Jakarta Post: and then there were nine?

July 19, 2006

Update: As journalists learn quickly, people will read what they want to read despite the facts. I’ve been told that this posting has caused some angst among some journalists in the Post, who choose to see gloom and doom about the departure of nine staffers. For a more complete picture of what is happening in the Post, please make sure you read the comments, especially A’an’s below.

The Grapevine tells more details about the Jakarta Post exodus. There are not only eight but apparently nine people leaving soon for various reasons. We’ve blogged about Reiner going to Forbes.

The remaining eight are:

(1) T.S. who’s very knowledgeable about the military going to Van Zorge
(2) T.Y. going to UNAIDS
(4) R.A.W going on a scholarship to the Netherlands
(5) E.M who is also on a scholarship to Netherlands
(6) A.S. on a scholarship to the U.S.
(7) M.S.S off to study in Germany

(8) A photographer M.S that’s leaving but The Grapevine does not know where

(9) And a graphic designer known only as I on to a scholarship in the Netherlands

There was also rumors of a 10th man, T.H. leaving but apparently its only rumors.

unspun

Indonesia, journalists, Media

24 responses to “Jakarta Post: and then there were nine?”

KuKuKaChu

July 12, 2006 at 9:58 am

hey, these are only people who will be leaving soon. what about the dozens (like myself!) who jumped ship a few months ago??

just look at the jakarta post these days; it’s never been good, and now it’s just pathetic.

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unspun

July 12, 2006 at 11:16 am

didn’t have blog then. I’ve seen your lament before: each earlier generation of newspeople thinking that the present generation has gone to the dogs.

I think you’d have to substiantiate the claim that the Post has gone from never good to pathetic if it is to have currency.

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KuKuKaChu

July 14, 2006 at 8:18 am

no need to substantiate. it was bad before i got there; it was bad while i was there, and it stayed bad when i left.

the recruitment policies at JP are strange. and no effort is put into retaining good employees.

subsequently, most who end up staying at JP are people who can’t get jobs anywhere else!

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A’an Suryana

July 19, 2006 at 3:48 am

My name is A’an Suryana and I have been mentioned in this blog. I should tell you that the rumors are not entirely true. Not all eight or nine people will leave the Post. Yes, some people have left the Post, but others will remain stay with our company, the eminent English publication in this country. I myself will go to US on Fulbright fellowship, but I will not leave The Jakarta Post. I will remain work with the company, which respects pluralism and strives for excellence. Another person, Evi Mariani, who gets scholarship to Netherland, will also return to the Post after completing her study.
Our company is going strong and we booked billions of rupiah profit last year and it is likely that the amount of rupiah got from the ads will increase this year. I think we have brighter future and later on, it will positively affect welfare of our employees.

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unspun

July 19, 2006 at 5:19 am

Thanks A’an for clarifying the situation. I have made some checks and found out that of the five people leaving the Post (for now), three are doing so actually sponsored by the Jakarta Post and would therefore very probably return to the Post.

I also agree that people leaving the Post is par for the course. The Post has been a victim of poaching by wire services and other media and research companies for as long as it’s been established. In a way that’s a compliment to the Post because it shows that the people it’s trained is fit to be head hunted.

I’m sure that the Post is doing quite well too, judging from the extra pages and advertisements of late. I’m actually quite surprised myself why some people have chosen to read gloom and doom into my previous postings on the Post.

As a former journalist and now a businessperson, I think it is a fact of life that people come and go in an organization. And in moments of organizational change there is usually more traffic. This is not necessarily bad for the organization as people who can adapt to the changes will want to stay while those who can’t would not.

I also hear from The Grapvine that as fine an institution as it is, the Post has also realized that it has gotten a bit stodgy over the years and has embarked on making changes.

That the Post realizes its shortcomings and are taking steps to overcome them is surely something very encouraging and positive.

