Media wages advertising war (2)

Media wages advertising war (2)

By Atmakusumah

The competitive media environment in Indonesia is
strengthening the strong and sidelining the weak. This is the
second of two articles.

JAKARTA (JP): The phenomenal success of commercial television
in taking a large piece of the advertising pie is an indication
of the large numbers of TV viewers in Indonesia.

Given that Indonesian society is said to be more a watching
society than a reading society, it cannot be ruled out that there
has been a shift in audience interest from the print media to TV.
Observers, however, hope that there will be enough public
interest for the print media as well as for TV and radio.

Competition between the commercial TV stations is no less
fierce given the stations' plans for the near future:

* TVRI is to convert into a state-owned public company;

* RCTI and SCTV are to go public;

* Indosiar will be a technology pioneer as it looks to use
digital technology to increase picture and sound quality;

* Commercial stations continue to expand their national
networks. ANteve, for example, opened a bureau in Washington in
early 1997.

With the rising tide of competition, some print media
organizations have become more aggressive in recent years by
revamping their physical appearance, writing style, promotional
efforts and distribution and marketing activities.

Since 1995, some organizations in the print media have entered
the world of the "electronic newspaper" by filing part of their
editorial material to a provider for Internet distribution.

Republika was the first daily to go online. It was followed by
Kompas, Gatra, Swasembada and Infokomputer, the last
three being magazines. The electronic paper is seen as a
promotional vehicle to attract more subscribers.

Several papers in Java have started to use long distance print
technology since mid-1997. This allows a paper to go to print
simultaneously in different cities for earlier distribution in
target areas further afield.

The Jakarta-based Republika, for instance, started to print
simultaneously in Surakarta, Central Java, in July 1997.

Meanwhile, Kompas, the largest nationally-circulated paper
based in Jakarta, has been cooperating with the Semarang-based
Suara Merdeka, the biggest paper in Central Java, to print both
papers in both cities since September 1997.

The "war" between the print media and private TV initially
concerned ads. The battle for the future, however, will expand to
the news front. After the enactment of the Broadcasting Law on
Sept. 29, 1997, private television and radio stations are now
allowed to broadcast their own news coverage.

Previously, they were prohibited to do so. The official rule
was that private radio and TV stations are permitted (and
obliged) to relay the newscasts of the government-owned TVRI and
RRI.

Prior to the 1997 law, however, private TV stations got around
the restriction on broadcasting their own news coverage by
calling their news coverage anything else but news.

This "guerrilla war" approach was to meet a growing viewer
demand for current and critical coverage of events not found in
TVRI. Given their 18 to 20 hours a day of air time, the private
stations definitely have the edge on immediacy.

TVRI broadcasts two regular nationwide news bulletins, at 7
p.m. and 9 p.m. The government station goes on the air at 2 p.m.
and signs off at midnight. Private stations start broadcasting at
5 a.m. and begin their first news program of the day an hour
later.

For instance, RCTI's regular news broadcasts are "Nuansa Pagi"
(Morning Nuances) at 6 a.m. and "Seputar Indonesia" (Around
Indonesia) at 6.30 p.m. TPI has "Selamat Pagi Indonesia" (Good
Morning Indonesia) at 6 a.m. and "Lintas 5" (Cross Coverage 5) at
5 p.m.

SCTV has "Liputan 6 Pagi" (Morning 6 Coverage) and "Liputan 6
Petang" (Evening 6 Coverage). ANteve has "Halo Indonesia" (Hello
Indonesia ) at 6 a.m. and "Cakrawala" (Horizon) at 5 p.m.
Indosiar has "Horison" at 11 a.m.

ANteve has upped the ante by broadcasting news breaks that
interrupt regular programs. This flash program called "Aktualita"
has proved popular with breaking stories that require immediate
reporting. One such story was the minor earthquake that hit
Jakarta on Monday, March 17, 1997. Within an hour after the pre-
rush-hour tremor, ANteve was on the air and in the street
interviewing workers who fled their highrise offices.

Commercial radio stations had for years also adopted the same
anything-but-news label in broadcasting their own coverage.

TV as well as radio stations are indeed expected by their
audiences to broadcast "what is happening" instead of merely
"what has happened" which appears in the print media. This
expectation has spurred commercial TV and radio stations to
organize live broadcasts from time to time.

However, the Ministry of Information warned stations in
November that live broadcasts, especially those related to non-
entertainment and non-sports programs, could only take place "in
cooperation" with the government-controlled TVRI or with the
consent of the ministry.

A lack of reporters, however, puts a strain on coverage
efforts by news organizations. Indonesia has about 7,000
journalists now who are being fought over by nearly 300 print
media publications and five private TV stations.

The outcome is that there are print media organizations in
outer regions managed by only five journalists or less, whereas
in major cities like Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan, some newsrooms
employ a news staff of 50 to 100 people.

Private TV stations with news coverage ambitions plan to
recruit 100 to 200 new reporters, producers, presenters,
cameramen and soundmen in the next one or two years. But the lack
of professional staff has led to another kind of skirmish through
"wage wars", as newsrooms try to poach qualified people from each
other.

This situation will further marginalize smaller media
organizations that are already experiencing cash and investment
shortages. They may have to merge with bigger players or quit.

Media companies also have to take into consideration the
impact of the rupiah's declining exchange rates against the U.S.
dollar. Due to the increasing cost of newsprint and the decline
in ad revenues, both the print and broadcast media have to
postpone or slow down planned expansions, including the hiring of
new reporters. Dailies will have to increase the retail prices of
their papers and cut contents.

On the brighter side, however, aggressive news reporting tends
to be the future trend. The organizations that can afford it will
allocate more money for more critical, in-depth and balanced
reporting. This is not due to intermedia competition alone but to
the demands of a more critical public and by the more openness of
sources.

These signs, hopefully, will herald a new page in press
freedom in Indonesia, a freedom that got entangled when the
government banned three critical news weeklies: Tempo, Editor,
and Detik, on June 21, 1994.

(Translated by Warief Djajanto Basorie; the Indonesian version
is appearing in the weekly magazine D&R)

Atmakusumah is an Indonesian media commentator. Formerly, he
was the executive editor of the investigative Indonesia Raya
daily. He is now executive director of the Dr. Soetomo Press
Institute, a Jakarta-based journalism school for motivated
university graduates who seek careers in the news media.