'The Jakarta Post' distributes 'IHT'

'The Jakarta Post' distributes 'IHT'

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Post's affiliate PT Bina Media
Sejahtera has agreed to distribute The International Herald
Tribune (IHT) in Indonesia, IHT Asia/Pacific managing director
Nigel Oakins said on Wednesday.

The distribution agreement was signed here on Wednesday by The
Jakarta Post's general manager Raymond Toruan and IHT
Asia/Pacific executive director Terry Damer.

"The partnership with The Jakarta Post was made possible by
the recent announcement of a three-hour earlier edition of the
IHT for Asia," Oakins said.

"We are particularly pleased to be working with The Jakarta
Post for two reasons. First, the Post is a newspaper which
shares the IHT's commitment to high publishing standards, and
second it fits with our newspaper's strategy of partnering with
leading newspaper publishers in major markets globally," he
added.

Raymond said, "The Jakarta Post will soon celebrate its 16th
anniversary and it is a mark of our progress in this short period
that a newspaper the caliber of the IHT would choose to entrust
its distribution in Indonesia to us."

The CEO of IHT, Peter C. Goldmark Jr., recently announced in
Paris that the International Herald Tribune would launch a major
expansion in Asia.

"The decision to print earlier in Asia is based on research
which has identified a genuine desire among readers of English
language international regional dailies to receive their morning
paper earlier. Readers all across Europe wake up to the IHT. Why
shouldn't decision-makers in Asia be able to do the same,"
Goldmark said.

Goldmark said the IHT would be transmitted to print sites
across Asia for early morning printing and delivery up to three
hours earlier than previously.

"The idea is simply to get the newspaper on to breakfast
tables and in offices, hotels and newsstands in Asia three hours
earlier than is now possible. This will put the IHT into readers'
hands in Jakarta first thing in the morning. Readers in the rest
of Indonesia will also benefit from earlier delivery times,"
Oakin said.

"For the first time an international newspaper will be
delivered alongside local newspapers," he added.

IHT editor Michael Getler stressed that the earlier edition of
the IHT for Asia would continue to be a comprehensive global
newspaper.

"Our strength is providing a concise and trustworthy record of
global news and analysis of events that the reader can relate to
his own local circumstances. That is what readers need, and that
is what we will give them -- only now we will give it to them
earlier," Getler said.

Oakins thanked its previous distributor in Indonesia, N.V.
Indoprom, for its service.

"Indoprom always served the IHT well during its long
association with the newspaper and we wish them continued success
in the future," Oakins said.

The IHT is a general interest newspaper edited in Paris with
extensive daily reporting on business and finance. Its global
circulation grew by 8.5 percent in 1998, and now includes over
638,000 readers worldwide, an increase of 36 percent since 1996.

The IHT features the work of almost 100 correspondents across
the world, including the Asia-based reporting staffs of the IHT,
the New York Times and the Washington Post. These reporting
staffs are based in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur,
New Delhi, Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore. (jsk)