Indonesia print media told to innovate or perish
Indonesia print media told to innovate or perish
SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Newspapers will lose ad revenues to television stations if they don't keep up with their readers' demands, a media observer warned yesterday.
Christianto Wibisono said that Indonesia's print media, which is tightly controlled by the government, should be shrewd in attracting advertisers and the public alike.
"As long as newspapers are able to meet their readers' expectations, advertisers will set aside their publicity funds for the printed media," he said in a seminar titled Print media seeks format amid rigorous electronic media.
Co-sponsored by The Jakarta Post and Kompas in collaboration with Sebelas Maret University, the seminar was held in conjunction with this year's National Press Day.
Christianto, who heads the Jakarta-based Indonesian Business Data Center, said printed publications will be attractive to advertisers if they have large readerships, which tend to come from quality and independence.
For example, in countries like the United States, where the press is not controlled by the government, print publications receive the bulk of their earnings from advertisements.
"In the U.S., TV ads do not dominate like they do in Indonesia or even Japan," he said.
Some observers say that with respect to non-political issues, the government's control of television broadcasts is more "lenient" compared to print media.
Ishadi S.K, chief of the information ministry's research and development department, told the seminar that the ad revenues of local private television stations increased 3,000 percent between 1990 and 1995. Advertising income in the print media decreased steadily during the same period.
According to Ishadi, Indonesian publications earned 50.1 percent of their revenues from advertisements in 1990, compared to 48.3 percent last year.
Ad spending, however, soared from Rp 639 billion (US$285 million) in 1990 to Rp 3.1 trillion in 1995, he said.
"Most advertising has gone to television stations, but the print media's finances are not under threat because businesses tend to use both media to make their ads more effective," he noted.
Indonesia has five commercial television stations: RCTI, SCTV, AN-teve, TPI and Indosiar. The state-owned television station TVRI is not allowed to air commercials on the grounds that it could encourage consumerism among the poor.
According to Ishadi, the future of the print media is sound because there are more and more prosperous and educated Indonesians.
Budi Santoso, chief of the Association of Indonesian Press Graphics, said he was optimistic that Indonesian publications will not perish under the weight of the electronic media.
He argued that newspapers and magazines, unlike television, can present in-depth analyses and practically unlimited details on a range of issues.
"In fact, newspapers and televisions are complementary. What is worrying is the unbalanced competition between major and financially weak newspapers," said the chief editor of the Semarang-based Suara Merdeka daily. (har/pan)
Journalists -- Page 2