'Indonesia Today' says good-bye<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): After nearly five years of bringing the news to
\nthe country's English-speaking community, Indonesia Today signed
\noff for the last time on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
The show first appeared on RCTI in October 1996, making it the
\nfirst English-language news show in the country to be aired on a
\nprivate television station.<\/p>\n
It started out as Indonesia This Week, a once-a-week roundup
\nof news and events in the country. The program quickly attracted
\nan audience and after nearly two years it was expanded to a daily
\nprogram, appearing at 7 a.m.<\/p>\n
At the time, the management of the station believed that
\nwestern news dominated the English-language coverage of the
\ncountry, and along with this coverage came a western bias, news
\nreader and producer Julia Supadmo said during the final show.<\/p>\n
In response, Indonesia Today was founded to bring what was
\nfelt to be a much-needed Indonesian perspective to reporting on
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
The show strove to provide viewers with a complete coverage of
\nthe country, so instead of simply focusing on the latest news it
\nalso looked at diplomatic happenings, art, culture and travel,
\ngiving viewers the type of rounded coverage of Indonesia that
\njust was not provided by foreign news outlets.<\/p>\n
As an English-language program, the show was aimed at
\nforeigners in the country, including the diplomatic community,
\neducated Indonesians and people in neighboring countries who were
\ninterested in events in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
While the program received a positive response when it first
\nappeared, the audience continued to fall over the years, a result
\nof both its morning time slot and increased competition from both
\nforeign and local news outlets.<\/p>\n
RCTI's Atmadji said, \"Research showed that for the 7 a.m. time
\nslot most of the show's viewers, expats, had already left home
\nfor work. The result was a dwindling audience.\"<\/p>\n
He also pointed to the fact that many expats were now watching
\nCNN and other foreign broadcasts or reading English-language
\nnewspapers to get information about the country.<\/p>\n
Teguh Juwarno, the public relations manager at RCTI, painted a
\nsimilar picture of falling audience numbers.<\/p>\n
\"It was a very difficult decision (to cancel Indonesia
\nToday) ... but the show's target audience was not the best for
\nits time slot (at 7 a.m.).\"<\/p>\n
Teguh said the station was currently concentrating on
\ndeveloping other news programs in Indonesian, but was considering
\nintroducing a new English-language news broadcast in a later time
\nslot. However, if this does happen it is not likely to be before
\nnext year.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the cancellation of the program will leave a
\nhole for the English-speaking community in the country who for
\nthe last five years have kicked off their day with Indonesia
\nToday. (David Eyerly)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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