How words fly from the APEC summit<\/p>\n
By Irawan Abidin<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): When the leaders of 18 Pacific rim nations
\ngather in Bogor next month for the Asia-Pacific Economic
\nCooperation Forum, they will be tackling, principally, trade and
\neconomic issues. The most important activity, however, will be
\ncommunication: Consultations among leaders, negotiations on key
\npoints among sides and reports to the world about what the issues
\nmean and what the forum has achieved.<\/p>\n
Whether these reports take the form of written communiques,
\nindividual position papers, joint statements or news conferences,
\nthe success of the meeting will undoubtedly hinge as much on what
\nis said as on what is done. The communication professionals from
\nall 18 countries will, therefore, be playing an essential role.<\/p>\n
One measure of the importance of the communicative role is the
\ninterest among the world's media in the APEC Forum. More than
\n2,400 journalists covered the 1993 APEC Forum in Seattle, and we
\nexpect a similar number to turn up here.<\/p>\n
No communication activity of this magnitude can occur without
\nplanning. With the help of communication specialists from the
\nmember countries and a team of volunteers, the host country
\nfields the questions of thousands of reporters and assists them
\nin getting the information they need to file stories to send back
\nhome.<\/p>\n
The APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM) represents a
\nsignificant opportunity for Asia-Pacific leaders to improve their
\nunderstanding of the economic challenges and to encourage
\ncooperation among their nations. This can only be achieved if
\nthey succeed in communicating in a way that breaks through
\nlanguage and cultural barriers, and if the resulting messages are
\ndisseminated properly in each society.<\/p>\n
The APEC summit represents a mixture of communication methods.
\nEach country writes its own messages and disseminates them to its
\nown news organization as well as international news
\norganizations. This may involve distributing written statements
\nto the assembled media. It may also be accomplished by meeting
\nwith journalists at summit venues or in the delegation's hotel
\nfor one-on-one interviews or news conferences. Or it may involve
\na formal news conference to which all the media are invited.<\/p>\n
All these communication forms, whether issued individually or
\njointly, require elaborate coordination by the communication
\nprofessionals involved in organizing the communication function
\nat the AELM, as well as extensive planning to effect the smooth
\ndissemination to the assembled media.<\/p>\n
Coordinating this effort requires a clear understanding of how
\ninformation flows throughout the region.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, as host of the November 1994 APEC summit, began
\nplanning its communication support operations almost immediately
\nfollowing the 1993 summit, when President Soeharto invited the
\nAPEC leaders to convene the next summit in Indonesia.
\nPreparations are under way to provide credentials and work space
\nto more than 2,000 journalists. To accommodate these members of
\nthe working media, we are designing an International Media
\nCenter, which will provide a wide range of support services,
\nincluding:<\/p>\n
* 30,000 square meters of workspace and briefing areas;<\/p>\n
* Phone lines for voice and data;<\/p>\n
* Daily delivery of local, national and international newspapers;<\/p>\n
* Booths for vended services, including postal service,
\nexpress couriers, photocopying and automatic banking teller
\nmachines;<\/p>\n
* Two dozen audio and video broadcast studios;<\/p>\n
* Facilities for off-line and on-line video editing;<\/p>\n
* Electricity, furniture rental, local transportation services
\nand other basic supports.<\/p>\n
Because of the variety of communication facilities among the
\nAPEC members the above services must allow for different
\napproaches by media organizations from the various countries.<\/p>\n
A key element in supporting the international media at the
\nAPEC summit is a sophisticated telecommunications and satellite
\ncommunication system. In this, and other preparations, Indonesia
\nanalyzed facilities provided at previous multilateral summit
\nmeetings sponsored by APEC and other international groups, and
\ndesigned a system best suited for the countries and media
\norganizations involved.<\/p>\n
Each journalist covering the summit requires access to a
\nwealth of background information about the summit, the
\nparticipating countries, the leaders representing those countries
\nand the history and facts about APEC itself. Such a formidable
\nbody of information is assembled by teams of specialists from the
\nAPEC Secretariat and will be provided to reporters in the
\nInternational Media Center. This clearinghouse role is extremely
\nimportant, and represents a major logistical challenge in itself.<\/p>\n
This effort is just one example of many undertaken by the APEC
\nmembers to ensure productive relations with the media in order to
\nenhance the journalists' ability to present a fair, balanced and
\naccurate picture of the APEC meeting as well as the economic and
\npolitical situation in the region.<\/p>\n
The writer is Director of Foreign Information of the Ministry
\nof Foreign Affairs.<\/p>",
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