`Antara' links up with Aussie wire service

`Antara' links up with Aussie wire service

JAKARTA (JP): The official Antara news agency yesterday signed
a cooperation agreement with the Australian Associated Press
(AAP), a move both sides hope will ensure a more balanced flow of
information between the two neighboring countries.

Handjojo Nitimihardjo, Antara's Chief Editor and Managing
Director, and Lee Casey, AAP's Chief Executive, signed the
agreement in the presence of Australian Ambassador Allan Taylor.

The linkup is particularly significant given that repeated
trouble between the two countries in the past have been fanned by
what Indonesian officials considered as ill-behaved Australian
press. At one time, Indonesia even imposed a blanket ban on all
Australian journalists.

Under the cooperation, AAP will disseminate selected Antara
news articles to some 700 Australian electronic and print media.
Similarly, Antara will be relaying AAP news to its clients in
Indonesia.

"The cooperation is expected to improve the flow of
information in the region... which is now an important economic
zone," Casey said, adding that the Australian business community
is particularly keen on getting more information about Indonesia.

Except for cutting the length of news from Indonesia, no
substantial editing will be done, Casey said. "Thus the credit
will still go to Antara".

Handjojo said the news on Indonesia from Antara would be an
addition to those supplied by transnational news agencies which
are a main part of Australian mass media.

News on Indonesia supplied by transnational news agency is
received by the Australian community "in a form or version which
is often disadvantageous to Indonesia," he noted. Through the
exchange, he said, more balanced news reports can be expected.

"The exchange can also be regarded as a boost to the ongoing
efforts by both governments and private sectors at establishing a
deeper mutual understanding and at enhancing economic cooperation
between the two," Handjojo said.

AAP is the 34th foreign news agency to establish such a
cooperation with Antara.

Both Casey and Handjojo consider the cooperation grounds for
developing other services in the news agency sector.

'AsiaNet'

Both men yesterday also signed the AsiaNet cooperation
agreement which is a regional press release distribution service
for corporate news.

Casey explained that through the network, companies can
distribute information to countries in the region whose news
agencies are signatories of the agreement.

AsiaNet consists of Australia's AAP, Indonesia's Antara,
Malaysia's Bernama, China's Xinhua, Japan's Kyodo and South
Korea's Yonhap.

Marketing managers of the six agencies signed a cooperation
agreement in Singapore last month and so far three agency heads,
namely AAP, Antara and Xinhua, have signed the agreement.

"Through AsiaNet, any information or issue will be supplied by
companies to the six agencies, who will then disseminate it to
the mass media. No changes will be made," Casey explained, adding
that any necessary editing would be made by individual media
agencies.

Press releases from the six agencies can also be directly sent
to the mass media of countries within the Asia- Pacific, European
and American regions.

AsiaNet, he said, would be used for business purposes
only.(pwn)