A clear and present danger
Even without looking at the news, newspaper readers all over Indonesia must have become aware over the past few weeks that the current monetary crisis is hitting this country's newspaper business, and hitting it hard: The thinner newspapers which they are holding, and the fewer ads which those newspapers contain, are an unmistakable indication.
A number of smaller newspapers and periodicals, especially in the provinces, are reported to have already been forced to close down. Others are close to meeting the same fate. In fact, even in Jakarta, some of the country's leading newspapers are feeling the crunch and have been forced to reduce the number of their pages and take internal measures in order to increase their chances of survival.
For Indonesia's newspapers, the soaring price of newsprint has become a threat -- a clear and present danger, more immediate and more feared by newspaper publishers than the dreaded possibility of a revocation of their publishing licenses. After all, whereas a newspaper has to be judged guilty by the powers that be of having in any way erred -- such as endangering public order or stability -- in order to have its license revoked, the present crisis strikes without discrimination, though naturally the economically sound stand a better chance of surviving, for now.
Economic and social implications aside, one may be tempted to see this as a kind of natural selection and hence beneficial, at least from the business point of view. One can, of course, hardly argue against the point that, as in any business, financial and managerial soundness must be among the main foundations on which a newspaper publication must rest. However, in a developing society such as Indonesia, newspapers have a role to fulfill that goes beyond the mere provision of information. Providing the public with a range of alternative facts and views on current developments is one of those roles. Education is another. So is entertainment.
It is for this reason that the demise of a good and instructive newspaper, however small, is to be deeply regretted -- not to mention the loss of employment at a time when every job held helps to soften the blow of the ongoing crisis and contributes to preventing a buildup of social tensions. Presumably, there is little that newspaper publishers can do at this point to reverse the downward trend of their businesses. The best they can do as things stand now is to hope that the overall economic situation will soon take a turn for the better and stabilize so that, at the very least, adjustments can be made on a more healthy basis.
As for the future, it is to be hoped that the adjustments which the reform package promises to bring will also better guarantee an adequate newsprint supply to enable publishers -- and not only of the media but also others such as those of books and scientific periodicals -- to better weather any crises which the future may bring.