Letter from the Publisher

The Jakarta Post has a new chief editor. Effective today, Endy M. Bayuni, our deputy chief editor since August 2001, takes over from Raymond Toruan to become the paper's fourth chief editor since its founding in 1983.

Endy recently returned from Harvard University following a year-long fellowship program sponsored by the Nieman Foundation. He began his career as a journalist with The Jakarta Post in 1983. He returned to the newspaper in 1991, after a seven-year news agency stint with Reuters and Agence France Presse bureaus in Jakarta. Back with the paper, he has served in different capacities these last 13 years, from production manager to national editor, managing editor to deputy chief editor.

Raymond, who doubled as executive director, besides being chief editor these past three years, will continue to be with the newspaper in his new capacity as a senior editor, with the special responsibility of overseeing the training and education of journalists.

Raymond's services predate the newspaper. A veteran journalist of Kompas, he was involved in all the preparations of The Jakarta Post dating back to 1982. On April 25, 1983, The Jakarta Post was launched as an English language newspaper. PT Bina Media Tenggara, the publishing company of The Jakarta Post, is a consortium involving four of Indonesia's leading news publishing houses: Kompas, Tempo, Sinar Harapan (now Suara Pembaruan), and Suara Karya.

Raymond had sat on the Board of Directors from the start until last month. In 1988, he doubled as business manager, and in 1990, he took up the additional post of general manager. In August 2001, he assumed the position of chief editor -- The Post's third -- as well as executive director of the company.

The Jakarta Post's first two chief editors went on to serve the country as ambassadors. Sabam Siagian, a 1980 Nieman Fellow when he was with Sinar Harapan, was ambassador to Australia between 1991 and 1995. Susanto Pudjomartono, a veteran with Tempo newsweekly who was The Post's chief editor between 1991 and 2001, is currently Indonesia's ambassador to Russia.

Changes in the leadership lineup are normal in any dynamic organization. And, so it is with The Jakarta Post. Each chief editor inevitably brings his or her own leadership style to the organization. Thus, Endy's leadership style will be reflected in changes in the newspaper in the coming months.

Some things don't change here, though. Helping to promote a more humane civil society in Indonesia is the long-term vision of this newspaper. We will strive to serve the needs of our community of readers, both expatriates and Indonesians, and for editorial excellence. Such long-held traditions remain under the new chief editor.

Jusuf Wanandi

President, Board of Directors

PT Bina Media Tenggara