Type Daily newspaper Founder(s) H. Hetami Language Indonesia | Owner(s) Suara Merdeka Network Founded 11 February 1950 | |
Headquarters Menara Suara Merdeka
Jl. Pandanaran 30
Semarang, Jawa Tengah | ||
Suara Merdeka (Voice of Freedom) is a daily newspaper in Indonesia based in Semarang, Central Java. It was established by H. Hetami and the first edition was published on 11 February 1950.
Contents
History
Suara Merdeka was founded by H. Hetami, which also became chief editor, on 11 February 1950 as the evening daily newspaper. He was assisted by three reporters: HR. Wahjoedi, Soelaiman, and Retno Koestiyah. First published in Solo city, the newspaper printed 5,000 copies, which at that time is a considerable amount for a local newspaper. Then, Suara Merdeka began expanding its distribution to Kudus and Semarang to compete with other local newspapers.
In the beginning, Suara Merdeka does not yet have its own printing press, so that they were staying at De Locomotief, a Dutch newspaper owned by NV Handelsdrukkerij printing plant in Semarang. Since 1956, the newspaper changed its publishing time to the morning after H. Hetami got the printing machine himself. The newspaper also has its own office in the former office of Het Noorden newspaper that has been nationalized by Indonesian government in March 1963.
Award
In December 2011, Suara Merdeka has got award of "The Most Responsive Media".