Gatekeeping the News Press Reports in the Koloniaal Tijdschrift Concerning the Dutch East Indies

In the former Dutch colony Dutch East Indies (present day Indonesia) periodicals printed and distributed were mainly Dutch and meant for a Dutch audience. For the colonial Government, the coming of publications in indigenous languages, from the end of the nineteenth century on, was a major concern. In the 1910s and 20s the Indonesian population, as well as the Chinese immigrants in the archipelago, were protesting and the political atmosphere was tense. In these days a new publication started, the Koloniaal Tijdschrift meant for administrators, which published, among other matters, press summaries of journals and newspapers in the indigenous languages. The press reports were supposed to be ‘objective’ but further research into the compiler A.H.J.G. Walbeehm show that even his contemporaries were not sure about the righteousness and reliability of his accounts.