Seychelles News Agency launched |24 April 2014

A news agency aimed at sharing local news and feature stories with the world through a daily online ‘as it happens’ news service, has been officially launched.

The Seychelles News Agency was launched during the opening of the biennial Seychelles honorary consuls conference held at the Kempinski Resort at Baie Lazare on Tuesday evening.

Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Paul Adam, Seychelles’ honorary consul in Bulgaria Maxim Behar, who initiated the project, chief press secretary and head of the department of information Srdjana Janosevic and the two co-editors of the new news agency – Sharon Uranie and Rassin Vannier – pressed the computer keys to activate the new website of the agency - www.seychellesnewsagency.com.

This was in the presence of several ministers, consuls, ambassadors and a large number of local journalists and public relations and communication officers.

The Seychelles News Agency is expected to be the new voice for Seychelles and Small Island Developing States in the world. It will give daily 'as-it-happens' news and features focusing on the islands' environment, defence and maritime security, energy, tourism and business development as well as news and views from other Indian Ocean islands, as well as key African events.

The idea for such an agency was initiated by Mr Behar, who owns and manages a leading public relations and social media corporation M3 Communications Group, Inc. in Bulgaria.

He presented the idea to President James Michel, who is also the Minister for Information, and offered to donate the concept and software development to Seychelles during his visit here in November last year.

Mr Behar also set up the Sofia News Agency in 2001 which currently has three language versions –novinite.bg, novinite.ru, novinite.com.

It was in January this year that the department of information first announced the online communication project initiative.

Speaking at the launch Ms Janosevic said it is hard to convince foreign journalists to come to Seychelles to report on the different development projects taking place in various fields here.

“Most of the time they say they don’t have funding, the stories are not dramatic enough… so they travel here only when something really drastic has happened or when there is a celebrity on holiday,” she pointed out.

She said Seychelles has a lot to share with the rest of the world in terms of sustainable development initiatives as well as the fight against climate change, especially this year when the UN is celebrating the International Year of Small Island Developing States.

“There is so much happening here on a daily basis that we want to share with the world and it is clear that we cannot rely only on foreign journalists to do so,” she added.

Furthermore, she added that even though the project is being funded by the department of information of the government, the Seychelles News Agency is by no means a government mouthpiece.

She said the journalists will engage readers around the world through English and French stories, all factually correct, from a wide variety of sources which are credited and aimed at reaching the widest possible audience.

“The journalists will use a wide variety of sources and the reports they write will not necessarily reflect the views of the government,” Ms Janosevic said.

She added that promoting the agency is key to its success and for that she called on other Seychelles consuls around the world to engage with the agency and promote it in their respective countries.

For his part Mr Behar stressed that the difference between the newly launched Seychelles News Agency and other media here is that the former will be the most personalised and timely in terms of news sharing.

“The sharing of news in a very quick manner is one of the most important characteristics of news gathering and sharing nowadays,” he pointed out.

Both Ms Janosevic and Mr Behar thanked President Michel for supporting the initiative and all the different partners and stakeholders who have worked to make the project possible.

After the launch guests were able to scroll and view the different news and feature stories the online service has to offer.

The agency will be the first national news agency in the world to use the Creative Commons licensing system for online low resolution photos (640 x 427 pixels) posted on its site, while offering the option for users and media to buy high resolution versions. All text is free for use, as long as the agency is cited.