The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is relaunching two Saudi-based media bodies to push back against what it calls slanted Western coverage of Muslim nations, Malaysia's Deputy Information Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced in Kuala Lumpur on 27 September 2006.
The two organizations, the International Islamic News Agency and the Islamic States Broadcasting Organization (ISBO), were both founded in Jeddah in the 1970s but never gained significant traction in Muslim markets. Malaysia, which currently holds the OIC chair, will lead ISBO for two years to help restore its operations.
Ahmad Zahid said the effort would draw on Malaysia's experience building a news service for the Non-Aligned Movement, launched in June 2006. He described Western outlets as having forfeited credibility through biased reporting, saying the OIC needed to make its own coverage "more reliable and credible."
The OIC also plans to open a journalism training center in Malaysia serving reporters from member states. Fifteen countries have already signed on to participate, though no launch date was given.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2006, in its own words.