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More govt ads no panacea but deemed necessary for local media
Media experts say government support through regulations and budget spending is crucial to ensure a level playing field amid increasingly dominant tech platforms, but the industry must adapt as well.
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Two becak (pedicab) drivers read newspapers in August 2020 while waiting for customers in Wirobrajan, Yogyakarta. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama)
T
he Finance Ministry has expressed doubt that public-sector advertising deals will do much to ensure the sustainability of Indonesian media companies.
The ministry was responding to a presidential order to focus the government’s advertising budget on local press rather than on digital platforms.
Media experts, meanwhile, have said that government support through regulations and budget arrangements is a must to ensure a level playing field in an advertising market currently dominated by global tech platforms, and failure to do so may result in the failure of local media companies and a lack of high-quality journalism in the country.
In February, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo signed the publisher rights regulation, which coincided with the celebration of National Press Day, after months of delay caused by stalled negotiations between publishers and digital platforms. The regulation requires tech platforms to enter deals with media firms in the form of paid licensing, revenue sharing or data sharing.
The President acknowledged at the time that major platforms may choose not to support the policy and instead limit their services in the country, as has been seen in their responses to legislative changes in Australia and Canada.
"I have ordered the communications and information minister to prioritize media firms [rather than digital platforms] in government advertising spending. This could be a short-term buffer,” Jokowi stated.
The Chief Editors Forum, which represents local media companies, argued that state support in the form of advertising deals for media companies was similar in spirit to the local content requirements (TKDN) for manufacturing industries.
