Nesianetwork.id - If you are looking for newspapers and online media from Indonesia that use English, we recommend The Jakarta Post.
The Jakarta Post is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta.
The Jakarta Post started as a collaboration between four Indonesian media at the urging of Information Minister Ali Murtopo and politician Jusuf Wanandi. After the first issue was printed on 25 April 1983, it spent several years with minimal advertisements and increasing circulation. After a change in chief editors in 1991, it began to take a more vocal pro-democracy point of view. The paper was one of the few Indonesian English-language dailies to survive the 1997 Asian financial crisis and currently has a circulation of about 40,000.
The Jakarta Post also features an online edition and a weekend magazine supplement called J+. The newspaper is targeted at foreigners and educated Indonesians, although the middle-class Indonesian readership has increased. Noted for being a training ground for local and international reporters, The Jakarta Post has won several awards and been described as being "Indonesia's leading English-language daily". The Jakarta Post is a member of Asia News Network.
History of The Jakarta Post
The Jakarta Post was the brainchild of Information Minister Ali Murtopo and politician Jusuf Wanandi. Murtopo and Wanandi were disappointed at the perceived bias against Indonesia in foreign news sources. At the time, there were two English-language dailies, The Indonesia Times and The Indonesian Observer.
However, due to negative public perception regarding the existing papers, they decided to create a new one. In order to ensure credibility, the two agreed to convince a group of competing newspapers (the Golkar-backed Suara Karya, the Catholic-owned Kompas, the Protestant-owned Sinar Harapan, and the weekly Tempo) to back the nascent paper.
It was hoped to become a quality English-language paper in Southeast Asia, similar to The Straits Times in Singapore, the Bangkok Post as well as the now-defunct The Nation in Thailand as well as The Star, the now-defunct The Malay Mail and New Straits Times in Malaysia.
After founding PT Bina Media Tenggara to back the paper, Wanandi spent several months contacting influential figures at the targeted newspapers. To receive their cooperation, Kompas requested a 25 per cent share in the new newspaper, for which it would handle the daily business operations, such as printing, circulation, and advertising.
Tempo offered to assist with management in return for a 15 per cent share, while Sabam Siagian of Sinar Harapan was hired as the first chief editor, for which Sinar Harapan received stock. The establishment of the paper was further aided by incoming Information Minister Harmoko, who received 5 per cent interest for his role in acquiring a license. In total, the start-up cost Rp. 500 million (US$700,000 at the time). Muhammad Chudori, a co-founder of The Jakarta Post who formerly reported for Antara, became the newspaper's first general manager.
Further details, including the matter of Sinar Harapan's share of stock and the publisher, were decided at a meeting at Wanandi's office in March 1983. The next month, on 25 April, the first edition-totalling eight pages-was published. The first newsroom of the new paper were located in Kompas's former laundry room, a one-story warehouse; the first employees had to do the layout by hand, using pica poles as straight edges.
During the first few months, the writers translated and recycled previously published stories from Indonesian media, which were later picked up by foreign wire services. Original reporting was rare as the editors at first did not want to deal with the censorship of Suharto's New Order government.
During the early years of publication, The Jakarta Post had difficulty attracting advertisers, to the point that some editions ran without ads. However, circulation increased dramatically, from 8,657 in 1983 to 17,480 in 1988. Although it was originally hoped that the paper would begin to turn a profit within the first three years, the recession in the early 1980s led to the start-up funds being depleted.
Eventually, in 1985 the paper took out an interest-free loan and received Rp. 700 million from its owners. After advertising increased, The Jakarta Post was able to turn a profit by 1988, and was considered "one of the most credible newspapers" in Indonesia. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jakarta_Post)
Url Link to Read Indonesia Jakarta Post English Newspaper: https://www.thejakartapost.com
