Pacific Area

Indonesia

The world's fourth largest country, and its largest Muslim nation, this island nation (with some [Page 1040]6,000 inhabited islands) was a Dutch colony from the early 1600s until after World War II. In 1816 the Dutch established the first newspaper, which appeared until the Japanese occupation of 1942–45. There were about 30 papers—all in Dutch—by the mid-nineteenth century, at which point some of the first indigenous language periodicals began publishing. The first Indonesian language newspaper began in 1907. While circulations remained small due to limited literacy, they reached important population segments and helped to fan nationalist feelings in the years before World War II and until independence was achieved in 1949.

Just under half of Indonesia's 230 million people live on the island of Java, where Jakarta is located, and numerous newspapers are published there as well as in other cities. The country is served by about 175 daily newspapers (many others have come and gone with varied political winds) with a total circulation approaching eight million. Most of the newsprint they use is made in the country, some by companies that also own newspapers.

There are some 40 television stations (the first began operating in 1964), most of which operate within one of ten national networks, and some 800 radio stations (60 of them in the Jakarta area). In 1974, the country launched its first communication satellite to ease and speed communication across thousands of miles of islands. An all-news television station began operating in 2000 in Jakarta, broadcasting to both Indonesian and Chinese audiences. By the early twenty-first century, perhaps 2,000 radio transmitters operate as pirates without official clearance to get around stiff licensing requirements.

As in many developing nations, press–government relations depend on the political winds and players of any given time. During the long regimes of Sukarno and then Suharto, government control or repression of news media (including licensing) was severe. Since the latter's overthrow in 1998, however, there has been a considerable expansion of print and broadcast services. Freedom House concludes that early-twenty-first-century news media are partially free of government repression, with major liabilities being defamation suits filed by public officials against reporters or their media, and physical attacks on journalists.

New Zealand

An independent Dominion (since 1907) within the British Commonwealth, New Zealand's first newspaper appeared in 1840; within two decades there were dozens of them. By the end of the nineteenth century there were nearly 200, largely modeled on those in Britain, and a New Zealand Press Association was already two decades old. A century later there were nearly 30 dailies (though only ten published on Sundays), and many regional and free newspapers. The first radio station aired in 1921 and initial laws regulating the service were in place in 1923, well ahead of many larger nations. Broadcasting was largely deregulated in the 1990s. The country of more than four million people is served by some 40 television and 400 radio stations, mostly commercial, located on the country's two main islands (most on the North Island). There is a government-operated public service network of both radio and television stations, somewhat modeled on the BBC. Australian media firms control half of the country's newspapers including the largest, the New Zealand Herald. A growing number of media outlets exist to serve the indigenous Maori population, often in their own language. The country enjoys one of the most free journalism systems in the world.

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