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Brave new (post-pendemic) world: The Jakarta Post turns 39
Now pushing 40, instead of singing our own praises, The Jakarta Post reached out to a handful of distinguished readers on their views of the role we fill in the national media landscape.
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Carving out our niche: 'The Jakarta Post' celebrates its 39th anniversary on April 25, 2022. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
E
ven before the arrival of the internet and social media platforms, the newspaper business was a challenging one in Indonesia, with many publications struggling from the outset and then shuttering before reaching maturity.
The niche of English-language national media has been particularly hard to crack, with dozens entering the segment, only to fold only after a few years.
The Jakarta Post has been one of the few national papers, English or otherwise, to have defied the odds. As the Post celebrates our 39th anniversary on Monday, we again reflect on the achievements we have made over the decades, from surviving censorship under an autocratic regime and witnessing the birth of Indonesia’s nascent democracy, to making it through these past two COVID-19 years and its deleterious economic impacts.
Born out of dissatisfaction with the unbalanced coverage on Indonesia in Western wire services and other media, many industry observers have noted that the Post evolved from a scrappy publication into the country’s leading English-language news media.
As social media and other forms of digital communication continue to significantly influence the tone, pace and types of coverage, from politics to society, the Post can play a guiding role against the pull of sensationalism and bias, as well as in promoting democracy and civility. This is particularly so in our coverage of Indonesia’s increasingly polarized society.
“Any country’s media benefits from the presence of a high-quality, independent media outlet which prioritizes balance and truth in reporting over sensationalism, commercialism, and bias. In that, there will always be a role – and a challenge – for papers like The Jakarta Post,” David T. Hill, professor of Southeast Asian studies at Murdoch University, told us on Saturday.
For years, the Post has strived to protect democratic values while providing a much-needed channel for the voiceless.
