Government plans to publish community-based newspapers

JAKARTA (JP): The government plans to publish community newspapers to cater to the needs and develop the reading habits of residents of outlying regions.

Minister of Information Harmoko said yesterday the plan would be realized in cooperation with the Association of Newspaper Publishers and the National Journalists Association.

Harmoko announced the plan after a meeting with President Soeharto, in which they discussed developments in the mass media and small business.

Harmoko said the need for these publications stemmed from people's increasingly critical and discerning attitudes developed through exposure to advanced communications technology.

More importantly, he said, the community newspapers would help people develop reading habits as community newspapers could reach readers promptly, unlike national dailies which usually arrive a day late.

The community newspapers would target relatively prosperous towns like Banyumas, Purwokerto and Pekalongan in Central Java and the industrial towns of Banyuwangi, Jember, Gresik, Tuban and Lamongan in East Java.

Harmoko praised the Bandung-based Pikiran Rakyat daily for its successful pilot project to publish a special issue for Cirebon.

The concept is still being studied by the Ministry of Information and the Newspaper Publishers Association, he said.

Community newspapers, popular in the United States and Australia, refer to print media published periodically with circulations of 2,000 to 100,000, which have a far-reaching impact on the area's readers and are a lucrative medium for advertisers.

They usually discuss issues that directly impinge on the residents.

In the West, the newspapers are either owned by a family or a large media organization, with the former able to reach the immediate area while the latter can attract a wider audience located in a particular region.

During his recent Ramadhan safari to Java and Bali, Harmoko said he concluded that the fruits of development had enabled people to tell true from false information broadcast by both international and local media.

He said that their continued exposure to varied media was important, citing Indonesia's cooperation programs with countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Information is due here in March to renew an agreement signed in 1987 to broadcast Moslem services live. (01)