Left-leaning publications struggle to survive<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Over four decades ago, an American political scientist
\npredicted that in the near future, after the triumph of
\ndemocratic politics and capitalism, ideology would be reduced to
\ninsignificance. Hence, the end of ideology.<\/p>\n
Today, such a prognosis sounds resoundingly true, with market
\ncapitalism and Western democracy taking hold, at least formally,
\nin regions unthinkable as democracies just a decade ago -- Iraq
\nand Afghanistan being the most fitting examples.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, the reign of the open market and of democracy
\nhas become a foregone conclusion: What remains to be discussed
\nare nitty-gritty issues on the consequences of its adherence to
\nthe market mechanism such as the phasing out of ballooning
\nsubsidies and the sale of state assets to boost their
\neffectiveness.<\/p>\n
However, there are groups in society that have declined to
\nadopt the conventional wisdom and have engaged in a campaign to
\ndisseminate alternative views -- leftist political thinking.<\/p>\n
Although falling short of securing an influential mouthpiece
\nlike Britain's New Left Review and its book publisher Verso, or
\nThe Monthly Review in the U.S., leftist groups here take part in
\na dialog with those from opposing camps.<\/p>\n
More than a decade after the downfall of communism, the groups
\nstill promote the ideas of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Fidel
\nCastro, Ernesto "Che" Guevara and one of this country's most
\ncelebrated leftist thinkers, Tan Malaka.<\/p>\n
The group, already abandoning the totalitarian tendency of
\nMarxist thinking, now uses leftist ideas to make sense of, if not
\ncriticize, the prevailing order.<\/p>\n
The primary example of a left-leaning publication is Hasta
\nMitra publisher, owned by ex-political prisoner Joesoef Isak.<\/p>\n
Run from a room in the back of Isak's house in South Jakarta,
\nthe publishing company recently saturated the book market with
\nthe Indonesian version of Marx's Das Kapital.<\/p>\n
Hasta Mitra's struggle to survive, however, reflects much
\nabout the conditions of most leftist publications in the country.<\/p>\n
If Hasta Mitra considered itself lucky to release 10 books a
\nyear, some leftist publications have had to scramble for
\nresources to enable their products see the light of day at all.<\/p>\n
Lack of funding an ever-present problem<\/p>\n
Kritik, a good-quality leftist publication that promotes
\ndemocratic socialism, was forced to close down before it
\ncelebrated its second birthday in 2002.<\/p>\n
"Funding has been a perennial problem for leftist publications
\nlike us, as we don't strive for commercial gain, so we are forced
\nto close down due to lack of funds," former member of Kritik's
\neditorial team Coen Hussain Pontoh told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Pontoh said the money for Kritik was collected from magazine
\nsales, a method also adopted by another left-leaning magazine,
\nMedia Kerjabudaya (Media for Cultural Work).<\/p>\n
A serious quarterly on culture, with a circulation of 2,000,
\nMedia Kerjabudaya also depends on cash contributions made by
\nmembers of its editorial staff.<\/p>\n
After 11 editions, publication of Media Kerjabudaya has been
\nsuspended, probably until early next year. "We need to find
\nyounger staff to re-energize this newspaper," Media Kerjabudaya
\nchief editor Razif told the Post.<\/p>\n
Razif, also a lecturer at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ),
\nsaid that apart from financial problems, his newspaper was also
\nshort of editorial staff.<\/p>\n
The last edition of Media Kerjabudaya, before its hiatus and
\npublished in late 2003, carries an article written by Pramoedya
\nAnanta Toer, who mused that Bahasa Indonesia was the language of
\nrevolution.<\/p>\n
The inside of the front cover of the magazine also carries an
\nexcerpt from Marx's Das Kapital, which says: " ... and this
\nhistory, the plunder upon their lives has been inscribed with
\nblood and fire in the book on the journey of the human race."<\/p>\n
Despite financial woes, there is, however, one active leftist
\npublication: Pembebasan (Liberation), a monthly newspaper
\npublished by the People's Democratic Party (PRD), which has
\nstriven to cater for the needs of its readers.<\/p>\n
With a circulation of 5,000, Pembebasan was distributed mostly
\nto party members, PRD chairwoman Dita Indah Sari told the Post.<\/p>\n
Dita said that the general public did not seem to be
\ninterested in her newspaper simply because it was considered
\n"heavy" as it ran in-depth coverage on certain topics.<\/p>\n
"The public should read us more so that they would understand
\nbetter the underlying foundation of our political position, and
\nwould not view us as just a naysayer," she said.<\/p>\n
Among the greatest problems that currently bedevil Pembebasan
\nis the lack of writers from the opposing camp who are willing to
\ncontribute to the newspaper. "We want to have a dialog but most
\npeople from the opposing camp simply don't want their names to
\nappear in our paper," Dita said.<\/p>\n
The most pressing problem for Pembebasan, however, as for any
\nother leftist publication, is lack of funds.<\/p>\n
"We are in need of money to continue publishing, but there is
\nnow way that we would accept ads from multinational corporations
\nlike Coca Cola," she said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/left-leaning-publications-struggle-to-survive-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}