Argument of this Book Sample Clauses

Argument of this Book. This book argues that Xxxxxx developed a polite, indirect and cautious style of journalism over more than three decades under authoritarian structures, which has prevented the newspaper from performing a critical watchdog role, and has prevented it from being a fully effective force in supporting the deepening of Indonesian democracy. This particular style of journalism was developed as a result of two different forces interacting with each other in shaping the habitus of Kompas, namely cultural forces and political economy forces. On one hand, there was the strong influence of Xxxxx Xxxxxx, one of the founders and owners of the paper, who possessed the habitus of a Javanese man and acted as Chief Editor of the newspaper in the first 40 years. At the same time there was the persistent threat of a ban from the authoritarian regime, and due to the newspaper’s Catholic and Chinese roots, there was also verbal and physical threats from intolerant conservative Islamic groups. These factors contributed in creating a culture of fear among Kompas journalists. During this development, and despite this fear, Xxxxxx also succeeded in transforming itself into an economic giant with the support of the authoritarian regime, rendering the newspaper financially dependent on the power holders. This paradoxical fear of and financial dependency on the regime forced Xxxxxx to establish a good relationship with the power holders, in order to maintain its economic advantage, as well as secure political protection. The fact that Xxxxxx was a profit-­‐oriented news company that focused on political news, required that the newspaper be close to the power holders, not only to gain access to political information, but also to boost their sales by branding themselves as the newspaper with exclusive access to the palace. This last factor has exacerbated the newspaper’s dependency on the state, creating a complex and uneven power relationship with the state as the patron. After the collapse of the authoritarian regimes, the old habitus developed during the authoritarian past did not immediately vanish from Kompas, as the entrenched political economy and cultural forces were still intact. Culturally, this situation reflected the lack of meaningful structural changes within the Kompas newsroom. The pyramidal distribution of power and hierarchy inside the news organizations remained intact, whereby ordinary reporters, who despite holding university degrees, were positioned at the bottom a...