'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.