Doha: Nearly half a century old, the Qatar News Agency continues on its mission with a renewed commitment to advancing forward, remaining true to its patriotic, national, and humanitarian message, while at the same time adopting objectivity, professionalism, and high standards. Established on May 25, by Amiri Decree No. 94 of 1975, QNA will celebrate its 49th anniversary today, having made a reputation for itself as being one of the most prominent news agencies regionally and globally. Backed by its successful strategic plans and well-thought-out strategies, QNA stands confident at the forefront of Qatar's media scene. QNA's prestigious position would not have been possible without the unlimited support of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the esteemed government, and Qatar's free media environment, along with the sincere and hard work of QNA's staff. Out of its recognition of digital media's central role in today's world, and in keeping pace with the latest advancements, QNA has embraced socia l media, Artificial Intelligence, and the latest technologies in order to reach and serve all segments of society. Not only that, but QNA has also understood the type of challenges that face traditional media outlets as a result of developments in the digital realm, with digital media spreading like wildfire and gaining a large following thanks to their appeal and relevance. Thus, the agency became convinced that the future is for digital media, which is precisely why it no longer just provided simple text, instead, it started employing all sorts of multimedia, in order to stay up to date with contemporary trends and technological developments. As a result, digital media has become QNA's beating heart, given its powerful ability to disseminate news and reach local and international audiences directly, allowing for the use of an array of multimedia, be it text, images, videos, or info-graphs which all help to break down complex events for audiences and offer them an enriched experience. As such, and as part of its comprehensive development policy set in motion over the past period, QNA has stretched out its reach on social media platforms to include Facebook, X, Instagram, Telegram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, and YouTube. Aside from its Arabic and English ones, QNA started offering its news bulletin in French, German, and Spanish, along with launching a simultaneous translation service to 26 international languages. Furthermore, the agency also started providing a new service for persons with disabilities on its website and smartphone application, out of its commitment to inclusion. Not to mention that it created an account on X solely dedicated to sports news, in addition to intensifying its use of multimedia to include more info-graphs, videos, and instant news updates. Working round-the-clock, QNA's News Department comprises of the Arabic Editorial Section, the Foreign Editorial Section, the Economic Section, the Local News Unit, the Sports Section, the Cultural Section, the Editorial Photography Section, and th e Research and Documentation Section. The Local News Unit covers political, social, health, educational, and labor events and conferences, as well as reports, dialogues, and interviews conducted with local ministers and officials, foreign guests and ambassadors, along with Qatari ambassadors abroad. As for the Editorial Photography Section, it handles the news coverage of all state institutions and activities, such as conferences, exhibitions, and meetings with prominent figures. Additionally, the section records conferences, exhibitions, and important exclusive interviews with Qatari officials and foreign guests, as well as covering certain senior officials on their official missions and duties. The section also documents important and traditional landmarks in Qatar. The Research and Documentation Section, however, prepares reports on political, economic, and miscellaneous topics. It also covers the country's achievements and major events throughout the year, including the National Day celebrations. Moreo ver, the section covers important issues, events, conferences, as well as Arab and international crises. For QNA to maintain its position in the lead and to remain up to date with the latest developments in the news and media sector, along with those in the digital media realm in particular, QNA inaugurated the QNA Training Hall in its headquarters last year, in line with its vision to constantly enhance the skills and know-how of its employees by offering them specialized and high-quality training. Moreover, the QNA Training Hall offers training to journalism, media, and communication graduates in Qatar who wish to join QNA and/or other state institutions interested in training their employees on media, communication, and public relations. As such, the news agency introduced its first journalism training courses on October 10, 2023, organized in cooperation with the Al Jazeera Media Institute. On August 2023, the heads of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member state news agencies agreed in principle on a p roposal made by the State of Qatar to create a single application that would encompass all GCC country news agencies, which would facilitate easy access to news for GCC citizens. During their 22nd meeting, the heads of GCC news agencies entrusted QNA and relevant committees with the task of materializing this application, which would also enable GCC state citizens to watch and tune in to live Gulf TV and radio channel broadcasting, access photo and video archives, and follow the social media accounts of each of the Gulf news agencies. In March of this year, the Arab Union for Tourist Media awarded QNA the best Arab news agency award for tourism news, during the 2024 Arab Tourism Media Awards at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) show which took place in Berlin, Germany. The award came as a testimony of QNA's commitment and effort to offer distinctive and comprehensive multimedia coverage of tourism events in Qatar and the Arab world. In the context of its patriotic media mission, QNA has been coverin g the State of Qatar's comprehensive advancement over the past years, including key political and economic highlights, reflecting Qatar's growing role in the regional, Arab, and international arenas. QNA serves as the voice of Qatari state media, being the main source for reliable local news, as well as offering professional and objective media coverage of events, developments, and issues in the Arab and international arenas, while remaining steadfast on just Arab, Islamic, and humanitarian causes, along with delivering Qatar's message of truth and justice to all corners of the world. The Qatar News Agency obtains its news from ministries and official entities, from reporters on the ground covering local events, and from a body of accredited correspondents in major Arab and foreign capitals, along with news provided by Arab and international news agencies with which QNA has signed agreements. Among the main tasks of QNA's accredited correspondents is to follow Qatar's participation and activities on the gl obal stage, on which they produce detailed reports and coverage, in addition to conducting interviews with Qatari officials abroad, including the State of Qatar's ambassadors in various world countries. Source: Qatar News Agency