So carry on the Post and good luck to you and the other journalist-scholars on your new adventure. But certainly do come back to help report on Indonesia and inform us all of developments in this country 🙂

(Also congrats on getting the prestigous Fullbright Scholarship)

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confusedcious

July 20, 2006 at 5:53 am

Hi A’an Suryana,

If the paragraph you wrote above is reflective of the standards of The Jakarta Post, then you should not use the phrase “the eminent English publication in this country”.

And if you insist that the phrase is an accurate description of The Jakarta Post, then I can only feel sorry for the other English newspapers in the country.

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KuKuKaChu

July 20, 2006 at 8:54 am

indeed. and it’s only “eminent” because it’s the *only* English-language daily newspaper in the country!

JP these days rides on the fact that it has a monopoly position as the only English-language publication, and has thus become a kind of semi-official mouthpiece of the government into the diplomatic community.

JP’s constituency is not white expats — as many white expats seem to believe — but the foreign diplomatic community. read with this in mind, many of the oddities in this publication become vaguely understandable.

JP has hardened into an unimportant, conservative, don’t-rock-the-boat publication. which is a great pity, especially for those journalists who enter the paper with high ideals, only to have them squashed in no time at all.

The Jakarta Post could be a very good paper, even within the practical limitations of the indonesian social and political environment. it’s a pity JP’s management do not have sufficient vision to see its real potential.

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Devil

July 20, 2006 at 1:59 pm

KuKuKaChu is so piss off with the Post cause he was fired for falsifying data to the readers to support Freeport (yes, that damned chicky devil Freeport). So did you really jumped off the ship? Should I scan your dismissal letter and blog it?

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KuKuKaChu

July 20, 2006 at 2:16 pm

? sorry devil, you’ve got the wrong person.

and there’s no need for abuse, by the way. this is just a discussion, not an “attack” on JP. abuse is not a substitute for debate.

i would not waste my time criticising the JP if i did not think it was *worth* criticising. i happen to think the JP is worth my time to criticise.

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unspun

July 20, 2006 at 3:53 pm

I don’t necessarily agree with what KukukaChu says but I think he has expressed a viewpoint, which should be divorced from his motivations or personality.

Devil, I would love to hear from you or any one else out there a rebuttal of KukukaChu’s viewpoint, and KukukaChu I’d also look forward to you contributing some ideas of what the Post can do better and how you’d go about doing it if you had the chance.

It’s easy to criticise and I have no intention of muzzling criticism in this blog (which will remain unmoderated unless the bounds of good taste are trespassed), but I think it’s useful also to be able to provide alternatives when we criticize.

Whether we like it or not, the Post is all we have for the moment and we all should try to put our heads together in a discussion that could be constructively useful to the Post.

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mysympathyforobviouslyfrustratedKuKuKaChu

July 20, 2006 at 4:51 pm

subsequently, most who end up staying at JP are people who can’t get jobs anywhere else!
Comment by KuKuKaChu | July 14, 2006

Wow, that hurts… I wonder what’s your job now? I hope it gives you better income so you could learn Indonesian and read other newspapers than unimportant, conservative JP.

unspun: and KukukaChu I’d also look forward to you contributing some ideas of what the Post can do better and how you’d go about doing it if you had the chance.

unspun, KuKuKaChu obviously had the chance. but I think his or her biggest chance to improve JP was by leaving it. Good for you KuKuKaChu, good for JP too, perhaps.

Gee KuKuKaChu, what did JP do to you? Poor you… A’an, whatever you did to this poor big time complainer, apologize, please, huahaha. He’s obviously having a hard time moving on.

KuKuKaChu: and there’s no need for abuse, by the way. this is just a discussion, not an “attack” on JP.

oh really? not an attack? “subsequently, most who end up staying at JP are people who can’t get jobs anywhere else!” sounds like an attack to more than 100 people working at JP.

