'Kompas' at 35

'Kompas' at 35

In those parts of the world where freedom of expression has
long been regarded as a major pillar of democracy, 35 years may
not be such a long time for a newspaper to survive. In Indonesia,
however, where that same freedom existed for less than a decade
during the early days of the country's independence -- only to be
repressed during the late 1950s, and revived once again with the
dawning of the current reform era -- to have survived for that
long may be regarded as quite an accomplishment.

In that span of time, scores of newspapers and periodicals
have perished, having suffered a normal death either because of
internal and financial difficulties, or being closed down by the
government on the pretext of "irresponsible reporting".

That is why Kompas, Indonesia's biggest-selling newspaper to
date, deserves our sincere congratulations for having reached the
age of 35, a milestone it celebrated in the past few days with
several public events. Established on June 28, 1965, the
newspaper was founded to provide some kind of balance to the
highly partisan style of reporting by newspapers, many of which
during those years were either owned or controlled by political
parties, such as the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), the
Indonesian National Party (PNI) or others.

This it did by striving to serve its readers with all the news
that was fit to print, factually but responsibly, which at that
time meant that it had to be careful about the manner in which a
news story was conveyed to the public. One of the principles the
newspaper's management adopted was that it was better to be able
to report a limited version of the truth in order to survive,
rather than be closed down and not to be able to report at all.

The result was the kind of oblique language that not everyone
finds easy to understand and for which Indonesian newspapers
under the New Order, and Kompas in particular, have been known
ever since. Not everyone may be happy with such a style of
reporting, but the fact is that it has served Kompas well. Only
once, in 1978, was the newspaper muffled, for 16 days.

It is wrong and unfair, though, to conclude, that it was this
careful style of treading that enabled Kompas to survive and
grow. In reality, that was the complementary factor. In
retrospect, it may be true to say that the majority of its
readers -- who are Indonesians, after all -- see no objection to
such a style, as witnessed in the newspaper's phenomenal growth.
A much more important factor that has contributed to the
newspaper's success is what is known as meritocracy -- a style of
management that is based on merit.

For Kompas and other newspapers in this country, the advent of
a new era of democratic reforms is bringing both new challenges
and new opportunities. It takes good management, however, to take
advantage of both. Kompas' achievements over the past 35 years
can be a lesson to others on how to manage a newspaper and lead
it toward success.