By Erda Khursyiah Basir and Ravichandran D.J Paul
The Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) will be celebrating its golden anniversary on May 20 and to mark the occasion, it will release a series of articles on its early days and achievements. This article tells how the organisation has over the years caught up with the ICT revolution and built up its technical capabilities.
On May 20, 1968, Bernama transmitted its very first news flash to its subscribers announcing the start of its operations. At that time, the teleprinter was the agency's mode of transmission.
Recalling how Bernama used to transmit its news items, one of its former teleprinter operators Sarthambal Alagan said the reporters would first type their stories on a typewriter using five layers of carbon paper as each reporter was required to produce six copies of their report.
The edited copy was then passed to the teleprinter operators who "punched in" the text, creating a perforated tape that sent a signal code to the Telecoms Department.
The signals were then automatically relayed to Bernama's subscribers, who received them on the teleprinters installed in their own offices, explained Sarthambal, 57, who has since been redesignated as a clerk after the teleprinters became obsolete by the mid-1980s.
Those were the days, before the advent of digital technology, when the reporters on the ground would rush to the nearest public phone to relay the first three lines of their story to their editor.
That whole scenario would appear archaic to today's Gen X,Y and Z. However, that was how news was communicated before the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution came about.
By the late 1970s, several editorial systems had emerged that helped to speed up and streamline news processing and dissemination. Bernama was quick to computerise its newsroom and build up its own technical capabilities over the years to come.
After the government decided to make Bernama the sole news agency to receive and disseminate foreign news effective May 1, 1984, the only way forward was to computerise the newsroom.
One of the pioneers of the news agency and its longest-serving news editor, Musa Scully, was among those involved in the computerisation.
"I was sent by Bernama to various news agencies to see what type of software that we could adopt," he said.
BERNAMA THE EARLIEST TO GO 'ONLINE'
The late Jose L. Pavia of the Philippines News Agency (PNA) had noted that Bernama was, infact, the first new agency within ASEAN to be computerised.
Phang Yong Hiong, who was Bernama technical manager when the agency migrated to a computerised editorial system, pointed out that it started computerising its editorial operations in 1984 by implementing the IMOS 401 Newsmaster system.
“However, when the IMOS system was introduced, Bernama had difficulties in backing up the system which caused editorial work interruption whenever power failure occurred.
“We addressed the problem by learning from big news agencies such as Reuters, AFP (Agence France-Presse) and AP (Associated Press) and after some time, we managed to solve the matter by using an advanced software system in the region called ‘daejun torrent’,” he said, adding that the technical team members were trained by a foreigner for almost a month so that they could become familiar with the new system.
Though computers had made life easier for the reporters, Musa recalled that many of the older journalists had a hard time parting company with their typewriter and start using the computer.
Through computerisation, Bernama was able to link up with the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA), and some international news agencies such as Reuters, AFP and AP. At the same time, its subscribers were able to access Bernama's news content through the Newslink application.
Previously, foreign news and news from Sabah and Sarawak were sent through teleprinters or telex, but after computerisation such news items were sent to the computer screens in the headquarters at the click of a button.
PROVIDING TECHNICAL BACKING FOR OTHER UNITS
As Bernama continued its expansion from a news agency that depended on other media companies to publish its news to an entity with its own array of news outlets – portal (Bernama.com), radio (Radio24) and television station (Bernama News Channel or BNC) – it required more technical inputs.
For Phang, setting up the technical requirements for Bernama TV (as BNC was known as previously) was his last task before he left the agency in 2000.
"We had to move from text to the audio, video and visual presentations to attract a wider audience. We learnt a lot by going to expositions and looking into the (various) new technologies and equipment required.
“We also visited RTM and CNBC Singapore to see how they managed and distributed news and also their technical and editorial sections,” he said.
Phang also hoped that with the technical expertise that it had gained over the years, Bernama would see greater achievements in the future.
Phang’s role has been taken over by Abdul Halim Hafiz, who is currently the technical manager at Bernama. The technical unit, with 43 technicians, takes care of the in-house ICT operations and maintenance, 24/7. It also shoulders the huge responsibility of ensuring the seamless processing and dissemination of news to its audience and subscribers.
NEW TECHNOLOGIES, NEW OPPORTUNITIES
The new technologies also allowed the news agency to venture into other areas like providing real-time stock market quotes.
In 1986, Bernama established a joint venture with the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (now Bursa Malaysia) to form KLSE-Bernama Real Time Information Services Sdn Bhd (KULBER) to provide real-time share market information to stockbrokers.
The watershed moment came in 1997 when Bernama jumped on the Internet bandwagon and created the Bernama.com portal, its first news outlet.
Having an online presence provided greater outreach and brought forth new opportunities for Bernama to cooperate with other organisations and enhance news exchange. It also made it easier for Bernama to host the Non-Aligned Movement News Network (NNN) portal that provided the agency with greater outreach and recognition across the globe.
COMPETENT TECHNICAL TEAM
The adoption of new technologies also enabled Bernama to enhance its technical prowess. From maintaining the computer and communications systems, today Bernama’s technical team is capable of developing in-house IT solutions.
In 2002, part of its technical unit was carved out to form a spin-off company – Bernama Systems & Solutions Advisor (Bessar) – with its operations based at Technology Park Malaysia in Puchong.
Currently headed by its CEO Muniyati Muhamad, Bessar is now a leading provider of content-related technology, both software and integrated hardware systems and solutions, to the IT and broadcasting industry. It has about 200 partners and clients.
In 2008 the Bernama Editorial System (BEST), a newsroom application, was developed by Bessar. The computer screen is no longer just a word processor but a virtual newsroom. Assignments, work rosters and news from other agencies are all available on the same page by clicking the cursor on the menu bar.
The Bernama Library and Infolink Service (BLISS), an archival library service that provides valuable database to its customers, was also developed in-house using the news agency's technical expertise. The previous service known as Infolib was developed by an outside vendor.
In April 2017, Bernama migrated to a newer editorial system, BEST2. This is clear testimony to the fact that Bernama is constantly on the innovation trail to stay ahead of its game.
Knowing very well that innovation is the way forward, Bernama has been upgrading its systems regularly to meet the aspirations of its audience and subscribers, and along the way it has built up its own highly competent technical team.
-- BERNAMA
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