President celebrates Press Day

Erwida Maulia, The Jakarta Post, Palembang, South Sumatra | Tue, 02/09/2010 9:27 AM

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attended an event held Tuesday to commemorate the 64th National Press Day in Palembang, South Sumatra.

Yudhoyono arrived in the city at around 9:10 a.m., after departing from Jakarta an hour earlier, and was immediately escorted to Hotel Aryaduta where the event took place.

During the event, the President will witness the signing of a ratification on press organization standards by 20 company representatives.

Yudhoyono will also witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a new journalism school, the Indonesian School of Journalists, between journalism societies, the National Education Ministry, UNESCO and the local administration.

National Press Day was commemorated for the first time in 1985 and dedicated to the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), which was founded in 1946.

During the New Order era, the PWI was the only government-sanctioned press organization. An alternative press association critical of the government, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), was formed in 1994 and grew stronger following the reform movement that put an end to Soeharto's New Order regime in 1998.

There are now more than 20 press organizations in the country.

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