http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/columns/the-thinker-power-of-the-pen/478438
The Thinker: Power of the Pen Oei Eng Goan | November 15, 2011 Simply by owning a national newspaper, proprietors become ex-officio experts on the economy, politics and the future of the world,” wrote the seasoned journalist Nicholas Coleridge in his book “Paper Tigers.” His words reflect how powerful and influential newspaper owners are in forming public opinion. Ideally a proprietor wisely limits his or her involvement in editors’ meeting rooms so as to maintain the paper’s neutrality and credibility. In reality, however, owners tend to intervene with ideas or suggestions that push their personal or political interests. Coleridge, who interviewed dozens of media moguls including Rupert Murdoch, Robert Maxwell, Katharine Graham, Gianni Agnelli, Sally Aw Sian, Samir Jain, Conrad Black and Lord Rothermere, is the managing director of the Conde Nast publishing house in Britain. At least three Indonesian media tycoons have gone into politics. Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie owns media outlets tvOne and ANTV, and the founder of the newly established NasDem Party, Surya Paloh, owns Metro TV and Media Indonesia newspaper. Just this month, the owner of Media Nusantara Citra, Hary Tanoesoedibjo, joined NasDem. MNC operates RCTI and Global TV television stations, Seputar Indonesia newspaper and Okezone.com news portal. Although there is nothing wrong with media barons joining political parties, people nevertheless worry that any media outlets controlled by political parties will neither provide balanced reporting nor focus on unraveling crucial issues such as those related to public welfare and the nation’s stature in the eyes of the international community. Many observers fear that such media outlets will do more to raise the political temperature than provide useful news for readers, particularly as we get closer to the general elections in 2014. Crusading journalist Mochtar Lubis (1922-2004) raised similar concerns in 1951. Disgusted by several newspapers that did not want to cover certain controversial issues for fear of losing readers and advertisers, Mochtar pointed out how a number of newspapers had been exploited by political parties — Abadi by Masyumi (Muslim party), Merdeka by the Nationalist Party (PNI), Pedoman by the Socialist Party (PSI) and Harian Rakjat by the Communist Party (PKI). Touching on the future of journalism in Indonesia, he said it was up to journalists to decide which course they would take: become tools of political parties and write hocus-pocus reports that confused the public, or become professionals who provided objective reporting that enlightened people about issues while promoting an awareness of the importance of democracy. The public should be grateful that since the fall of the oppressive New Order regime, which imposed very tight controls on the media, Indonesian journalists, while enjoying press freedom, have taken the road to professionalism. Although a few have abused this hard-won freedom by presenting irresponsible and sensational reports, the majority of Indonesian journalists uphold the basic principles of journalism: presenting the public with truthful and balanced reporting, serving as a monitor of power and providing a forum for public criticism. Given all this, people should not be too apprehensive about the involvement of media tycoons in politics because the power of the press lies in the hands of journalists and editors. Even if we believe the adage that the hand that rules the press, radio, screen and magazine rules the country, it is the hand of journalists, not that of the proprietor. The use of media for political propaganda is history. The emergence of the Internet has given the public easy and instant access to all kinds of information, allowing people to judge whether the news is truthful or fallacious. Now that Indonesia has become a nation where journalists enjoy complete freedom, those journalists must see to it that their freedom complies with a code of ethics. Journalist organizations like the Indonesian Association of Journalists (PWI) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) should not hesitate to expel rouge members who break the code. Likewise, the Indonesian Press Council should defend any journalists falsely accused of wrongdoing but punish them appropriately when they are proven guilty. Only then can we have a good, respected and reliable Fourth Estate. Oei Eng Goan, a former literature lecturer at National University (UNAS) in Jakarta, is a freelance journalist. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
