Prasar Bharati Additional Director General Sunil has been unanimously elected as the Vice President of the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).

Sunil has been elected for a three-year term.

Prasar Bharati, parent of Doordrashan and All India Radio, late November hosted the 59th ABU General Assembly and Associated Meetings in New Delhi. Its General Assembly was attended by over 400 representatives of broadcasting organisations from more than 57 countries.

The ABU was established in 1964 as a not-for-profit, non-government, non-political, professional association with a mandate to assist the development of broadcasting in the region. The organisation promotes the collective interests of television and radio broadcasters as well as key industry players and facilitates regional and international media co-operation.

Speaking at the recently-hosted ABU General Assembly in New Delhi, India’s Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur had said that ‘presenting authentic information is the prime responsibility of media’ and that facts should be properly checked before they are put in the public domain.

He also advised news media to exercise caution while live reporting terror attacks, saying it should not provide clues to attackers and their ill motives.

“While speed with which the information is transmitted is important, accuracy is even more important and should be primary in the minds of communicators,” Thakur observed.

He also urged that ABU as an association of broadcasting organizations must continue to train and equip media practitioners with the best professional skills on the role of media in the time of crisis and promised that India was ready for all such efforts.