One more English-language daily in Indonesia

Bisnis Indonesia is the latest player to contend for the English reading public in Indonesia (thanks to a tipoff from Budi Putra, the man behind the AsiaBlogging network).

Unspun has learned that Bisnis Indonesia, which is already the nation’s top business publication in Indonesian, is to launch a 34-page English edition called Business Daily in July or August. (Unspun thought 34 is odd as papers are published in multiples of four but the source in Bisnis insisted it was 34).

This puts Business Daily in direct competition with the soon-to-be launched Jakarta Globe that is owned or controlled by James Riyadi; the Jakarta Post and the increasingly pointless The Point.

Unspun‘s also learned that Yosef Ardi, who kept the very popular Indonesia Today blog until he decided to cater only to subscribers, will very likely be the Chief Editor of this paper. Yosef could not be reached by phone to confirm this.

The paper will be in tabloid format and for a start it will have 8 to 10 reporters. One of the editors has been quoted in a blog (below) as looking for 5 reporters. The paper will also translate up to 30% of its content from Bisnis Indonesia, said a source close to the project.

Unspun‘s also heard that the paper may hire some foreign copy editors and maybe even some foreign editors.

All this should translate, hopefully, into better choices for the English-reading public who, until now, only has the Jakarta Post to turn to. The Post tries very hard and has improved over the years but there’s nothing like some heated competition to increase standards and responsiveness all round.