Local media to face fierce competition: Observers

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In line with global trends, the media industry in Indonesia has entered a new era of fierce competition, prompting print media to redesign their looks to survive and thrive.

The recent redesigns undertaken by Koran Tempo and Kompas dailies were the latest examples, as the two papers responded to the competition between the electronic and print media.

Media Indonesia is expected to follow suit by introducing a new look in the near future.

Leo Batubara, a director at the Indonesian Publishers Association, said the competition between the electronic and print media would get more fierce over the coming years, as was happening elsewhere in the world.

"If the global trend continues, the print media is in danger of dying out as the electronic media -- TV, radio and the Internet -- continues to grow. The print media has to work hard to make changes, including resizing, redesigning and running concise and accurate stories, to maintain its existence," he told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday.

To win the competition, Leo, who is also a member of the National Press Council, said the print media should embrace divergence by allowing media tycoons to run newspapers, TV stations and radio stations.

"That is why RCTI TV station has launched Seputar Indonesia newspaper. A similar move has been taken by the Kompas Group by launching TV7 TV station, Radio Sonora and a number of local papers in provinces, as well as magazines. The Jawa Post Group is running dozens of newspapers nationwide and they have been a big success," he said.

Ignatius Haryanto, a researcher and coordinator of the Institute of Press and Development Studies, has a similar view.

He said the competition between the electronic and print media had become unhealthy because the electronic media was greedily commercializing its programs just for profits, without any attention to the ideals of the press or social controls.

"TV stations have been mushrooming but their programs have gone beyond educational value, press idealism and social control," he said, citing the 100 percent increase in the number of TV stations to 12 this year from six in 1998.

Leo and Haryanto said TV stations have enjoyed great success by selling poorly made programs that catered to the lowest common denominator.

"The majority of uneducated people are being given supernatural programs, infotainment and many other programs that fail to educate watchers," said Leo.

He warned that national newspapers must improve the quality of their human resources and make adjustments, otherwise they could lose the competition.

"The market share of the print media in Indonesia is only 30 percent, while in developed countries it reaches 60 percent. This has a lot to do with the poor reading habits of people and the failure of the print media to catch the public's attention and run accurate and credible news," Leo said, adding that the print media's relied on the public's trust.

Haryanto warned media groups against being manipulated into protecting the interests of political leaders rather than public interests.

"If media groups consistently abide by the ideals of the press to educate people, disseminate necessary information and play a role as a social control, they will automatically give more attention to the interests of the people," he said.