Newspaper readers expected to double by 1999: Subrata

PUNCAK, West Java (JP): Director General of Press and Graphics Subrata said yesterday that the government is trying hard to reach a ratio of one newspaper for every 10 people before the turn of the century.

"The current ratio is one newspaper for 23 people. And we will try to reach the ratio set by UNESCO of one to 10 at the end of the sixth five-year development plan, or in 1999," Subrata said when addressing the 19th congress of the Indonesian Newspaper Publishers Association (SPS) in this scenic hill station.

In order to reach the target, Subrata said that the government will continue to cultivate the reading habits of the people, especially among villagers, through the government-sponsored "newspapers for villages" program.

The program deals mostly with promoting newspapers so that they can reach every segment of society, especially the remote areas.

"Through this program, ideally every province will have at least one daily newspaper. But the fact remains that there are still three provinces which have no local papers: Southeast Sulawesi, Bengkulu and West Nusa Tenggara," Subrata said.

He promised that the government will continue to encourage the development of the press, especially local newspapers. "We will help those provinces (which have no papers) establish at least one daily newspaper."

However, Suroso Imam Zadjuli, a lecturer in the post graduate program of the Surabaya-based Airlangga University, was pessimistic about developing the press since this business is considered "risky."

The current press bans on Tempo, Editor and DeTIK serve as a good example that the media business is risky, he said.

In order to reduce the risks, Suroso proposed that the government apply gradual penalties for the press so that the banned media could resume publication.

"The bans, for instance, could be applied for one day only, or one month or one year, depending on the mistakes the press has made. Permanent bans could be implemented only if the publication made unforgivable mistakes," Suroso said. (11)