JAKARTA – New Zealand Charge d' Affaires Chris Langley welcomed the idea of establishing a regional media education center for the 16 East Asia Summit (EAS) membercountries during the East Asia Regional Media Program (EASRMP) 2010 last March 9 to 11 participated in by 56 editors and journalists from the region.

The event was attended by journalists, media executives, academics, experts and public figures from Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Pakistan.
The participants discussed their work and how it affects events.

Many of the participants agreed to send a signed letter to President Arroyo to express their sentiments on the massacre of 32 journalists last Nov. 23 in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

On the last day of the conference, which also featured a workshop, the conference discussed journalism education and coordination in the EAS region.

Third-day panelists Alan Samson, a senior reporter for about 20 years for The Dominion daily who now teaches journalism at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand, and Colum Murphy, Asia bureau chief for Lloyd's List in Hong Kong and former deputy editor at the Far Eastern Economic Review, cited the importance of properly equipping journalists with additional training or knowledge to further hone their media craft.

Veteran Indonesian journalist Warief Djajanto Basorie of the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute, said it is important for journalists to have competence and ethical awareness.

"You could be factual and be biased," said Basorie, who teaches journalism.
In an interview, Langley noted that there were a lot of discussions during the conference on the proposal to set up a media educational center in the region.

While not committing this early his government's support, Langley warmed up to the idea. He said his government has to make an assessment about it whether the present EAS media program can help.
"(It is) something we can consider, though we can't make any promises," the New Zealand diplomat said.

"One of the things that we hope to come out of this (conference), even if there is not a plan to establish an educational center of any kind," Langley said, is for the journalists in the region to form a network.

If the journalists in the EAS region have a network of contacts, then if they want to report on issues in another country they will have contacts who are more familiar with the details more than they do, the New Zealand official said.

Langley recalled that the idea of New Zealand sponsoring and organizing the EASRMP developed two years ago during a meeting in his country.

He said one of the ideas that came out was how New Zealand could have a useful contribution concerning the field of media.

"It looks like an idea that no one else was doing anything (about it). It looks like an idea for New Zealand to make a useful contribution," said Langley.

The first EASRMP, he said, was held in Jakarta, at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat complex on Nov. 11-13, 2008.

"This is the second (EASRMP). I think after that we need to make an assessment whether this becomes a regular event, or whether we try to do something different," said Langley.

Helping New Zealand to hold the EASRMP are the European Union, Indonesia, and the Indonesian Press Council.