HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Suara Karya'' (lit. ''Voice of Creating'') was a daily newspaper published in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
. Established in 1971 to assist
Golkar The Party of Functional Groups (), often known by its abbreviation Golkar, is a Centre politics, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right big tent secular nationalist political parties in Indonesia, political party in Indonesia. Founded in ...
in winning that year's
legislative election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
, it became required reading for all civil servants and the voice of Golkar. After its circulation increased from 55,700 in 1971 to 300,000 in 1998, the
fall of Suharto On 21 May 1998, Suharto resigned as president of Indonesia following protests and riots across the country against his regime. His vice president, B. J. Habibie, took over the presidency. Suharto's grip on power weakened following severe ...
's dictatorship caused circulation to plummet to 3,000. , it was attempting rebranding to present cleaner, less biased news. It ceased print publication in 2016, although is still available online.


History


New Order (1971–1998)

The first issue of ''Suara Karya'' was published on 11 March 1971 by the Suara Karya Foundation under direction of
Golkar The Party of Functional Groups (), often known by its abbreviation Golkar, is a Centre politics, centre to Centre-right politics, centre-right big tent secular nationalist political parties in Indonesia, political party in Indonesia. Founded in ...
(Functional Group), prior to the July legislative election to assist the group. It took three days of preparation and Rp 50 million (at the time US$130,000) in start-up costs for the newspaper to be established. Its chief executive was Sumiskun, and the head editor was Jamal Ali. Other members of the editorial staff included Syamsul Bisri, Rahman Tolleng, Sayuti Melik, David Natipulu, and Cosmas Batubara. For the first edition, 25,000 four-page copies were printed and sold at Rp. 10 each. A quarter of the front page was dedicated to a congratulatory note from President
Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...
, while the main story was "Presiden Jawab Pertanyaan-pertanyaan Sekitar Supersemar" ("President Answers Questions regarding Supersemar"), which covered Suharto's explanation of
Supersemar The Order of Eleventh March (), commonly referred to by its syllabic abbreviation ''Supersemar'', was a document signed by the Indonesian President Sukarno on 11 March 1966, giving army commander Lt. Gen. Suharto authority to take whatever mea ...
and offered support for it. It also provided the paper's mission statement, which has been described as being "explicit that ''Suara Karya'' wanted to be a partisan paper". ''Suara Karya'' influence resulted in Golkar winning their first election and securing their political power. The newspaper afterwards became required reading for all government employees. It soon came into direct competition with ''
Kompas ''Kompas'' () is an Indonesian national newspaper published in Jakarta, founded on 28 June 1965. It is published by PT Kompas Media Nusantara, which is part of Kompas Gramedia Group. The paper's head office is located at the Kompas Multimedia ...
'', which became its biggest competitor. With the support of Golkar, circulation expanded rapidly. By 1972, ''Suara Karya'' was selling 57,400 copies a day, 90.6% to the general public. During the succeeding years circulation varied, sometimes rising, sometimes falling drastically. By 1987, circulation had reached 124,079. At that time, ''Suara Karya'' employed 81 reporters, giving a ratio of one reporter for every 1,500 copies sold. It reached a circulation of 300,000 by 1998 and was considered the voice of Golkar Most of the subscribers were civil servants, who were required to do so by Golkar. In 1983, together with ''
Kompas ''Kompas'' () is an Indonesian national newspaper published in Jakarta, founded on 28 June 1965. It is published by PT Kompas Media Nusantara, which is part of Kompas Gramedia Group. The paper's head office is located at the Kompas Multimedia ...
'', ''
Suara Pembaruan ''Suara Pembaruan'' () was an Indonesian daily newspaper. Founded in 1987, it was one of the largest newspapers in Indonesia. ''Suara Pembaruan'' brand is owned by BeritaSatu Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Lippo Group, who also owned business da ...
'', and ''
Tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
'', ''Suara Karya'' founded the ''
Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English language, English-language newspaper in Indonesia. 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 ...
''. In 1994, ''Suara Karya'' was estimated to own a 35% share of the company, making it the largest shareholder. In 1989, ''Suara Karya'' received light sanctions from the Ministry of Information after running an article on the
Sultan of Brunei The Sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates bac ...
. The article was considered likely to cause the Sultan emotional distress.


Since 1998

When Suharto was forced to resign from office in 1998, ''Suara Karya'' circulation dropped sharply from 300,000 to 3,000. After Golkar received the largest number of votes in the 2004 legislative election, it attempted a revamp of the newspaper and vowed not to promote the party's political interests through the daily; Dirk Tomsa considers their efforts unsuccessful, as ''Suara Karya'' was still often used as a way for Golkar members to express their opinions. As of 2005, Golkar claimed a circulation of 80,000. ''Suara Karya'' ceased print publication in 2016, although is still available online.


Function

Rizal Mallarangeng notes that ''Suara Karya'' original function was to help establish strong public support for Golkar; the paper is described as being "the paper of Golkar and the New Order". Meanwhile, Syamsul Bisri considered ''Suara Karya'' a form of
social control Social control is the regulations, sanctions, mechanisms, and systems that restrict the behaviour of individuals in accordance with social norms and orders. Through both informal and formal means, individuals and groups exercise social con ...
, dedicated towards "an idea ... the return to pure form of Pancasila and the 1945
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...
".


Notes


References

Footnotes Bibliography * * * * *


External links


''Suara Karya'' Online
(official website) {{in lang, id Newspapers established in 1971 Publications disestablished in 2016 1971 establishments in Indonesia Defunct newspapers published in Indonesia Indonesian-language newspapers Online newspapers with defunct print editions Indonesian news websites