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39 years and counting
After 39 years of mostly highs and a few lows, especially in the past two years, The Jakarta Post is again standing on the cusp of change – and is grabbing it by the horns.
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The Jakarta Post turns 39 on April 25, 2022. (Shutterstock/Pru Studio/JP/File)
Thirty-nine years is a long time, almost an eternity in the Indonesian media industry.
Even during its heyday, when printed newspapers and magazines were the only sources of information and arbiters of taste, enterprising journalists and financiers could start a newspaper only to see it fold the following year.
And in a country where English is not the primary language, it has certainly been very difficult to maintain The Jakarta Post as an English-language media. Many others have tried their hand in this niche segment and crashed before even making a mark.
The Jakarta Post, which celebrates our 39th anniversary on Monday, has certainly defied the odds to persevere for almost four decades, and can say with some confidence that we remain as relevant as ever as a trusted source of accurate information for Indonesia and the world.
Luck may have played a part in that we have continued to stay in print since the mid-1980s, but those of us in the newsroom must give credit to everyone who was there at the start for having the grit, guts and passion to start something new and wholly different.
Dissatisfied with the quality of existing English-language publications and disgruntled with Western-oriented wires services and foreign newspapers, the Post’s founders felt that the new Indonesian-oriented English publication could serve as a conduit between their country and the world.
The newspaper’s steady rise in the late 1980s and its financial success in the 1990s was a testament to its success of bridging the two worlds, read by foreigners in Indonesia while catering to the needs of its Indonesian readers who aspired to be global citizens.
The Post came of age during the tremendous political and social changes of late 1990s Indonesia, and it was only natural for it to throw its weight behind the student movement demanding a transition to democracy.
Its political coverage was bold even before the events of May 1998, but it gained more recognition during this period for being impartial and critical. As Indonesia’s democracy developed, all of us in the newsroom were eager to play our part in chronicling and contributing to the new landscape.
This historical foundation is key to understanding the Post’s ongoing transition to the future, especially now that the world – and the media industry with it – is undergoing a sea change during which, to quote a certain Italian thinker, “the old is dying and the new cannot be born”.
In the face of this massive shift in an increasingly digitalized world where technology is determining how information and perspectives are filtered (or not) and delivered, the Post aims to continue to stand as the bridge between Indonesia and the world, to remain impartial and bold, to be the voice of reason and give voice to the marginalized.
To our readers and subscribers who have remained loyal to the Post, we thank you for your trust and continuing support. We couldn’t have done it without you, because in the end, you are our entire reason for existing.
And on behalf of everyone in the newsroom, the editorial board proposes a toast: Here’s to another four decades!
