Peter Gelling, Jakarta – That it is probably the worst time in history to start a daily newspaper is not, at least for the moment, on the minds of the people behind The Jakarta Globe.

The Globe, an English-language paper that hit the newsstands in November, is an unusual sight in this era of the shrinking – or disappearing – newspaper: It is a 48-page broadsheet, big enough to cover your desk when unfolded and painted head to toe in color.

The paper is backed by the billionaire James Riady, deputy chairman of the powerful Lippo Group and one of the wealthiest people in Indonesia, with interests including real estate, banking and retail.

Riady is also a budding media mogul. He owns the Indonesian business magazine Globe and is developing a Web portal and a cable television news channel.

"I think they are serious about creating a media empire, becoming the Rupert Murdoch of South East Asia," said Lin Neumann, The Globe's chief editor.

The Globe, which has a print run of 40,000, will be going up against The Jakarta Post, which celebrated 25 years this year and has survived numerous attempts to unseat it over the past decade. It also survived the Asian financial crisis in 1998, which obliterated half a dozen other English-language publications.

This time, however, those behind The Post, which also has a print run of about 40,000, are nervous. Both papers are sold on newsstands and in hotels and restaurants, in addition to having home subscribers, and both seek the same audience – the country's rising middle class.

"They are spending lavishly," said Endy Bayuni, The Post's chief editor. "They are full-color, they run prestigious syndicated columns. But the question is about sustainability: How long is Riady willing to spend all this money? At the end of the day, they have to be commercially viable."

The newspaper business in Jakarta and throughout the country is fiercely competitive for both English and Indonesian papers. The relaxation of media restrictions after the fall of the country's longtime authoritarian ruler, Suharto, in 1998 has led to a boom in smaller, nondaily publications, but major dailies have struggled because the market is so small and has not grown at all in at least two decades.

"I don't think the market is big enough for two English-language dailies," said Yopi Hidayat, editor of Kompas, one of the largest dailies in Indonesia. "There have been so many other English newspapers launched in the last three or four years that have failed because they couldn't break into the market, which has long been controlled by The Post."

Kompas itself has had virtually the same circulation, 500,000, for the past 25 years, serving only a tiny fraction of the country's 240 million people. Total circulation for all the daily newspapers in the entire country totals only six million, according to the Indonesian Newspaper Association.

Neither The Post nor The Globe would discuss advertising revenue or circulation figures. Bayuni said The Globe had not yet cut into The Post's circulation.

The papers' editors, however, both pointed to Bangkok as an example of a market that has been able to sustain two English-language broadsheets, although Bangkok is a much bigger market than Jakarta. Both said they would aim at the growing Indonesian middle class – a group that is increasingly learning, working and reading in English. More than half of The Post's readers are Indonesian, as opposed to expatriate, and The Globe, recognizing this trend, is betting on the local population to increase its market share.

"English proficiency here is growing and there is a higher level of sophistication," Neumann said. "Indonesians are using English more now than ever and so we believe there is a market for both papers."

The two papers are fighting over journalists as well as readers. Finding experienced, English-speaking local journalists is not always easy here and the competition for them is high. The papers, however, are taking different approaches.

The Globe has put together a team of about 60 Indonesian reporters, recruiting from wire services like Agence France-Presse and Reuters. One of its deputy editors is Bhimanto Suwastoyo, who worked for AFP for more than 20 years and is widely considered one of the best local journalists.

The Post, on the other hand, has long been a training ground for local reporters looking to get their start in the industry. The paper offers a training program in exchange for service of as long as two years.

Often, Bayuni said, those reporters move on to more prestigious or lucrative positions. Bloomberg News employs six former Post reporters.

The Globe, which pays far better, hired several defectors from The Post before the paper hit the streets, fueling the rivalry between the two.

"I think The Globe is one of the first very serious media ventures in Indonesia in a long time," Hidayat said. "I think Riady as the owner is very committed to spending the money to bring in the best professionals in the field. He is pouring tons of money into this business and that might, in the end, allow it to survive."

Bayuni, the editor of The Post, said that if The Post spent as much as it appeared The Globe was spending, the paper would last three to six months at the most. He declined to speculate on how much money The Globe was spending.

On the streets, things have occasionally gotten nasty. When The Globe was introduced, subscribers of The Post were finding free copies mysteriously tucked inside their morning papers. The two have also fought over distribution agents.

"Things could get ugly, I guess," Bayuni said. "But they are the aggressor, we are on the defensive."

The Globe has faced questions about its ownership, as Riady has at times been a controversial figure. The Post has already run several stories about corruption within Riady's business circles, one of them on the front page, and just last week reminded everyone that the businessman had paid $8.6 million in fines to the United States for illegally contributing to Bill Clinton's election campaign in the early 1990s.

So far, however, The Globe has not shied away from covering Riady, and Neumann said he had had no interference from upstairs. "When we started, skepticism was pretty high that it would be under the corporate thumb, but it hasn't been, which I am really happy about," he said.

Bayuni, who acknowledges that The Post had gotten comfortable as the only game in town, said competition with the caliber of The Globe has been something of a wake-up call.

The company introduced a redesigned newspaper and Web site this month, though Bayuni said the timing had nothing to do with The Globe's arrival.

For both papers, coverage of the national elections this spring could go a long way toward giving one an upper hand over the other. "The elections will be a defining moment for both papers," Bayuni said. "We will see whose coverage, whose features and opinions, lead the way."