Community media business hits housing complexes

Community media business hits housing complexes

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Veronica A., a housewife living in a Kelapa
Gading housing complex, North Jakarta, panicked when her three-
year-old daughter fell and injured her elbow.

On a neighbor's advice, Veronica rushed her daughter to a
masseur in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, who told her that the
child's elbow was broken.

Then, Veronica rushed her to Gatot Subroto Army hospital in
Central Jakarta to have her daughter's condition checked.

"A friend of mine laughed at me when I told her my story later
on. She was wondering why I should go to faraway places just to
find a massager. There must be one in our neighborhood," Veronica
told The Jakarta Post of her experience five years ago.

The accident turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the
housewife, whose hobby is collecting brochures. It inspired her
to publish a community magazine which provides information on
various products and services.

Info Gading's first edition appeared in April 1996, carrying a
wide range of information, including automotive, banking,
electronic equipment, hospitals, shops, schools and beauty
parlors.

The magazine appears three times a year, in April, August and
December with 10,000 copies per edition. Published by Karimata
Grafika, Info Gading is distributed free to residents of the
area's housing complexes.

"We're trying to help residents find what they want and need
easily, especially at a time of emergency," said Veronica, now
Gading's managing editor.

Printed on high-quality paper, the magazine runs few articles;
only a letter from editor and one or two articles in each
edition. The rest of the pages are filled with ads, ranging from
full-page ads, classified ads and advertorials.

Veronica said the number of the magazine's pages depended on
the number of ads. So far, it has ranged from 44 pages to 74
pages with total production expenses between Rp 40 million and Rp
60 million per edition. "Our income depends entirely on ads," she
said.

Info Gading has turned out to be a successful venture with
total advertisers reaching 139 and additional employees -- from
only five in its first year to 18 people now.

"We are planning to publish the same magazine for housing
complexes in Sunter (North Jakarta) and Puri (West Jakarta) this
month," Gading's creative team member, A.F.R. Subhagyo said of
the coming Info Sunter and Info Puri.

Info Gading is only one of many community media available
these days, trying to provide information for residents in and
around certain neighborhoods.

Good News dari Lippo Cikarang bimonthly, for instance, targets
around 3,000 families living in the Lippo Cikarang township in
Bekasi, West Java, promoting businesses and activities in the
area.

According to Good News chief editor Binsar Tambun, the
magazine is published by the promotions department of PT Lippo
Cikarang Tbk. and has a circulation of 25,000 copies per edition.
It costs between Rp 50 million and Rp 60 million per edition.

"The magazine is intended to inform residents of what's
happening around them, to promote the spirit of togetherness.
It is also intended to promote businesses around the area to the
residents," the former journalist with Palembang-based Sumatra
Express in South Sumatra told the Post.

Two years after it was founded in 1993, the magazine no longer
depended on the developer for financial support thanks to ads.

Good News, which gives its readers an opportunity to
contribute articles, reports on citizens' activities, from
charity fun runs, opening of new shops to the new collections of
its Hom Pim Pa recreational park. It also runs feature articles,
such as marketing tips on making money during the economic crisis
and on how to use electricity efficiently.

Community media like Suara BSD (BSD Voice), focus not only on
ads but also on interesting articles, making it look similar to
commercial tabloids. BSD stands for the Bumi Serpong Damai
township in Tangerang, West Java.

In its latest edition, which was relaunched under a tabloid
format on Sept. 15, Suara BSD runs special interviews with
popular child singer Sherina and pop group Sheila on 7.

According to its chief editor, Dhony Rahajoe, Suara BSD was
first published in the form of a 40-page bulletin in 1990.

"But the bulletin format was more expensive and not eye-
catching," he said. "With the new 16-page tabloid format, we mean
to totally change the approach to the readership. It used to be a
one-way communication medium, from developer to residents, but
now, almost 90 percent of its content is prepared with the
involvement of the residents."

The monthly tabloid is published by BSD developer PT Bumi
Serpong Damai, in cooperation Nexus Communications, as a free
service for the complex's 8,700 families. It has 10,000 copies
per edition with production expenses at about Rp 16 million.

Dhony said the tabloid was not only a means of communication
among residents, developer and businesses but also helps
residents and local people living outside of the complex to know
each other.

"We're trying to narrow the gap, either between residents, or
between residents and local people living around the housing
complex. We don't want to be considered exclusive. It's important
for residents and local people to know each other to make them
feel they (local people) are also part of BSD," he said.

He added that the effort to embrace local people has been
fruitful, as could be seen during the May riots last year.

"Although people were panicky, there were no incidents here.
This was possible because of the close relationship between
residents and people living outside of the complex," Dhony said.

Although the tabloid is published by the developer, Dhony said
that it was possible it would become an independent medium.

"Certainly, we hope that Suara BSD can be an independent
medium that targets wider readership and be sold at newsstands,"
he said. "But we don't know when, it's a long-term target and
depends on the market."