Kompas

Kompas is a major national newspaper in Indonesia. It is published in the city of Jakarta. Many people call it the nation's newspaper of record. This means it is a trusted source for important facts. The paper is managed by PT Kompas Media Nusantara. This company is part of the larger Kompas Gramedia Group. The main office is located at the Kompas Multimedia Towers in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

The newspaper uses several different systems to share news. It has a traditional printed edition that people read on paper. It also provides a digital subscription version through the website kompas.id. This digital version is meant for readers who want the paper's content on screens. There is also a separate online portal called kompas.com. This website is managed by a different editorial team. Kompas was even the first print media in Asia to create a digital version for the iPad.

The history of Kompas began with a specific political goal. General Ahmad Yani, the commander of the Indonesian Army, suggested the idea. He spoke to a government minister named Frans Seda. Yani wanted a newspaper to counter communist propaganda from the PKI. Seda discussed the idea with his friends, P.K. Ojong and Jakob Oetama. Ojong agreed to the project, and Oetama became the first editor-in-chief. The paper was originally named Bentara Rakyat. President Sukarno later suggested the name Kompas, which refers to a direction-finding instrument.

Kompas has a long history of using new technology for news. In 1988, it was the first newspaper to trial sending stories via an internet connection. This happened when the internet was still unknown in Indonesia. The sports division used this technology to cover the Seoul Olympics that year. In 1993, the paper became the first Indonesian newspaper to send a picture online. This occurred during the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore. On 14 September 1995, the paper launched its official internet news division, Kompas Online.

The growth of the newspaper's circulation has been very large. In 1965, the first issue had a circulation of only 4,800 copies. By 1969, it became the largest national Indonesian-language newspaper in the country. The circulation reached a peak in 2004. At that time, the daily circulation was 530,000 copies. The Sunday edition reached 610,000 copies sold. This meant the paper reached about 2.25 million readers in total. By 2014, the circulation was around 507,000 copies.

The daily newspaper is organized into three main sections for readers. The first section is the front section. It contains important national and international news. The second part is the business and finance section. The third part is the sports section. For many years, the Sunday edition included special features. These included comic strips like Panji Koming and Benny & Mice. These comics were featured every Sunday until the year 2010.

Kompas also experimented with regional news sections. The first regional section was for East Java in 2003. Later, sections were added for Central Java, Yogyakarta, and West Java. There were also two regional sections for Sumatra. However, the newspaper changed its strategy in January 2011. It closed all of its regional sections. The paper returned to a uniform edition that is the same across the whole nation. No specific reason was given for this change.

Today, Kompas remains a very significant part of the Indonesian media landscape. It is one of only two newspapers in the country audited by the International Federation of Audit Bureau of Circulations. This audit helps prove how many people actually read the paper. With its high circulation, it is the largest newspaper in Southeast Asia. It continues to serve both print readers and digital users through its many different platforms. The company maintains its role as a central source of information for the Indonesian people.