Asia News Network 10 Years Werner vom Busch & Dr. Susanne Rentzow-Vasu (Editors) (c) Copyright 2008 by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Singapore Editors Werner vom Busch Dr. Susanne Rentzow-Vasu Publisher Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 34 Bukit Pasoh Road Singapore 089848 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior consent of the Konrad-Adenauer- Stiftung. ISBN 978-981-08-2168-5 Design and Layout TimeEdge Publishing Pte Ltd 10 Anson Road 15-14 International Plaza Singapore 079903 www.tepub.com Contents Acknowledgements v Foreword vii Asian Media in Changing Times – An Overview 1 The Story of the ANN 19 Inside Scoop – A Day at the ANN’s Bureau Bangkok 39 From Seven to Twenty – Breaking Down Barriers 49 The ANN at its 10th Anniversary – Achievements and Aspirations 155 The Who’s Who of the ANN 171 10 years of ANN in pictures 185 Bibliography 209 Acknowledgements Just like the newspaper network described in these pages, this book has been put together by many helping hands. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all the members, friends and partners of the Asia News Network who have will- ingly shared their experiences to help us write the ANN’s story. v Foreword Heraklits “War is the Father of all Things” would be a rather bellicose beginning of a foreword to this book. But if I rephrase it: “Crisis is the beginning of many things” I think it would be about right. The Chinese character for “crisis” consists of two different meanings: one means “danger” and the other “chance”. So in the middle of the 1997 Asian economic crisis editors of various Asian newspapers were meeting at a Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung organized conference in Bangkok with my predecessor, Thomas Stehling. The mood was amiable, in spite of the looming economic meltdown around Asia and, later, the rest of the world. In these troubled and strange times the idea of the “Asian News Network” was born. The reasons were clear. To have more and better reporting about Asia; to create a network of mutual help and assistance amongst major, English-written newspapers in Asia and to enhance cross-Asian dialogue. If we look back today we have to admit, as journalists and in all modesty, Asian News Network has been an Asian success story. What started out as a small enterprise in the midst of a crisis is, today, the biggest-- and certainly the most active news network in Asia, if not the world. With a daily circulation of 14.5 million issues and a reach of approximately 50 Million people throughout Asia. Once only seven members, ANN has today 20 member papers cover all of South, South-East and East Asia. “We know Asia Better” is not just an advertising motto, it is the reality. But how does reality become permanent? If we wanted to avert the destiny so elaborately described on the tombstone of John Keats “his name was writ in water”, vii AsiaNewsNetwork - 10 Years we have to use the marble of our times: the printed word. It is the written book that delivers us from being buried by the sands of time; that has described so many great events. Thus we decided that 10 years on after ANN’s birth was a great opportunity to create a memorial which will withstand the onslaught of time. Thus this book “10 Years ANN.” Through this simple volume we can look back to how it all began and read what the main players had to say about ANN. Step by step we can retrace the growth of this network until the present day. The book records who joined and when, what was said and decided at some of the board- meetings held all over Asia and when some important decisions by the ANN board were implemented. I has been, indeed, a rather rapid rise. During those 10 years ANN nearly tripled its membership, started an E-Paper and then a full weekly magazine, called “Asian News”. In 2008 a contract with Deutsche Press Association [dpa] was signed. Dpa now receives about 50 ANN stories a day, giving dpa an amazing coverage of Asia and enabling ANN contributed stories to be published around the world. I believe Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung has given its support to a great and worthwhile endeavour. This book will become a reference book for scholars researching and writing their doctoral thesis and for newspapers wanting to form their own successful enterprise. Finally let me add one important ingredient which has contributed enormously to the success of ANN: It is the spirit of friendship and assistance that has prevailed throughout the last 10 years, carefully and skillfully tended and rekindled time and again by our Executive Director, Khun Pana Janviroj. It has been this spirit that has helped us all surmount the considerable obstacles that sometimes stood in the way of our success. It is this spirit of friendship and collegiality I know will prevail until such time that ANN celebrates its 20th anniversary. Werner vom Busch Director Asia Media Programme Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Singapore viii Asian Media in Changing Times – An Overview Creating and sustaining a professional network of any kind is never an easy feat. A lot of time, patience and resources are required to synchronise and fine-tune the sometimes clashing objectives of members, to ensure all parties are working towards a common goal. Building a successful network amongst the leading English language (and local language) newspapers across Asia, has been particularly difficult. Asia is arguably one of the most diverse regions in the world and home to a breathtaking mixture of ethnicities, languages and religions, along with a broad spectrum of political and economic systems ranging from absolute monarchies and military governments, to one-party systems and developing democracies. The region’s diversity presents journalists across Asia with very different political and economic realities, which they have to reflect on in their work, not only to do justice to their readers but also to their roles as journalists in largely developing countries. And if the heterogeneity of Asia wouldn’t pose enough of an obstacle to the creation of a pan-Asian news network, the nature of the profession itself is far from a prime candidate for sharing. On the contrary, to this date, the quintessence of successful journalism remains exclusiveness. Nonetheless, in March 1999 the editors-in-chief of seven leading newspapers from countries as diverse as Vietnam and India, Singapore and Indonesia came together in the Thailand capital, Bangkok, to sign a Memorandum of Agreement and founded 1 AsiaNewsNetwork - 10 Years the Asia News Network (ANN). In the first decade of its existence the Asia News Network put to rest any doubt that cooperation between newspapers and across borders is possible - instead it is thriving. The expanding network currently comprises 17 English language and three Asian language newspapers, from 17 Asian countries. It provides a tool for news exchange and a pan-Asian magazine with news from its members, market reports, currency information, and weather news via its website. The network’s collective group of newspapers boast a total daily circulation of more than 15 million copies with a combined readership of 50 million people. Most importantly, ANN has greatly strengthened the Asian perspective of Asian news by providing readers with a view that is different from the traditional Western-centred coverage of Asia. Indeed, as will be shown in this book, allowing Asian media to emancipate itself from the traditional dominance of Western news wires in the coverage of regional affairs has been the main motivator for its creation and ultimately the reason for its success. At the same time, the thriving interaction and cooperation among network members is fostering better understanding among countries with often strained bilateral ties. This book documents the development of the remarkable achievement by revealing the rationale and mechanisms behind this unique model of pan-Asian cooperation, introduces the network’s members and explores what the future has in store for the ANN. Of course, a network like this does not appear out of nowhere. Many factors came together in a unique grouping which allowed the ANN to take form. The first chapter traces the historical circumstances at the time of the network’s inception, beginning with a short summary of the Asian values debate which gained particular prominence in the 1990s, and its implications for Asian media. It also sketches out the rapid changes in the media market, all of which provided an impetus for the creation of Asia’s leading news network. Once the wider context has been set, this book will turn its attention to our protagonist, the ANN, and retrace its early years. 2 AsiaNewsNetwork - 10 Years Of Values, Crises and New Challenges Although the story of the ANN does not begin until 1999, cooperation amongst most of its key players goes back much further. Everyone who observes the friendly banter between the group’s management of highly-regarded and experienced professionals during their annual board meetings, cannot fail to notice their relationships are based on mutual respect that has grown out of longstanding personal friendships. As members of a tightly knit circle of Asian journalists and media practitioners, they had raised the idea of closer cooperation amongst their respective newspapers on many occasions before 1999. Following months of exchange, in the midst of a regional economic crisis, it took the helping hand of their partner and supporter, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), to provide the final push for developing a cooperating organisation.