Community rags find their niche in housing complexes

Community rags find their niche in housing complexes

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Amid the rapid process of globalization, community media still
has its niche especially thanks to its proximity to the readers.

Many still believe that such publications serve the needs of
their readers better than the more widely-circulated publications
as they can tailor their coverage to the needs of the community
they serves. While the larger publications tend to go global,
community magazines or newsletters go local.

With that principle in mind, seven residents of the Tebet
district in South Jakarta, grouped under non-governmental
organization (NGO) the Alternative Project, recently launched a
local rag, Lintas Tebet.

"We believe that publishing such a community magazine with a
bottom-up approach will solve a lot of problems in our
community," editor in chief, Tri Warsono, told The Jakarta Post
on Wednesday.

"The residents now have better access to what is going on in
their neighborhood and at the same time can express their own
opinions."

Tri said the Tebet residents responded positively to the first
issue which focused on the history of the Tebet area. Tebet was
opened in late 1950's as a settlement for residents who formerly
lived in Senayan area, which was developed as a sport complex to
host the Jakarta 1962 Asian Games.

"We printed 10,000 copies for the first issue. We do not have
any plan to increase the number too quickly. The readers want
more pages and more columns but we just cannot accommodate that
at the moment," he said.

Tri added that business circles in Tebet area also welcomed
the new magazine.

The magazine is intended for residents of the Tebet district,
which includes the seven subdistricts of Menteng Dalam, East
Tebet, West Tebet, Bukit Duri, Manggarai, South Manggarai and
Kebon Baru.

"There are some 57,000 families or 250,000 people living in
our community. We come from all walks of life and from various
ethnic backgrounds," said general manager Riana Puspasari.

"This forces us to work carefully not to overlook a certain
group in our community."

She said the group did not intend the magazine to be the first
community magazine in the city.

"We did not realize that there are already similar magazines
being published in the city. We just published it to serve the
people.

"There are distinct differences when we read those magazines
although we all target a certain community."

Other community bulletins include monthly Bintaro magazine in
Bintaro Jaya housing complex and Suara BSD tabloid in Bumi
Serpong Damai housing complex.

Both publications are published by the developers of the
housing complexes which are located in South Jakarta and
Tangerang, Banten.

In Bintaro, however, there is also another monthly tabloid
Bintaro Gazette published by a private company.

Meanwhile in Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta, there are Info
Kelapa Gading and Media Kawasan Kelapa Gading magazines which are
published by two different companies.

The magazines in Kelapa Gading, however, concentrate more on
advertorials and advertising instead of stories about their
community.

Lintas Tebet magazine can be picked at several places in the
community such as the subdistrict offices, local schools and
large business premises in the area.

"We provide the magazine free of charge and will do our best
to keep it that way.

"So far, we have received donations from the more affluent
residents as well as business circles here," said Riana.

"We also strive to be self-efficient in financing the
publication. We had quite an experience producing it."

She said that Project Alternative initiated a recycled-paper
business at the height of the financial crisis that hit Indonesia
in 1997.

But it seems that the magazine has to work harder to make the
residents aware of its presence.

A resident of Menteng Dalam subdistrict, Ati, told the Post
that she had not yet heard about the magazine.

"I haven't heard of this magazine. Do I have to pay to get a
copy?" she asked.

Ati, a housewife with a son and daughter, said she would get
one when told that the magazines were available at several places
in her neighborhood.