ABSTRACT
Let me begin with a puzzle about the media and civil society. Since the end of the New Order government, which we can date in a formal sense as 21 May 1998, media diversity in Indonesia has increased significantly. The unexpected but welcome changes introduced by minister yunus yosfiah opened up the print and electronic media in Indonesia very significantly. His simplification of licence application procedures and requirements led to the establishment of thousands of new radio stations, magazines and newspapers, and also to the establishment of five new, national, free-to-air television stations: metroTV, TransTV, TV Global, TV7 and Lativi. The commercial television stations established in the 1990s are still operating, although some are experiencing financial difficulties, and there have been major changes in management personnel and operational style.
