Non-Aligned Movement-Seychelles welcomes revamped news agency |06 January 2006

The decision to relaunch the agency, re-baptised Non-Aligned Movement News Network (NNN), was endorsed recently by the Sixth Conference of the Ministers of Information of Non-Aligned Countries (COMINAC VI) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Seychelles was represented at COMINAC VI by the technical advisor to the principal secretary of the Department of Information Technology and Communication and the Member of the National Assembly for Takamaka Terence Mondon, and the Director of Media Affairs who is also Seychelles Nation's chief editor, Denis Rose.

COMINAC VI had as theme "Advancing Information and Communication Collaboration Towards a More Dynamic NAM."

The initiative to relaunch the news network was taken by Malaysia which hosted COMINAC VI nine years after the fifth conference which was held in Abudja, Nigeria.

Malaysia will host the internet-based NNN through its national news agency Bernama, and has agreed to underwrite the network's start-up cost.

NNN replaces the Non-Aligned News Agencies Pool (NANAP) which has for many years been inactive due to declining support from member countries.

NANAP was under the chairmanship of the Islamic Republic of Iran and hosted by its national news agency IRNA which spent relentless efforts to develop and nurture it.

COMINAC VI agreed in its Kuala Lumpur Declaration on NAM Information and Communication Collaboration that NANAP should be revitalised through a new workable mechanism and form in order to move forward.

This, the declaration said, was necessary to counter the dissemination of discriminatory and distorted information of events taking place in developing countries which was continuing unabated and which "places the vast majority of mankind" at a disadvantage.

NNN, it said, will provide a new mechanism to effect a more sustained and efficient flow of news and information among the 114-member organisation and other developing countries.

However, Malaysia Information Minister Datuk Seri Abdukl Kadir Sheikh Fadzir was quick to point out that NNN will have to be credible and will not go "on a West-bashing spree."

While countering negative reports on its member countries, it will have a clear editorial policy that will ensure balanced reporting and that the truth is told even if it goes against the members, he said, adding that the NNN will be responsible and truthful and will in the long run supply news not only to NAM countries but also to the Western media.

The network's long term goal is to go global, rivalling other news agencies like Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France Press in supplying news and penetrating the Western markets.

The Seychelles delegation joined the representatives of the other participating countries in congratulating Malaysia for the initiative and COMINAC VI as a whole for giving its full support to NNN.

Mr Mondon said NNN will be particularly valuable to small countries like Seychelles which in many cases are overlooked by big news agencies where developmental news is concerned.

"In many cases established big news agencies tend to concentrate only on calamities or problems which small countries face," Mr Mondon said. "The NNN will give those countries a chance to spread their  good news too to the world."

Mr Mondon added that as the Malaysian Minister had emphasised, the NNN will have to be very serious where credibility is concerned because its future development will depend a lot on that.
 
"While in the initial stages NNN will depend heavily on information and news exchange between member countries, I believe that in the long run it will have to adopt a more commercial approach for success," Mr Mondon said.

Mr Rose said that Nation Publishing will play its part to help make NNN a success.

"We can contribute news about Seychelles that we publish and this will be at no extra cost to us as we already have a well established network to provide information," said Mr Rose. "It will give Seychelles more publicity.

"In return we hope to get a wider variety of news from NAM countries which currently are not available or difficult to get. This will enrich the knowledge of our readers."