Friday, June 22, 2012

General Assembly comes at critical time, says ABU Secretary-General

This year’s ABU General Assembly in Seoul, Korea, comes at critical time for the broadcasting media in the Asia-Pacific, according to the Union’s Secretary-General.

Dr Javad Mottaghi says this is not just an important time for the transition to digital broadcasting but the whole structure of the media themselves is changing.

He says the theme of this year’s General Assembly, Beyond the Digital Wave, will have to take the debate further than technologies or even broadcasting practices and shift it into the very purpose of broadcasting.

“We are seeing some traditional media models collapsing and regenerating almost overnight,” Dr Mottaghi said. “One only has to look at the world’s most developed media market in the United States to see the tidal wave of change.

“Local media there are dying or morphing into quite different things. Nearer to home, Australia’s two major newspaper groups are abandoning large parts of their print markets to move online and into multimedia.

“All these changes will have a profound effect on what we do as broadcasters in the Asia-Pacific.”

Dr Mottaghi said although the agenda for the General Assembly from 11-17 October 2012 was well-developed, members and guests attending should come prepared for an ever-evolving debate.

Information about the 49th ABU General Assembly and how to register can be found here. There is a 15 August 2012 deadline for hotel bookings as well as visa applications.
 

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