Jakarta (ANTARA) - State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir, on Tuesday (May 14), inaugurated the ANTARA Heritage Center (AHC) complex in Central Jakarta that will serve as ANTARA News Agency's headquarters and museum of journalism.
Acknowledging ANTARA's role in the national press ecosystem, Thohir expected the news agency to adapt to demands of the modern press industry and create new historical milestones for Indonesia's journalism.
"I hope AHC will not merely retell history but also create new history through collaboration and innovation. Let us make this complex as our commitment to continue developing and innovating to present quality information to the people," the minister stated here.
One of the foremost challenges in the press industry is to present accurate reports while maintaining prompt delivery and clarifying wrong information, which ANTARA should undertake, he stated.
The minister also highlighted press freedom as a necessity in encouraging the cohesion of the Indonesian nation.
Thohir expects AHC to be a new page in history and journalistic tourism destination in Jakarta and a medium for ANTARA to present educating, enlightening, empowering, and nationalistic messages for the nation.
ANTARA should also be a strategic center for related stakeholders in improving journalistic skills, especially when the news agency also operates the ANTARA School of Journalism, he remarked.
Meanwhile, President Director of ANTARA News Agency Akhmad Munir stated that AHC will bolster the number of journalism-themed tourism destinations in Indonesia.
"We also hope that AHC will be an inspiration and make ANTARA the first national mass media that becomes a tourism destination in Indonesia on its own," Munir remarked.
ANTARA Heritage Center, a 107-year-old A-class certified heritage building complex standing in Central Jakarta's Pasar Baru region, has been recently revitalized to cater to the current work demand and its position as Indonesia's news agency. AHC comprises Griya Aneta, Graha ANTARA, and an annex office.
The complex's history can be traced back to the Aneta building -- on the west side of AHC -- developed by Dutch East Indies' media mogul, Dominique Willem Barrety, as the headquarters of the Aneta news agency in 1917.
The complex played an important part in Indonesia's history since the proclamation of independence was first broadcast to the world from the current Graha ANTARA building.
The complex has been under ANTARA ownership since 1962 when President Soekarno instructed buildings that formerly housed the Aneta news agency and Japan Empire's Domei news agency to be handed over to ANTARA.
