Meet the Media: Telset Magazine

Indonesia is now the 4^th largest mobile market in Asia Pacific behind China, India, and Japan, according to GSMA, the global trade group for mobile operators—Asia Pacific itself accounts for around half of the world’s mobile subscriber base. Since its founding in 2000, Telset magazine has covered telco and tech news in Indonesian.

About Telset Magazine: 

Launched at the outset of coming boom in mobile network, Telset has witnessed big shifts in the country’s tech industry. Now, it has an online edition, www.telsetnews.com, which covers fast-paced news and development that occur in tech.  Nurhamzah is Telset’s Co-Founder and Chief Editor.

What makes Telset unique?

Telset has a growing online presence. That’s understandable, given that the traditional print industry has been tough for many publishers in Indonesia for recent years. “I believe that the shift from print to digital is inevitable, not to mention for our media. That’s why we launch the online edition of Telset in 2008,” Nurhamzah said.

Telset’s online edition, www.telsetnews.com is regularly updated with top telco and tech stories on Indonesia and around the world. Nurhamzah said that they also manage Telset’s online social media media, including its Blackberry Messenger (BBM) Channel with over 40,000 subscribers.

“It’s interesting to see our readers interaction on the social media. For example, if we posted an Android-related news story, some of our readers who were apparently Apple loyal fan quickly responded those articles,” he explained. In addition, he also publishes the electronic version of Telset print magazine on popular digital newsstand, such as getScoop and Wayang Force.

How to reach Telset’s editors and when?

Nurhamzah said that he receives news releases almost 24-hour a day.  “I can be contacted at hamzah@telsetnews.com or noer_hamzah@yahoo.com,” he said.

Any tips for pitching a story to Telset and writing an effective press release?

“We write about major trends that will likely shape the telco and tech business. We’ve seen good traffic in business stories, mostly articles which cover companies’ operational performance or even rumors,” Nurhamzah said.

He really loves to get a well-written press release. “The term of pers klaar is often used when we edit an article. We borrow the term from the Dutch –like any other Dutch words that we use to loan from. It literally means “fit for print, or publish”. So get your stats and facts straight,” he suggested.

For him, a good translation is crucial. “If you wrote your tech press release in Indonesian, just be careful when you translated tech terms such as ‘cloud computing’ or ‘smartphone’.  Don’t go for a literal or word-for-word translation. It may come out unclear, or even odd,” he further explained.

Patrick Hutapea is the Audience Development Executive in Indonesia for PR Newswire.