Media urged to provide 'fair' reportage

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-12 07:49

Leaders and representatives of global media organizations have urged media outlets to provide "accurate, objective, impartial and fair" coverage of news events across the globe.

The call was made in a joint statement issued in Beijing over the weekend after a three-day World Media Summit.

In the statement, representatives of 170 global media outlets also urged organizations to promote transparency and accountability of governments and public institutions, and facilitate the mutual understanding as well as exchange of views and ideas among people from different countries and regions.

Media representatives agreed the world was undergoing complicated and profound changes, and said economic globalization, information explosion, and the prevalence of new communication technologies, plus the diversity and integration of world cultures, have provided great opportunities for global media development.

The changes had also "set up an important platform" for media organizations to cover world events and global issues, the statement said.

It said the media could take full advantage of advanced technologies and help push forward reforms and progress in the global media industry.

"We believe the summit will have a widespread, positive and far-reaching effect on the global media industry to prompt media organizations of the world to work together against challenges, enhance collaboration and achieve common development," the statement noted.

Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a speech at the summit's opening ceremony on Friday. He urged the global media to use their special assets and advantages to convey the messages of peace, development, cooperation, mutual benefit and tolerance.

Hu also encouraged exchanges and cooperation among media outlets on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and trust.

Valery Levchenko, deputy general director of Russian News and Information Agency, said the summit had helped deepen understanding among different media groups and created opportunities for future cooperation.

"There is always cooperation and competition, both at the same time. It's wonderful to have a lot of good partnerships. And, obviously, partnerships have to be shared mutually," said Eric Morrison, president of Canadian Press.

"One of the themes during the summit was 'win-win'. So, if you need a partnership, it must work for both partners," he said. "Such summits are always useful in a world that is so well connected for people to continue to discuss things freely."

Proposed jointly by Xinhua News Agency, News Corporation, The Associated Press, Reuters, ITAR-TASS, Kyodo, British Broadcasting Corporation, Turner Broadcasting System and Google, the World Media Summit was held in Beijing from Oct 8 to Oct 10.

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