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KuKuKaChu

July 21, 2006 at 12:59 am

Dear mysympathyforobviouslyfrustratedKuKuKaChu:

Your sympathy is misplaced. Trust me on this. 😉

Yes, I acknowledge that a few of my statements were rather provocative, but I seem to have got your attention. 🙂 If people were offended, or took my statements personally, then I’m truly sorry. But I don’t back down from the substance I what I said. There are far too many overpaid, unproductive “penumpang” within JP, and they most definitely could not get jobs anywhere else. The relevant question to ask is, whose fault is this? My answer (for what little it is worth): Management.

However, all this misses the point. Most of you in your responses have focused on yourselves, and the aspersions you think have been cast upon you. Not one word in defense of JP *as a publication*!

Very shortly, new competitors will be entering the English-language news market, and JP is singularly unprepared to confront these competitors. JP seems content to hide behind grandma Kompas’ in terms of editorial leadership, and behind its long-held monopoly position as Indonesia’s only English-language newspaper. Has this led to intellectual laziness? Has this led to the self-satisfied and uncritical culture within the company? Maybe.

Ultimately, these are not problems for JP’s employees, but rather for JP’s management to address. The corporate culture that has developed needs to be completely shaken up, not just given an annual stir. And true cultural change *always* starts at the very top.

Are JP’s managers and leaders capable of this kind of change? I have my doubts, but I would be very pleased to be proved wrong!

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mysympathyforobviouslyfrustratedKuKuKaChu

July 21, 2006 at 6:12 am

Dear KuKuKaChu,
I’ve seen your profile on JakChat and trust me on this, my sympathy remains with you.

Yes, JP has problems in the management as well as in the newsroom. A few of your statements are true. But there are many inaccurate analysis based on your short period of time working at JP and on your questionable intelligence. You seem to think you’re pretty smart that you seem content to draw up many seemingly clever yet wrong conclusions.

KuKuKaChu: seems content to hide behind grandma Kompas’ in terms of editorial leadership
that’s grossly inaccurate. Kompas? Pleaseee.

KuKuKaChu: semi-official mouthpiece of the government into the diplomatic community
in some cases it might be true. But in most cases, it’s inaccurate.

But, anyway, you’re such a big time complainer who thinks you’re smart, I won’t bother discussing things with you. Capek, Mas…hahahaha.

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KuKuKaChu

July 21, 2006 at 6:30 am

Is inaccurate personal abuse all you can do? It seems no-one except for Aan is prepared to debate properly at all.

What are you all afraid of? Criticism won’t kill anyone. Really. I remain fond of JP: fond enough to want it to be what it should be, and not what it is now.

All this recourse to personal abuse from people who actually know nothing about me almost goes to prove my point. Journalists should be critical, not just slaves to conservativism and vested interests.

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IknowfewthingsaboutKuKuKaChu

July 21, 2006 at 6:58 am

All this recourse to personal abuse from people who actually know nothing about me

Please click for KuKuKaChu profile:

Unspun: I am witholding this link. I am not sure but I think it is blogging protocol to respect the anonymity of posters if that is their wish. I would also respect your anonymity and witold similiar information if it was the other way round.

KuKuKachu has also posted a comment that I am witholding as both of your posts are going into personalities. If you guys want to have a discussion of issues then fine, and I think a rational debate on the jakarta Post may be good for everyone, but if you guys want to get personal with each other then I’ll have to kick you out of my blog and moderate every posting from now on, which will be a pain in the arse, so cool it guys and get to the issues if you please.

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Whythelongface?

July 21, 2006 at 8:30 am

Come on, it can’t be Gary, because he did not jump ship, but so I heard, did not have his contract renewed. And the KuKuKachu is obviously somebody who believes he or she contributed so very much to The Jakarta Post, hence the inordinate bitterness.

And, to be fair, Gary Dean came and went without making much of an impression except for taking care of his own interests (although he probably stopped some clocks).

Sure, at Jakarta Post we have many problems. And it’s great to bitch and moan about it, misery loves da company, so they say. And we all do go on about the many failings of this place — poor morale, management, compensation — just like people do at workplaces everywhere. We know that, and it sure makes for lots of chatter.

