 | |
 The front page ofThe Jakarta Post on 30 August 2025 | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner | PT Bina Media Tenggara (Kompas Gramedia Group) |
| Founded | 25 April 1983; 42 years ago (1983-04-25) |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | Jl. Palmerah Barat 142–143 Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Country | Indonesia |
| ISSN | 0215-3432 |
| Website | www |
The Jakarta Post is a dailyEnglish-language newspaper inIndonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital,Jakarta.
The Jakarta Post started as a collaboration between four Indonesian media groups at the urging of Information MinisterAli Murtopo and politicianJusuf Wanandi. After the first issue was printed on 25 April 1983, it spent several years with minimal advertisements and increasing circulation. After a change in chief editors in 1991, it began to take a more vocal pro-democracy point of view. The paper was one of the few Indonesian English-language dailies to survive the1997 Asian financial crisis and currently has a circulation of about 40,000.
The Jakarta Post also features an online edition and a weekend magazine supplement called J+. The newspaper is targeted at foreigners and educated Indonesians, although the middle-class Indonesian readership has increased. Noted for being a training ground for local and international reporters,The Jakarta Post has won several awards and has been described as being "Indonesia's leading English-language daily".[1]The Jakarta Post is a member ofthe Asia News Network.
The Jakarta Post was the brainchild of Information MinisterAli Murtopo and politicianJusuf Wanandi, who were disappointed at the perceived bias against Indonesia in foreign news sources.[2] At the time, there were two English-language dailies in the country,The Indonesia Times andThe Indonesian Observer.[3] However, as these existing papers were poorly perceived by the public, they decided to create a new one. To ensure credibility, the two convinced a group of competing newspapers (theGolkar-backedSuara Karya, the Catholic-ownedKompas, the Protestant-ownedSinar Harapan, and the weeklyTempo) to back the nascent paper.[2] They hoped it would become a quality English-language paper inSoutheast Asia, similar toThe Straits Times inSingapore, theBangkok Post as well as the now-defunctThe Nation inThailand as well asThe Star, the now-defunctThe Malay Mail, andNew Straits Times in Malaysia.[4]
After PT Bina Media Tenggara decided to back the paper,[5] Wanandi spent several months contacting influential figures at the competing newspapers. In exchange for their cooperation,Kompas requested a 25 percent share in the new newspaper, for which it would handle the daily business operations, such as printing, circulation, and advertising.Tempo offered to assist with management in return for a 15 percent share, whileSabam Siagian ofSinar Harapan was hired as the first chief editor, for whichSinar Harapan received stock. The establishment of the paper was further aided by incoming Information MinisterHarmoko, who received five percent interest for his role in acquiring a license. In total, the start-up costRp 500 million (US$700,000 at the time).[6]Muhammad Chudori, a co-founder ofThe Jakarta Post who formerly reported forAntara, became the newspaper's firstgeneral manager.[7]
Further details, includingSinar Harapan's share of stock and the paper's publisher, were decided at a meeting at Wanandi's office in March 1983.[8] The next month, on 25 April, the first edition—totalling eight pages—was published.[9] The first newsroom of the new paper was located inKompas's former laundry room, a one-story warehouse; the first employees had to do the layout by hand, using pica poles as straight edges.[10] During the first few months, the writers translated and recycled previously published stories from Indonesian media, which were later picked up by foreignwire services. Original reporting was rare at first as the editors did not want to deal with the censorship ofSuharto'sNew Order government.[11]
In the early years of its publication,The Jakarta Post had difficulty attracting advertisers, to the point that some editions ran without ads.[12] However, circulation increased dramatically, from 8,657 in 1983 to 17,480 in 1988. Although it was originally hoped that the paper would begin to turn a profit within the first three years, therecession in the early 1980s led to the start-up funds being depleted. Eventually, in 1985 the paper took out an interest-free loan and received Rp. 700 million from its owners. After advertising increased,The Jakarta Post was able to turn a profit by 1988,[13] and was considered "one of the most credible newspapers" in Indonesia.[14]
Susanto Pudjomartono, the former chief editor ofTempo, becameThe Jakarta Post's second chief editor on 1 August 1991, after Siagian was chosen to beIndonesia's ambassador to Australia.[15] Under Pudjomartono's leadership, the paper began publishing more original work and doing less translation; reporters were also asked to take a more active role in the day-to-day operations of the paper.[16] The paper also became more vocal regarding politics, taking a pro-democracy stance likeTempo.[16][17] It soon converted its offices into a new, two-story building built using theKompas pension fund[18] and expanded to 12 pages.[19]
In 1994,The Jakarta Post signed a distribution agreement with the British news serviceReuters and the AmericanDialog Information Services, allowing its stories to be more easily promoted overseas.[20] By the mid-1990s, it had established a workshop to assist its new, foreign-born staff in learning the local culture.[21] By December 1998,The Jakarta Post had a circulation of 41,049,[20] and was one of the few English-language dailies in Indonesia after the1997 Asian financial crisis;[22] six other English-language dailies had failed.[23] That year it also became a founding member of theAsia News Network.[24]
The Jakarta Post officially endorsed theJoko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla ticket in the2014 Indonesian presidential election,[25] their first time doing so in its 31-year history.[26]Kompas noted that it was the first time official support for a presidential candidate by a media outlet in Indonesia.[27] ThePress Council consideredThe Post endorsement as "normal and valid".[28]
