ANTARA News Director Urges East Java Bureau to Strengthen Impactful Coverage

ANTARA’s Director of News, Virgandhi Prayudantoro, is encouraging the East Java bureau to strengthen impactful coverage through in-depth reporting, providing context, and detecting public issues. During a visit to the ANTARA East Java Bureau in Surabaya on Saturday, he stated that regional bureaus should no longer merely wait for invitations or agendas. ‘We must actively find community problems, become a hub for information verification, and produce news that provides benefits and context,’ he said. He noted that regional bureaus need to transform from mere event reporters into detectors of public issues capable of presenting useful information and providing context to the public. ‘One issue should not stop at one news story. Develop it from the aspects of policy, implementation, impact on beneficiaries, obstacles, to innovation or comparison with other regions so that coverage is richer and more impactful,’ he added. According to him, public service news must also have context, verifiable data, at least two sources, community voices, and an explanation of benefits and obstacles, thereby providing added value for readers. ‘The composition of coverage should be more in-depth reporting than ceremonial news. Our focus also supports national strategic issues, ranging from food security and energy security to human resource resilience,’ he said. Furthermore, Virgandhi encouraged the ANTARA East Java Bureau to cover micro, small, and medium enterprises (UMKM) and tourism not just as promotion, but to review value chains, digitalisation, licensing, and the economic impact on the community. He also affirmed that media customers remain a priority, while social media is utilised to expand reach through visual and multimedia content. On the commercial side, the East Java Bureau was asked to strengthen customer mapping, offer standardised products, and maintain the separation of journalistic and business functions.