Djawa Tengah

[1] Djawa Tengah launched in late 1909 under the editorial direction of H.C. Goldman, who had previously been editor of another Malay-language paper, Bintang Pagi (Malay: Morning star) which had ceased publication only a month earlier.

By 1910 Goldman was already getting in trouble under the strict press censorship laws (Persdelict), for printing materials which "defamed" the character of state employees.

[5] It is unclear when Goldman stepped down as editor in chief, but by 1914 the position was held by Tan Thwan King, a journalist from Malang who also edited Tjahaja Timoer, Andalas and other newspapers during the wartime period.

[7] During the First World War, when the Indies were cut off from most international wire services,[8] Djawa Tengah hired Theo Tong Hai, who had previously been editor of Sin Po, as a travelling correspondent and sent him to China and Japan try get more accurate reports about the state of things in Europe and Asia.

[16] In July of the same year Tio Tjin Boen, former editor-in-chief of Perniagaan and former Djawa Tengah editor Tjondrokoesoemo launched a competing daily called Asia.

[16] Around 1930 the journalist and historian Liem Thian Joe, who had previously been editor of Warna Warta and Perniagaan, joined the editorial staff of the paper of Djawa Tengah.