September 17 (BTA) - The Media and News Agencies in the Post-Covid Age is the main topic of the 29th General Assembly of the Association of the Balkan News Agencies - Southeast Europe (ABNA-SE), hosted by Kosovo on September 16-19 and organized by the KosovaPress News Agency.

The event, accompanied by a regional conference of ABNA-SE, is attended by representatives of the news agencies of twelve Balkan countries. The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) is represented by its Director General, Kiril Valchev.

The participants will discuss the pandemic and its impact on the work of the mass media.

The discussions are organized in roundtables and panels, and include talks on "Democracy deficit, fast versus fact, infotainment versus information, clicks versus checks," the possible alliance between the media and institutions in using tourism, culture and industry as a public diplomacy tool for networking and cooperation in Southeast Europe, as well as the benefits and opportunities in the transition from the traditional to the digital.

ABNA-SE will also elect new structures and a new Secretary General. A new website of the Association is also to be unveiled.

Speaking at the opening of the event, Armela Krasniqi, who currently chairs ABNA-SE, said that from day one of the pandemic, media freedom was faced with major challenges, with a growing demand for information about the extraordinary situation while people were locked down, eagerly waiting for news. Krasniqi stressed that the task of the media during such times is more important than ever.

BTA is one of the founding members of ABNA-SE, which is a non-profit professional association of the news agencies of Southeast European countries. Established in 1995, ABNA-SE strives to develop cooperation among its member news agencies, and to help foster a climate of peace, friendship, security and cooperation in the Balkans and Southeast Europe. ZH