The newspaper earned a reputation for testing the limits of censorship.[29][page needed] In July 2014,The Jakarta Post published a cartoon showing theISIL flag with its oval shape replaced by askull and crossbones, with the words Allah and Muhammad (which are sacred to Muslims and found on IS flags) displayed inside the skull shape.[30] The paper apologised and retracted the cartoon following accusations by police and some Muslim groups that the cartooninsulted Islam. Editor-in-chief Meidyatama Suryodiningrat defended its publication as a "journalistic piece" criticisingISIL.[31]
The newspaper has a partnership agreement in place withstate media outletChina Daily to repost its content.[32]The Jakarta Post in 2020 was one of eight news publishers selected by the US-basedGoogle News Initiative andFTI Consulting for a four-month programme to grow its readerrevenue and strengthen digital subscription capabilities.[33]
Till today,The Jakarta Post has had seven editors-in-chief: Sabam Pandapotan Siagian (1983–1991), Susanto Pudjomartono (1991–2002), Raymond Toruan (2002–2004),Endy Bayuni (2004–2010), Meidyatama Suryodiningrat (2010–2016),[34] Endy Bayuni (2016–2018), Nezar Patria[35] (2018–2020) and M. Taufiqurrahman (October 2020 – present).[36]
The Jakarta Post's Sunday edition was launched on 18 September 1994. The Sunday edition included more in-depth stories, as well as entertainment and fiction that would not be published in the weekday editions.[37] As part of cost-cutting measures amid declining print advertising revenue, the Sunday edition ceased publication in April 2016. It was replaced by a lifestyle and culture magazine calledJ+, which is included with the newspaper's Saturday edition.[38]
The Jakarta Post features an online edition, which includes both print and internet exclusive stories that are free to access. There are also news flashes that are developed as they happen. The paper hopes to digitise the entirety of its printed stories, with at least 50,000 articles dating to June 1994 already digitised.[39] In 2017,The Jakarta Post began charging subscriptions in order to access "premium" online content.[40]
On 9 April 2012The Jakarta Post launchedBali Daily, a four-page daily newspaper produced inBali, after noting that 4,900 of the flagship paper's subscribers lived on the resort island.[41]Bali Daily ceased printing in 2014.
The Jakarta Post is targeted at Indonesian businesspeople, well-educated Indonesians, and foreigners.[29][page needed][1] In 1991, 62 per cent of the paper's readers wereexpatriates. Under Pudjomartono's leadership, it began targeting more Indonesian readers.[18] As of 2009[update], approximately half of its 40,000 readers were middle class Indonesians.[23]
In 1996,The Jakarta Post faced invigorated competition when media tycoonPeter Gontha bought a controlling stake in rival paperThe Indonesian Observer and revamped the publication.[42] However,The Indonesian Observer was unable to matchThe Jakarta Post's quality of independent reporting because of Gontha's business connections to the Suharto family. He stopped printingThe Indonesian Observer in June 2001.[43]
In 2008,The Jakarta Post faced new competition, dubbed "a wake up call", when BeritaSatu Media Holdings, an associated company of billionaireJames Riady, began publishing a rival English-language daily newspaper, theJakarta Globe.[44]The Jakarta Globe even hired several defectors fromThe Jakarta Post, paying them higher salaries, and theGlobe's print run was 40,000.[45] However, by May 2012,The Jakarta Globe converted from broadsheet to tabloid size, and in December 2015 it became an online only publication.[46]
When launched in 1983, a single edition ofThe Jakarta Post cost Rp175. By 2018, the newspaper cost Rp7,500 in Jakarta and Rp9,500 in Bali and Nusa Tenggara. As of 2018, subscriptions cost US$11/month for the online version and US$12/month for the printed version.[40]
The Jakarta Post follows abroadsheet format. In the beginning, it featured an index on the front page, as well as short offbeat stories under the title "This Odd World". The lifestyle section had eight comic strips, and it used more photographs and graphics than was normal for Indonesian publications at that time. The editorials tended to be shorter than their Indonesian counterparts.[11]
The Jakarta Post uses theinverted pyramid style of reporting, with the most important information at the beginning of the article;[14] during the 1980s, many Indonesian papers put thelead further down.[9] Bill Tarrant attributes this to the different writing styles in English andIndonesian, with English favouring theactive voice and direct statements, while respectful Indonesian favours thepassive voice and a circuitous approach.[21] Regarding this topic, Wanandi has said that "You cannot bullshit in English, like the Javanese way."[14]
Peter Gelling, ofThe New York Times, notes thatThe Jakarta Post has been considered a "training ground" for local reporters, and offers apprenticeship programs. In 2009, six formerThe Jakarta Post reporters worked forBloomberg.[23] In 2014The Jakarta Post was behindKompas in terms of online visits.[47]
In 2006, the Reporters Union of Indonesia recognisedThe Jakarta Post as being one of the Indonesian newspapers that best followedjournalism ethics and standards; other papers recognised wereKompas andIndo Pos.[48] The paper received the Adam Malik Award in January 2009 for their reporting on foreign politics; the coverage was considered accurate and educated, with good analysis.[49] The following year three reporters received the Adiwarta Award fromSampoerna for excellent photography in the fields of culture, law, and politics.[50] Another journalist received the Adam Malik Award in 2014 for his writings which assisted the ministry to distribute information regarding foreign policy implementation.[51]
The Union of Print Media Companies (SPS) conferred on The Jakarta Post two awards of the 2020 Indonesian Print Media Awards (IPMA) in a National Press Day event in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on 7 February 2020.[52] The Post brought home the gold award for the Best of Investigation Reporting for its 29 October 2019 edition. The publication featured a special report written by reporters Victor Mambor and Syofiardi Bachyul titled "Wamena investigation: What the government is not telling us". The report was a collaboration among journalists of the Post, Jakarta-based Tirto.id and Jayapura-based Jubi. They conducted an investigation in the field in Wamena, Jayawijaya regency, from 3 to 10 October and discovered what the government had failed to reveal.
