Newspaper readers expected to double by 1999: Subrata

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)