Maverick Indonesia

Newspapers in Indonesia: The ‘late’ tendency

Everywhere you hear stories of the printed media being challenged by the so-called new media. They have to contend with falling readership, competition for immediacy from the internet. Newspapers are all trying to cope with these new trends.

Not in Indonesia though, it seems. The have more immediate problems to cope with - like getting the paper out on time.

Over the past few months, newspaper deliveries have been unreliable. Rarely a week goes by without one or two newspapers being delivered late. On June 29th, for instance, Media Indonesia was late. A few days before that it was Investor Daily. Other habitual tardy newspapers are Indo Pos and Bisnis Indonesia.

Media Indonesia being late is an interesting case since it has its own printing plant to better control its distribution. But someone somewhere, in a feat of short-sighted planning, decided to locate its printing plant in Kedoya, North Jakarta. Each time there is heavy rain the area floods and the printing is stopped until the floodwaters recede. Business Indonesia is another tardy newspaper even though it has its own printing plant. Insiders say that the paper’s printing machines, for some reason or other, keep breaking down, resulting in delays.

So even with newspapers that have their own printing plants, we have newspapers that cannot meet deadlines. What hope will these paper have to compete, since younger Indonesians are now slowly, but surely embracing the internet and all its promise of immediate delivery?