Abstract
After coming to power in the wake of the 1 October 1965 putsch, Major-General Suharto and his self-proclaimed ‘New Order’ cut a swathe through the country’s newspapers. In a crackdown unlike anything the country has ever seen nearly one-third of all newspapers were shut down. As the New Order approaches its thirtieth anniversary, it is facing its greatest challenge since initially imposing its tight press policy: While surviving diminishing oil revenues, can it successfully develop an open national economy, yet still suppress growing demands for an unfettered media?