'Antara' embarks on aggressive expansion<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
At the age of 68, state news agency Antara is expanding from its
\ncore business of real-time news to television and radio news in a
\nbid to cope with tougher media competition in the country.<\/p>\n
Vice President Jusuf Kalla on Wednesday inaugurated the Antara
\nTV content provider during the news agency's anniversary
\ncelebration here.<\/p>\n
Antara also launched other new services such as an online
\nlegislation database called WPU, an improved-version of the
\nAntara website, and a radio content provider.<\/p>\n
Antara chief editor, Asro Kamal Rokan, said that the new
\nservices were expected to expand the agency's sources of revenue
\nand improve future earnings.<\/p>\n
\"We are doing our best to innovate to get new cash flow
\nsources,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Currently, Antara obtains around 70 percent of its revenue
\nfrom selling its newswire service to foreign news wires such as
\nReuters, Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse (AFP), China's Xinhua,
\nMalaysia's Bernama, Japan's Kyodo and Deutsche Presse-Agentur
\n(DPA).<\/p>\n
It also provides news products to 250 newspapers, hundreds of
\nradio stations and dozens of television stations across the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Antara's other businesses include a publishing company, the
\nJournalism Photo Gallery database, a journalism training
\ninstitute and the Indonesia Market Quotes (IMQ) service, which
\nprovides real-time stock market transaction information.<\/p>\n
Asro commented that heavy reliance on a single service was not
\nhealthy for Antara.<\/p>\n
Therefore, Antara is eying some 60 network and local
\ntelevision stations here as a market for its new TV content
\nprovider service. It would also distribute TV news and footage to
\nforeign news agencies and international television networks.<\/p>\n
Starting next year, Antara would station television reporters
\nat the Presidential Palace and the Vice Presidential Palace.
\nBoth places are seen as important sources of news.<\/p>\n
Apart from expanding its local news services, Antara also
\nplans to get more foreign clients by re-establishing its foreign
\nbureaus next year. Antara closed all but one of its foreign
\nbureaus following the Asian financial crisis of 1997. It now only
\nhas a single bureau at United Nations headquarters in New York,
\nUnited States.<\/p>\n
\"We also plan to expand our direct network to media in China,
\nthe Middle East, Australia and Europe,\" he said, adding that
\nAntara would also provide news in French, Arabic and Chinese, in
\naddition to Indonesian and English.<\/p>\n
The moves were being taken to realize Antara's ambition to
\nbecome a leading news provider in Asia through multimedia
\ndistribution by 2008.<\/p>\n
Antara was actually a private company when it was first
\nestablished in 1937. President Sukarno's government took it over
\nin 1962 and turned it into a state institution. The legal status
\nof Antara remains unclear to this day, despite the fact that the
\ngovernment has promised to cover 60 percent their expenses.<\/p>\n
Although the government has not fully fulfilled its promise in
\nrelation to funding, Antara has been able to survive due to its
\nposition as the country's sole news agency.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/antara-embarks-on-aggressive-expansion-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}