ABSTRACT
That the dramatic fall of Indonesian president Suharto in May 1998 was accompanied by equally wide-ranging changes in the Indonesian media industry has been much discussed. Less evident is the fact that the complex transformations experienced by the media nationally have not necessarily been uniform across the archipelago, nor uniformly positive where they have been felt. While ending the New Order requirement for strictly controlled ‘publication permits’ and the opening up of local media markets to new players might have stimulated greater competition and a diversity of voices in some regions (such as Manado), it remains to be seen whether the economic, political, cultural and security conditions are such as to convert media reforms and liberalisation into a successful democratising force throughout the archipelago.2