But, poor malevolent waspish KuKuKaChu, with a chip on your shoulder and a very big ax to grind — you obviously did not want to get a real debate going, but instead, all the while couching it in terms of “caring” for the Post, sought to slam all the “losers” that have remained behind.

Another desperate attempt to get some attention and recognition? It would be better to look at yourself — real hard like — before casting judgement on the Post, its many acknowledged failings, its crappy journalists and what it’s all about. Having a big intellect isn’t everything; personality and the ability to interact with people, beyond peevish selfishness, count too.

The Jakarta Post was bad when you got there? Please — you weren’t the CD editor notorious for doing virtually nothing to stories? (too busy on the phone, eh?). Oh, how many of those journalists with high ideals did you actually get to know?

Go out there, get jobs at other places, and find out if the same problems somehow, miraculously, do not exist there. If you can.

But we all should stop abusing KuKuKaChu. After all, we don’t know if he or she is one of those expats who comes here, because of being a big old misfit in his or her homeland, and stays on, always telling the Indonesians how it should all be done. Because they, being an expat, with all the powever invested in them, obviously know best.

And, as an Indonesian, you know, seburuk apapun, ini negaraku, dan TJP adalah milikku. Simply put, gitu loh. Merah darah ku, putih tulangku. If The Jakarta Post, and Indonesia by assumption, sucks so bad, there’s always home to go to. Try it.

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KuKuKaChu

July 21, 2006 at 8:47 am

Not only abusive, but racist also.

Does this have no end?

Will the real journalists stand up?

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truthhurtsyaknow

July 21, 2006 at 11:33 am

Steady on people: Yes, maybe it was true that he contributed very little to the post, sitting there soaking up the atmosphere like a potted plant, but come on, obviously he was gathering data to make his case. Biding his time, ruminating on all that was wrong with the newsroom, cos he knows it all, he just did not care to share it with us.

But as for those personal comments about his appearance — they’re just funny.

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Dan Murphy

July 21, 2006 at 5:29 pm

Stumbled across this blog — looks exactly like the complaints folks liked to level at the JP when i worked there in 1994 (at the time i think it was a maximum of 16 pages). Tired old complaints. Which have some merit, and always will. But, well, so? Tended to be filled with reams of stuff of interest if you cared about indonesian politics.

Back in the day JP was less “conservative” than the main Gramedia paper, Kompas, though of course that was in a dramatically different censorship environment, and a paper in a language that most indonesians can’t read got more leeway.

Have no idea where it stands now — but I’m surprised that it’s the only English language paper left. I guess the absorber has kicked the bucket. And wasn’t there something called the Indonesia Times?

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truthhurtsyaknow

July 22, 2006 at 6:10 am

The Indonesia Times, which had been bought by Republika, folded shortly after the crisis, and the Observer went down a couple of years later after Bimantara pulled the plug. The point is that, like Dan said, while the criticism is somewhat valid, and always has been, what TJP produces, considering all the constraints, is a pretty good paper. Sure, more needs to be done to it, and it has its old — and new problems — but it’s not for someone to pour on the insults about the staff — and saying that many of them are high-paid freeloaders is an insult — and then disingenously say that, somehow, it was said with good intentions. One point though; competition is always good, and if the new papers do materialize, it will push the Post to improve. BTW, Dan are you still with the Christian Science Monitor.

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Dan Murphy

July 22, 2006 at 6:55 am

Yes with the monitor, live in cairo but half time in Baghdad. Sounds like you’ve been around truthhurts, in which case you know that (unless the JP has taken a big header in the last few years) it’s about 100 times better than it was in the early 1990s, and has managed to see off the other english language competition time and again.

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Polar Bear

July 24, 2006 at 2:20 pm

Isn’t this rather like arguing over the quality of the rivets in the Titanic…..

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confusedcious

July 25, 2006 at 12:37 am

Nope – the rivets were fine. The steel plates that were used for the Titanic were faulty. More like rearranging the deck chairs while the Titanic is going down.

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mira ismalanti

December 16, 2009 at 6:39 pm

hi hi hi hi calm and come down

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