▁Tele vis i ▁Republik ▁Indones ia ▁( TV RI ). ▁These ▁stations ▁were ▁very ▁luc r ative , ▁so ▁it ▁became ▁difficult ▁for ▁the ▁regime ▁to ▁pun ish ▁its ▁own ▁cron ies ▁by ▁shut ting ▁down ▁a ▁station ▁if ▁it ▁crossed ▁the ▁line ▁by ▁broadcast ing ▁independently ▁produced ▁news . ▁S ury a ▁Cit ra ▁Tele vis i ▁( S CT V ) ▁and ▁Raj aw ali ▁Cit ra ▁Tele vis i ▁Indones ia ▁( R CT I ) ▁news ▁programs , ▁in ▁particular , ▁were ▁very ▁popular ▁with ▁view ers ▁across ▁the ▁country ▁as ▁an ▁alternative , ▁al beit ▁still ▁relatively ▁t ame , ▁to ▁the ▁st ult ifying ▁TV RI . ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 3 ▁the ▁authorities ▁reported ▁that ▁more ▁than ▁ 2 , 0 0 0 ▁illegal ▁TV ▁and ▁radio ▁stations ▁were ▁broadcast ing ▁across ▁the ▁country . ▁The ▁government ▁ur ged ▁them ▁to ▁apply ▁for ▁lic ences , ▁or ▁face ▁closure . ▁ ▁News ▁media ▁ ▁The ▁number ▁of ▁printed ▁publications ▁has ▁increased ▁significantly ▁since ▁ 1 9 9 8 . ▁There ▁are ▁hundreds ▁of ▁new ▁mag az ines , ▁newsp apers , ▁and ▁tab lo ids . ▁More ▁than ▁ 5 0 ▁principal ▁daily ▁newsp apers ▁are ▁published ▁throughout ▁the ▁arch ip el ago , ▁the ▁majority ▁in ▁Java . ▁Those ▁with ▁the ▁largest ▁read ership ▁are ▁Kom pas ▁( J ak arta ), ▁circul ation ▁of ▁ 5 2 3 , 0 0 0 ; ▁Su ara ▁Mer de ka ▁( Sem ar ang