PARIS, France (Eagle News Service) — As part of the network’s efforts to strengthen and develop its global force in news and information, representatives of Eagle Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) visited the headquarters of Agence France-Presse (AFP), the oldest news agency in the world and the largest French news agency in Paris, France last March 13-14, 2017.
The timely visit came in a period where media, both traditional and social media is proliferated with fake news.
“For us as a newswire, the most important thing is to be back to the fundamentals of journalism which is not being emotive, to be totally fair in the way we report everything and try to explain a lot because there’s a lot of false information, manipulated information and a lot of propaganda,” AFP Global Editor-in-Chief Phil Chetwynd said.
“It is a very emotive time,” Chetwynd described.
He pointed out that there is a lot of opinion journalism and commentary on social media, which is now part of the media ecosystem.
“With the context of what’s happening in the States, in the context with what’s happening in Britain after the referendum to leave the European Union, with what’s happening in the Philippines as well and what’s happening in elections across Europe, it actually made everybody, especially us as a newswire, to really focus on the fundamentals of journalism,” Chetwynd explained.
Chetwynd discussed how AFP works its way amidst false information. “Trying to work through all that comes to what we really are all about — which is our basics — it is about sourcing and the fundamentals of being independent,” he said.
-Importance of balance and fairness in reporting
He stressed the need of having and knowing the good sources and presenting information in open, clear and balanced ways. “Always asking yourself if you are fair to everyone in the debate,” the AFP Chief stressed.
Aside from the editorial aspect of the news agency, AFP International Sales Francois Bohn also gave the EBC Team a tour of the news and administrative offices of the Paris headquarters located at 13, Place de la Bourse.
The EBC team who went to AFP Paris were composed of Alma Angeles, EBC director for international news, Caesar Vallejos, a consultant for EBC, and Robert Capistrano, head of production of EBC Global.
“EBC is positioned as a global media brand that espouses objectivity and fairness that is why this AFP visit will enhance our capability to continuously satisfy our international audiences with their need for timely news and information,” Alma Angeles, EBC Director for International News, said.
She noted AFP’s aggressiveness in using social media that includes its Twitter accounts in six different languages.
“The best practices of AFP in social media is a very interesting way for us to continue innovating how we deliver news and information to our audience around the world,” Angeles added.
The AFP Social Media team led by Gregoire Lemarchand, AFP Head of Social Network Team and Sophie Nicholson, AFP Social Media Journalist shared their social media management strategies to the EBC team.
The EBC’s visit to the AFP headquarters in Paris, France is part of the network’s efforts to strengthen and upgrade its global force of correspondents in news and information, both in the traditional and digital arena.
EBC has correspondents not only in the Philippines, but also in various countries abroad. It has currently four media platforms: NET25 for television, Radyo Agila for AM radio, 95.5 Pinas FM for FM radio, and eaglenews.ph for its digital news.