The Brunei Times

"The Brunei Times" is an independent English-language daily compact broadsheet newspaper published in Brunei Darussalam. It is the brainchild of a media company, Brunei Times Sdn Bhd, owned by a group of prominent local businessmen, in a bid to internationalise the Sultanate as it diversifies the local economy in the wake of rising oil exploration costs and depleting energy resources.

The paper was introduced at a soft launch on July 1, 2006 at The Mall, Gadong, Brunei Darussalam, and carried the motto "Fresh Ideas, New Option, Global Vision". It was offered on a complimentary basis until July 16, 2006.

Since then The Brunei Times has seen itself become an important player in the industry and a source of information on the country's social and economic development.

The year 2007 marked many significant achievements by The Brunei Times. March 28th 2007 saw The Brunei Times going to print in their new printing plant in Junjungan, Brunei, moving away from its broadsheet format to a compact broadsheet.

April 2007 saw The Brunei Times working closely with the Ministry of Communication on the United Nations First Global Road Safety Week Seminar that was held in the International Convention Centre in Berakas, Brunei.

In May 2007 The Brunei Times were nominated to be the Official Media for Brunei's First Defence Exhibition organised by the Ministry of Defence that was held at the International Convention Centre from May 31st to June 2nd 2007.

July 2007 saw the two major milestones achieved by The Brunei Times. The first milestone was The Brunei Times' one year anniversary and the launch of The Brunei Times Newspaper in Education Programme (BT-NIE). July 1 saw The Brunei Times change its masthead to reflect its new corporate image and the paper itself went through a redesign to respond to market forces and changes, adding 4 pages to its content to cater to increasing demand for more local home news.

The second milestone saw the launching of the BTNIE Programe. Working with 2 corporate sponsors in the country, 400 copies of The Brunei Times are now sent daily to 31 secondary schools across Brunei Darussalam. This figure is expected to rise as more and more schools both private and government respond to the increasing popularity of the BTNIE Programme.

Examples of its front cover are shown below:

Contents

Differentiating itself from the "Borneo Bulletin", the "Times" focuses on news analysis, features, commentaries and op-ed articles on local and foreign happenings. Business and finance also form its mainstay.

On weekdays, the newspaper is published in two sections of ten (10) pages each.

The Brunei Times staff comprises experienced and dedicated editors from Brunei as well as abroad working alongside local reporters.

ee also

* Media of Brunei

External links

* [http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn The Brunei Times site] - Offers PDF versions of actual newspaper pages.