Government plans to publish community-based newspapers

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)