Two new members join 'Asia News Network'

Two new members join 'Asia News Network'

PHNOM PENH (JP): Two top English-language newspapers in the
region, The Korea Herald and the Philippine Daily Inquirer,
joined the Asia News Network (ANN) on Monday, bringing the number
of major Asian newspapers in the regional alliance of same-day
news exchange to nine.

Senior editors from the member newspapers also agreed at a
meeting on Saturday in the Cambodian capital to set up an
editorial coordination office and a joint website in their bid to
boost up distribution of Asian news and information to
international community.

ANN, founded in Bangkok last March with assistance from the
Konrad-Adenauer Foundation (KAF), is an alliance of Asian
newspapers to exchange news, features, opinion and editorial
articles and photos on daily basis.

The editors agreed that a combined exclusive news and
information portal website will serve the growing number of
regional and global internet networks looking for reliable and
credible content providers.

A series of conferences and joint regional coverage are set
to take place this year as the ANN members agree to propel the
Asian voices to a new dynamism, ANN chairman Pana Janviroj,
announced on Monday

Editors from China Daily and iTV, Thailand's first and only
independent television station, also attended the ANN meeting as
observers.

ANN founding members are The Jakarta Post from Indonesia, Viet
Nam News from Vietnam, Sin Chew Jit Poh and The Star from
Malaysia, The Straits Times from Singapore, The Nation from
Thailand, The Statesman from India and the now defunct The Manila
Times from the Philippines.

Among the activities planned by the network this year are the
organization of a Young Leaders' forum together with KAF, where
each newspaper member will nominate up to five candidates from
their own countries. The leaders will meet for a regional
conference to discuss challenges for Asia in the 21st century in
Bangkok in August.

The ANN members will also undertake a joint editorial coverage
on the development of e-commerce. The members will also publish a
supplement at the end of this year exploring the regional
challenges from economic, culture to social development in the
wake of intense globalization.

ANN will join the Konrad Adenauer Foundation to host a
regional conference later this year to assess the impact of
global media mergers that are changing the landscape of the media
in Asia.