Chang Jin highlighted the entry of five new affiliate members. He also reported that three affiliates were suspended while the membership of two others was terminated. 

Mr Ham Sam Ath, Deputy Director General for International Relations, Ministry of Information, Cambodia, said private broadcast companies in his country are interested to become members, an opportunity the Institute should tap soonest.

On the AIBD budget, Dato’ of Radio Television Malaysia requested the AIBD secretariat to provide more details on its income and expenditure, saying that “it is better for members to know where money goes and to ensure funds are equitably spread out”.

Dr Abbas Naseri Taheri, President of AIBD General Conference and Advisor to IRIB President and Director General, Iran, had a similar request, seeking as well for detailed plans on how to raise funds and control costs.

“We need to sustain this organisation. It is our duty to discuss and explore ways to make the organisation efficient and find more money for its training activities”, Mr Ibrahim Khaleel, Managing Director of Public Service Media, Maldives, said.

Some members also sought early distribution of the annual performance and financial reports, at least a month before the GC, to ensure they come prepared during the meeting to engage in high level discussions and recommend measures to deal withvarious concerns. 

Mr Chang Jin said the Secretariat will provide soonest a more detailed financial report andwill move on withfuture strategy.

Other issues that members took up were the need to work out a more detailed strategic plan or roadmap 2020, and review of overhaul election procedures for members of the Executive Board.

The Director’sannual report also discussed the 14th Asia Media Summit (AMS) held in June 2017 in Qingdao, China. Reflecting on the highlight of AIBD’s work focused on development, Chang Jin said the summit was a success in helping broadcasters understand and address the many demands of development in the region.

“By doing so we are connecting ourselves in an all-round way with the societies and the world, so that to reliven, if necessary, the broadcasting and media industry,” he said.

The AMS was complemented by the AIBD Annual Media Report (AAMR), a study on the role of broadcasting media in communication for development, based on 22 members’ response to a 17-page survey.

Chang Jin also reported on AIBD’s international partnerships to include United Nations agencies and more than 20 organizations across the globe.

Maldives Vice President Abdullah Jihadsays “media’s key role is not to depress and dishearten citizens, but to motivate, encourage and inspire nations” in order to pave the way for future generations and build a better society.

Maldives Vice President Abdullah Jihad says “media’s key role is not to depress and dishearten citizens, but to motivate, encourage and inspire nations” in order to pave the way for future generations and build a better society.

“This is where intergovernmental organizations like AIBD comes into the picture. It can provide smaller states like Maldives an opportunity to strengthen the efficiency of media for the betterment of the country”, he said.

The Maldives Vice President delivered this message during the Inaugural Ceremony of the 43rd Annual Gathering/16th AIBD General Conference & Associate Meeting held on 21 August 2017 in Maldives.

In his speech, Vice President Jihad spoke about the growing role of social media in the contemporary world, stressing that its rise has made such an impact that it has become a challenge for the traditional media to lure and sustain the audience.

“The social media offers a level of flexibility that the traditional media does not afford. It offers a much higher level of interactivity making this, perhaps the main distinguishing factor” he said.

He also pointed out that as social media rapidly grows as a medium, member countries of AIBD should consider ways to blend in and integrate traditional media with new media.

AIBD can take a lead, he said, in addressing this need, and should design more courses on social media including training of technical staff.

Dr Abbas Naseri Taheri, President of AIBD General Conference and Advisor to IRIB President and Director General, IRIB International Cooperation Department, delivered the welcoming remarks.

In his speech, Dr Taheri cited various demands on media to make a difference in helping solve poverty, malnutrition, lack of education, gender and socio-economic inequality, environmental degradation and conflict, among others.

One demand is for media to produce compelling and distinct content so that audiencescan attain great satisfaction and great experiences that drive participation and engagement.

Two is to contribute to public understanding and analysis of sustainable development concerns and achievements.

Three is getting media to adapt to emerging technologies and social media that can equip broadcasters with effective platforms to produce better programme content, interact differently with and reach out to bigger audiences.

Four is to strengthen human resource skills and competence, a primary mandate of the Institute.

“I hope that a regional consensus would be created in this gathering to meet these demands, no doubt a step forward towards a balanced and sustainable development”, he said.

Ms Aminath Shaayan Shahid, Deputy Managing Director of Public Service Media (PSM), also spoke during the Inaugural Ceremony.

In her opening remarks, Ms Shaayan highlighted the diversified services of PSM, who hosted the 16th General Conference in Maldives. She cited the content they produce for its 8 TV channels, 3 radio channels, an online media platform and a magazine.

As young people who comprise two thirds of Maldives population are both catalysts and agents of change, she said PSM stresses the importance of training young professionals.

In this way, she said, “they can play their designated role in building a well-informed, educated, entertained and an aware society that will engage in building this nation”.

The presentation of the AIBD Awards 2017 was also held during the Inaugural Ceremony.

Trophies and certificates were presented to winners or their representatives in various categories covering Best TV programme on ‘Towards a Waste Free Society’, on ‘Bridging the Gender Gap’, Best Radio programme on ‘The journey of the Migrant’ and on ‘Fighting Deforestation”.