DUSHANBE, 20.04.2018 /NIAT “Khovar”/.  The 24th meeting of the CIS Mass Media Heads Council (the CIS Information Council) was held in Minsk, capital of Belarus.

At the meeting, Tajikistan was represented by Sarvaroy Azimova, deputy director of the State News Agency of Tajikistan ‘’Khovar”.

The 24th meeting of the CIS Mass Media Heads Council (the CIS Information Council) was addressed by the Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee — Executive Secretary Viktor Guminsky, Director General of the Russian TASS news agency Sergei Mikhalkov, and others.

According to prime minister the trust in information comes to the forefront these days. Reliable and up-to-date information is one of the most important needs for mankind. One can hardly imagine the civilized world can exist without it. This is why the matter of reliability and prompt news delivery is extremely important. It is what news agencies are all about,” said Andrei Kobyakov.

Andrei Kobyakov compared the distribution of negative news by mass media to weapons of mass destruction. Today’s technologies for delivering news and their universal adoption only make the influence of mass media stronger.

Andrei Kobyakov thanked the heads of news agencies from the CIS member states for their praise of BelTA’s work. “We appreciate your evaluation of BelTA’s performance. This year the agency will celebrate its 100th anniversary as an up-to-date and rather mobile institution, which lives up to challenges of the time,” said the prime minister.

Sergei Mikhailov, Director General of the Russian news agency TASS, said that during the session of the CIS Mass Media Heads Council on 19 April they discussed creative interaction between state-run news agencies, which have to operate in the face of tough competition with other kinds of mass media and the Internet. The TASS director general noted that the Internet is home to quite a great deal of fake news. Such news spread rather fast. News agencies have to stay competitive in these conditions by separating the wheat from the chaff.

“The precision of information — which a source we can trust and which we can’t — comes to the forefront,” believes Sergei Mikhailov. “We are convinced that professionalism, timely delivery, authenticity, and precision in reflecting points of view are crucial to the success of our news agencies. It is important for us to draw attention not to confrontation, not to abusive rhetoric often spread by various mass media, but to the coverage of positive events in the life of our countries, integration processes, and friendly ties between nations.”

The CIS Mass Media Heads Council (CIS Information Council) was established in November 1995. Its members are the heads of state-run news agencies of Azerbaijan (AzerTAc), Armenia (Armenpress), Belarus (BelTA), Kazakhstan (Kazinform), Kyrgyzstan (Kabar), Moldova (Moldpress), Russia (TASS), and Tajikistan (Khovar).