Regional Journalism in Southeast Asia and ASEAN Identity in Making: Asia News Network as a Case for International and Intercultural Communication

Somehow in analogy with the European Union, 10 Southeast Asian countries are in the process of forming a political and economic union which is (ASEAN) Association of Southeast Asian Nations for decades. This process of regional integration goes in tandem with the regional media associations such as Asia News Network (ANN) which is an Asian-German initiative that consists of daily newspapers from various Asian countries. As a regional association covering not only all ASEAN countries, but also ASEAN neighbors; ANN may serve a significant role for regional collaboration and integration. The network is instrumental to the promotion of freedom of speech which is not always easy to propound in some of these countries. This article analyzes news coverage and publication policy of ANN and discusses challenges and opportunities of regional journalism in SEA as a case for international and intercultural communication.