Poor Indonesian newspapers need to get back to basics

Ong Hock Chuan, PT Maverick Solusi Komunikasi, Partner, Jakarta

Indonesia's press is in trouble, and it's not only from the defamation suits from notables such as President Megawati Soekarnoputri and tycoons such as Tomy Winata and Sinivasan.

The trouble most newspapers face today is economic reality biting after the press freedom euphoria over the past five years. At least 2,000 newspapers, according to the Newspaper Publishers Union Chief Leo Batubara, have bitten the dust over the last five years.

More will follow unless they reinvent themselves and return to basics, Batubara was quoted as saying in a recent Bisnis Indonesia article.

This is good advice. The majority of newspapers have veered so far off course that they have ceased to become relevant to their readers. Instead of offering news that is important to its readers, these papers provide news that is important to the self- image of its editors and reporters.

This self-image, which is reflected in most of the newspapers, is of journalists as self-appointed commentators and reporters of "high politics," which manifests itself in the never-ending reports of the actions and utterances of high-profile political figures.

It is a fact that most of the time these politicians are ill informed and have very vague notions about democracy or political concepts. It is a fact that more often than not these politicians shoot from the hip. And it is a fact that most readers have tuned out most of what they have to say because of their utter irrelevance to their lives.

Yet to comment and report on such high politics seems to be the apex of achievement among these papers. Hence we are treated day in and day out with endless drivel about drivel.

There is a common misconception among some newspaper publishers that political controversies and scandals translate into good headlines and therefore sells papers. This is true only if you can offer something the competition doesn't. As it is, any advantage and hope of better sales are dashed because every newspaper is as sensationalistic and obsessed by high politics as the next.

If newspapers are serious about pushing sales and making money, they should consider abandoning the lofty realms of high politics and, as Batubara advises, go back to basics.

One basic function of a newspaper is to champion the causes of its readers, to take up the cause of the common man or woman, to speak up for the underdog.

The need for Indonesia's "fourth estate" to take up this role is more urgent today than ever. This is because the government appears, to most people, either disinterested, dysfunctional or both. So are its institutions that are meant to serve citizens. They are not only dysfunctional; they try to extort you for money.

The Indonesian middle class -- who form the readership base of these newspapers -- have never been so isolated and helpless.

They need a newspaper that gives voice to their dissatisfactions and their hopes. They need a newspaper that would champion their causes and give them a means to bring the public service back to serving the public instead of their own pockets.

The incredible fact about such situations is that it can be damned good business for a newspaper to abandon high politics and take up the cause of the people. A case in point is The Star, now Malaysia's largest selling and most influential newspaper.

The Star started out as a provincial newspaper covering the island of Penang. It was a tabloid and in the early days had its share of page 3 girls and sensational rape cases to attract readers.

In the late 1970's, however, it went national and began to seriously live up to its logo of being "The People's Paper." Malaysia then was very much like Indonesia now: Lots of arrogant officials who thought the public should serve them rather than the other way around; inefficient services, facilities and infrastructures such as rubbish collection, potholed roads; corrupt policemen; corrupt local politicians scratching each others' backs: Sounds familiar?

The Star began covering these local issues seriously. Any reasonable grievance or complaint that affected "the people", no matter how localized, were reported and local officials forced to account for it. If they refused the newspaper would hound them down and carry on a sustained campaign of exposure until it became too embarrassing to sweep under the carpet or ignore.

One of the lessons that the reporters, of which I was one, learned during those days was that a newspaper could actually be made to work for the betterment of people's lives. The way to force officials to act was to have stamina, a feature that the Indonesian papers today lack. When the paper bit on an issue it was like a pit bull; it would not let go until something was done or the issue resolved. Sustained embarrassment was the most effective tool to goad officials into action.

The formula worked. The Star rose from its humble provincial roots to become the country's premier paper both in circulation and revenues. Its income was so good that in good years it has been known to pay its reporters over eight months salary in bonuses.

It's a heartening story of a paper getting rich because it managed to tap into what the people wanted and became their voice. Indonesia's struggling newspapers may want to weigh the option of being engrossed in high politics, be poor and not change anything in the loves of their readers or to speak up for the people, take up their cause, make a difference to their lives and become rich along the way.

The writer is a Press Fellow at Cambridge University and a partner at Maverick, a public relations consultancy specializing in crisis and issues management.