The Asia News Network (ANN) is looking forward to developing its image as the common voice of Asia.

At the ANN’s annual meeting in Hanoi on September 18, Pana Janviroj, ANN President, said the network outlined a plan to upgrade its website making it easier for members to share their photographs and videos.

Janviroj, who is also the Editor-In-Chief of Thailand’s The Nations, said the ANN also trialed an initiative connecting readers throughout the region by giving its online subscribers the opportunity to access four ANN newspapers online via the network’s website.

In order to develop a new generation of journalists capable of covering the region’s news, ANN would coordinate with journalism training centres in the region, and fast-track multimedia initiatives to be able to cover the region’s issues more comprehensively, he said.

By 2015, the network is expected to have established an effective partnership between members, enabling it to publish in-depth news on various current affairs, including migrant labourers, the impact of the ASEAN Economic Community, human trafficking, and food safety, Janviroj added.

Participants from 22 member press agencies from 19 countries focused on how to make full use of modern technology in journalism and enhance cooperation amongst members.

They also shared information and experience, as well as measures to address the declines in readership and advertisement revenue for printed press in the context of social networks and electronic newspapers.

Asif Ullah Khan, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Brunei Times told his colleagues that, in a bid to attract more readers, they had added multimedia bulletins with audio and video footage in English, Chinese and Malay to the online newspaper.

Brunei Times also sends messages to subscribers to inform them of breaking news, he said.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Korea Herald from the Republic of Korea said the newspaper dedicated entire columns to Korean music and films to compete with social networks freelancers.

An ANN delegation is scheduled to work with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on September 19.

This year’s ANN meeting is a joint effort between VNA’s Vietnam News paper and the German foundation Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Networking between Asian newspapers started off as an informal discussion between editors participating in the first Asian-German Editors’ Forum organised by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Manila . ANN was officially established in March 1999.-VNA