Seven African countries and Malaysia were planning an Internet-based news service as an alternative to Western media reports of their countries that are often biased or inaccurate, a project organiser has said.
Omar AbdulRahman, chairman of the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management, said the Smart News Network (SNN) would take text, photographs and video from member news organisations to counter what he said was sometimes a malicious interpretation of developing-world events.
"It is just another source of news," he told Reuters in an interview in the Ugandan capital, adding it would not be controlled by governments. "It may be the same perspective (as traditional news services) or it may be completely different."
There is always a feeling in the developing economies that news emanating from your country through the usual wire services gets the emphasis and the interpretation wrong and sometimes is actually mischievous," he said.
The Web site address and launch date were still pending.
Participants in the new service included the Malaysian news agency Bernama and Malaysian newspapers The New Straits Times, The Star and Utusan Malaysia.
The Mozambique News Agency and newspapers Namibia Today, The Seychelles Nation, The Bua News (South Africa), Uganda's New Vision, The Herald in Zimbabwe and Botswana's Daily News were also taking part.
The venture would be a private limited company registered in Malaysia as Smart News Network International Sendirian Berhad, an SNN leaflet said. The board of directors would include members from Malaysia, Africa and elsewhere.
A similar network existed in Asia with Indian involvement, called the Asia News Network, AbdulRahman said.
