http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/07/22/editorial-seriously.html
Editorial: Seriously? The Jakarta Post | Thu, 07/22/2010 9:31 AM | Editorial Many Indonesians are obsessive consumers when it comes to fulfilling the body, mind and soul. Gadgets are one example, religion is another - as evidenced in the boom in Muslim fashion and subscribers to text message providers of quotations from the Koran. Yet another example is "infotainment", a bottomless goldmine of an industry, manifested in the form of dozens of commercials throughout every program. The two latter obsessions may help shed some light on the debates that are often bewildering to outsiders, the latest concerning the infamous home videos of celebrities having sex. Before the emergence of a strong warning by the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), the public gaped at the videos while lambasting the "immoral" man and women in them. The police said they would go after those who had distributed the videos, but were then bombarded with demands to criminalize the "actors" instead. Of course, many of these demands came from those same people who had been gawking at the videos, wondering aloud how the celebrities have no shame. "Avoid naming your child after Luna Maya or Cut Tari," reads one banner outside a mosque, referring to two female TV hosts who featured in the videos. The banner suggests another name: that of the President's baby granddaughter. Such is the level of our devoutness. Cut Tari made a public apology, and was, again, immediately ripe material for the next tide of "infotainment" news - complete with baby in tow, which led the commission to level another warning at the television channel, for allegedly disregarding its responsibility to protect minors. To appease the witch hunters, Luna Maya also appeared at the police for questioning, complete with a headscarf. The key to blending into Indonesia's east and west, in suburb and slum alike, is to at least feign a little knowledge of who's dating who among the celebrities, who's eyeing who's hubby, or the ups and downs of the diet of a big singer. All this you must know, even if you haven't seen your own neighbor for the past five years. The obsession with celebrities may be universal, but we need to quickly decide what to do about the "infotainment" phenomenon. The commission's move to warn several channels and its plans to censor content have been met with vehement rejection in the name of "press freedom". Absurd being the national keyword these days, the question that naturally comes to mind is how can this big industry shout about press freedom when apparently they had no resources to train their media workers in the basics of journalism? Media workers would at least know that, for instance, when you push a camera literally into someone's face they may instinctively raise their hand and whack your expensive equipment. Yes, Indonesians may all be unable to live without "infotainment", but surely celebrities' infants should be allowed to live and grow up without excessive intrusions. We stand by the Broadcasting Commission, which warned TV channels concerning their responsibilities, in accordance with the Indonesian Journalistic Code of Ethics. On the other hand, we find it rather hard to accept reports of plans to censor the contents of "infotainment" programs, on the grounds that such programs are categorized as "non factual", like films. Organizations such as the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) have refused to recognize media workers that produce "infotainment" programs as journalists and producers of journalistic work because they have consistently ignored any efforts to abide by journalist ethics. But surely this is confusing for viewers who are apparently expected to differentiate between what is news and what is meant to be "entertainment". Does this mean viewers are also to blame for believing the news about celebrities? We hope the commission and the Press Council can come to an agreement on all of this as soon as possible. They must not be swayed by arguments that would effectively justify the continued irresponsible practice of those who wave their press cards to trample on people's privacy. Love it or hate it, virtually everyone here has a soft spot for "infotainment". Viewers have every right to believe that the media they rely on for their passion has some credibility. At the end of today's prime time, for instance, the most respected channel is the one that can divulge the mightily important fact of the origins of Kris Dayanti's engagement ring.
