'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)