`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)