ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE
The BBC Indonesian Service, despite having less than a fifth of the
weekly output in Indonesian of its main rival Radio Australia, continues to win very comparable audience ratings to the Australians and remains a long way ahead of the Voice of America. Its substantial postbag indicates a very wide geographical distribution of listeners, and visitors to
Indonesia report back regularly on the high level of awareness of the
BBC throughout the country.
At the Wilton Park Conference on South-East Asia in June 1989 two
participants, Major General Prawirasoebrata Soebiyakto and Mr. Tek Tjeng Lie
from the Institute for National Defence of Indonesia, told us they listen
frequently to the BBC Indonesian Service and appreciate its news and
current affairs coverage very much.
As in Thailand, many newspapers, both national and regional, use the
BBC extensively as a prime source of news. The BBC's Indonesian broadcasts (particularly news) are monitored by the Ministry of Information and transcripts are delivered daily to the desks of Senior officials in the
ministries. The scripts of certain programmes, particularly on domestic
British matters, on Science and arts, are often reproduced in leading
Indonesian newspapers, as are Publicity pictures and stories sent by the
BBC.
A recent 36-part series on the Indonesian Independence Struggle, "Gelora
Api Revolusi," won widespread acclaim, with one approving newspaper editorial
asking why it had to be the BBC, a foreign broadcaster, that produced the
series and not the Indonesians themselves.