World media leaders to discuss IPR, new media

Xinhua, September 27, 2011

Leading figures from the world's most renowned media organizations met in Beijing Tuesday morning to discuss the protection of intellectual property rights, the rise of "new media" and cooperation between international media groups.

Executive President of the World Media Summit (WMS) and President of the Xinhua News Agency Li Congjun presided over the meeting.

In his speech addressed to the meeting, Li said, since the first WMS was successfully convened, the global media landscape has undergone profound changes.

"The impact of the financial crisis has slowed down the development of the whole media industry", Li said, adding that traditional media in particular are affected.

Further, the media are increasingly using cutting-edge technology, Li said.

"Although competing with each other, traditional media and new media are also converging and developing together," Li said.

Li also welcomed the Al Jazeera Network and the New York Times Company for joining the presidium, which made the WMS presidium "more representative in terms of cultural backgrounds, media forms and authoritative perspectives."

The World Media Summit Presidium Meeting was attended by leaders and senior members of the Associated Press (AP), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), New York Times, Itar-Tass, Kyodo News, News Corporation, Thomson-Reuters, Al Jazeera Network, Google and Time-Warner's Turner Broadcasting System (TBS).

The attendees to the meeting will have discussions on four topics including media IPR protection, media cooperation in the new media era, journalists' safety and media' role in natural disasters. Discussion of the next WMS plenary meeting will also be in the schedule.

The first WMS, held from Oct. 8 to 10 in 2009, was co-launched by Xinhua and eight other media organizations including News Corporation, AP, Thomson Reuters, ITAR-TASS, Kyodo News, BBC, Turner Broadcasting System Inc and Google Inc. The Al Jazeera Network and the New York Times Company joined the presidium in 2010 and 2011, respectively.