Islamic magazine survives tough press competition

Islamic magazine survives tough press competition

By Ati Nurbaiti

The following is part of a series of articles and interviews
on the often fiery Islamic media, to be published in the next
editions.

JAKARTA (JP): Maluku has been deadly ground for a year, and
when a young reporter was given an assignment there, he must have
thought that it might be his last.

Attempting to glean information among the Muslim community in
Ambon, people pounced on him when they learned he was a reporter.
Zairofi panicked and fled, but managed to fish out from his
pocket a copy of the magazine where he worked at -- and he was
saved.

The magazine which saved his life was Sabili. While all
reporters come under suspicion in Maluku, which hampers the vital
need for collecting reliable information, Sabili is at least
trusted among the Muslim community there.

Its contents are controversial by the standard of mainstream
media -- "Second Wave of Christianization" was one headline --
and its chief editor says the fact that the magazine "reports the
truth without beating about the bush" is one reason why readers
feel they "belong".

"We don't have a correspondent in Maluku," said chief editor
M. Zainal Muttaqin. "But locals give us information which we can
check on." Information is also further checked with non-Muslim
leaders in Jakarta, he said. However provocative the contents of
the magazine seems, he told The Jakarta Post that information has
been cross-checked and the sources balanced.

Latest developments in Maluku led to headlines advocating a
jihad -- "self-defense is an obligation," says Zainal, 35, and
the oldest in the office of 13 reporters.

The small sized bi-weekly stands out among other
newsmagazines, including Islamic-oriented media, in terms of its
circulation of 80,000 copies. It has reached over 90,000 copies a
number of times.

A year after the media industry boom here, prophecies of those
in the know have come true: that media with similar products --
reformasi and politics -- cannot possibly last long. Many of the
over 1,500 publications have died out, leaving the rest in fierce
competition.

A recent survey by AC Nielsen survey company revealed that
among magazines in nine cities, Sabili was in the top five, with
the highest being Gadis, the teen publication with a readership
of 399,000. Sabili and the women's magazine Femina each had a
readership of 325,000, and the next highest read newsmagazine was
Tempo, with a readership of 270,000.

Zainal cites a number of factors for the magazine's
achievement: its 80 pages and small size means it is the cheapest
newsmagazine at Rp 4,000, compared to others sold for at least Rp
8,000; packaging is attractive with glossy covers, uncluttered
layout and a few of its photographs and graphics in color. The
language and style used can also reach young readers, he says.

While the AC Nielsen study revealed most or 43 percent of
Sabili's readership in the 25 to 34 age group, 39 percent are
aged 15 to 24.

A large part of Sabili readers in AC Nielsen's survey earn a
monthly revenue of Rp 500,000 to Rp 1.5 million.

But the main factor of its accomplishment, Zainal says, is
that Sabili "is above all groups," meaning it strives to be
mainly free of ties to any of the diverse Muslim factions in
society.

The fairly large circulation reflects, he says, a thirst for a
newsmagazine among Muslims which advocates Islam, not Islamic
groupings. Look at the publications tied to Islamic
organizations, which have circulations that do not reflect their
claimed membership of millions, he added.

"When we started publishing in 1998, an investor came along
and offered money on the condition that we become a mouthpiece of
a certain group and we said no way." Zainal refused to give any
names.

It turned out that Sabili is not really new. It dates back to
1988 when young students and graduates, mainly from the
University of Indonesia, got together and set up a publication
mainly on issues in the Muslim world, such as atrocities in
Bosnia. Zainal, a former student of sociology and co-founder of
the original and current Sabili, is happy that readership has
broadened to the general public.

"The Islamic revival here of the 1980s was not responded to by
most of the media," Zainal said. He said this was in part due to
media ownership "which did not stand up for Islam". Owners and
editors failed to recognize that the increasing Islamic awareness
"went beyond clothing and rituals".

"It was a thirst for Islam in which one would feel peaceful."

The new, unlicensed magazine avoided internal politics -- "the
situation then was not conducive" to such reporting.

Even then, Zainal said, circulation reached 60,000 and
readership was limited to the campus and among professionals.
Publication stopped in 1993 when staff got into trouble with
authorities for reporting about a religious-related incident in
East Java.

In June 1998, the magazine was published again with a capital
of Rp 350 million. "This must be the first magazine with such a
high circulation and so little capital," Zainal said. "Friends"
pitched in, he said, and there are now 12 shareholders, the
largest holding 20 percent.

"But we have editorial independence," he said.

Until now the trend in the Islamic media, to voice only the
respective allegiances of groupings, can explain the low
circulation among Islamic-oriented publications, he said.

While this has been to Sabili's comparative advantage, Zainal
hopes for "100 or 200" similar publications. "We have a
population of 200 million, so what's to fear?"

More publications are needed to balance "biased" reporting
against Muslims, he says. "I watched BBC's coverage on Ambon and
all the pictures were of burned churches, with the commentator
saying that this was evidence of Muslim extremists."

He adds the magazine pays a monthly wage of Rp 1 million to
new reporters -- similar to some other, larger print media
companies -- plus a monthly bonus each time the publication makes
a profit.

This is when sales turn out higher than the targeted
circulation. "Then everyone can count his own bonus based on a
transparent formula," Zainal said.

This method was modeled after the profit-sharing management of
Padang restaurants. The chief editor says the idea came from
their chief commissioner, Rahmat Ismail, who comes from West
Sumatra where the Padang or Minangkabau ethnicity is based.
Rahmat also manages the Forum Keadilan newsmagazine.

"A bonus can amount to half of a reporter's wage," Zainal
said.

While the magazine must be managed professionally, he claims
the main motive is not business but the advocacy of truth and
justice, and speaking for the downtrodden. "If it was Christians
who were abused we would also defend them," he said.

Regarding the burning of the Doulous Christian complex in East
Jakarta last month, Sabili condemned the attack but Zainal adds,
"We reported about residents' complaints on Doulous activities
long before the incident."

With relatively fiery contents, do editors feel responsible
for possibly inciting some of the forceful actions possibly
involving Muslims recently? No, Zainal says, many readers are
critical, debates are stimulated and even the harshest criticism
against the chief editor gets printed.

Sabili is only one among readers' interests, he said, as
reflected in AC Nielsen's survey. Most readers also read Pos
Kota, Nova and Kompas.

The magazine's popularity appears to stem from its freedom of
other media's burden -- the taboo against reports related to
racial, ethnic and religious differences (SARA), which was off-
limits to public discourse for over 30 years under the New Order.

"Our aim, in line with Islamic values, is that people can
speak in freedom without fear about anything as long it is true,"
he said.

People are not used to this, which used to be reflected in
readers' anger toward Sabili for its interviews with Christian
figures. "But now readers are beginning to be able to accept
differences," Zainal said. "It is natural to have differences,
and we should not be angry toward each other for that."

"We are all for harmony, but not artificial harmony."

The magazine is popular "in areas where Islamic activities
flourish," he said. Apart from Greater Jakarta, these areas are
Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo, Surabaya and Padang, West Sumatra.

The magazine, which can also be accessed at
http://sabili.ku.org, also reaches readers abroad such as in
Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Australia, England and Japan.

A main advantage over other publications is also the choice of
the day when the magazine hits the newsstands: Friday. After the
mass Friday noon prayers, worshipers grab the magazine from
vendors outside mosques. On Saturdays there are many Koran
reading sessions where people can also buy the magazine, and on
Sundays copies are picked up by participants of the many
discussions and mass gatherings.

"The 'off-days' for other media are our 'on-days,'" Zainal
said of the weekends.