antara office in jakarta, 1971
antara received financial assistance government , placed directly under president s control, giving him authority appoint agency s managing director , editor-in-chief. antara s position in structure of government resulted in confusion on ownership , control, shifting editorial views in coming decades. sukarno pursued increasingly leftist policies, conservative media accused antara explicitly partisan reporting. following removal office, subsequent government used agency further policies, prompting criticism liberal media.
an abortive coup in 1965, blamed on communist party of indonesia , allies, left antara under military command. one-third of editorial staff dismissed, , many journalists sympathetic communist party killed in subsequent anti-communist purge. after suharto assumed presidency in following year, agency produced many of news reports based on official government sources. independent news outlets published stories on politically sensitive topics if had been reported antara in order avoid sanctions should stories found offensive government leaders. although government released decree affirming freedom of press, news publishers had obtain permit publish (surat izin terbit) ministry of information , permit print (surat izin cetak) military security authority kopkamtib. ensured suppression of publications militant views.
suharto resigned presidency in 1998, , licensing requirements media organizations lifted following september number of authorized publications surged 289 to on 2,000 in span of 16 months. antara attempted reinvent image of independent news agency amid wave of political reforms, there allegations of continued bias toward policies of suharto s successor b. j. habibie. president abdurrahman wahid later sacked agency s managing director, parni hadi, , accused him of dominating news agency , trying turn antara private company . hadi s replacement, appointed post without journalism experience, tasked make agency more independent.
in 2007, antara removed control of presidency , reorganized private state-owned enterprise. had experienced financial losses in recent years , sought rp 450 billion (us$ 50 million) bailout government in following year in order modernize agency s business capabilities goal of becoming independent business entity.
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