Kabar dari PIJAR INDONESIA-MEDIA: A Freer Press But An Irresponsible One? By Kafil Yamin JAKARTA, Dec 17 (IPS) - Since 1992, Alex Siburian has been a stringer for an English newspaper in the Indonesian capital, contributing stories on issues affecting villages on the outskirts of Jakarta. He was paid a measly sum for each story that saw print and like other Indonesian journalists who were similarly situated, he could only dream of a promotion or a pay rise. To augment his income, he took on other writing jobs from colleges. But his fortunes changed recently. Last week, he went to see his former editor and proudly told him: ''Bang (older brother), now I run my own media outfit. I offer you a position.'' He showed his former boss a piece of paper, which the latter read and which made him scream. ''Alex, you're chief editor now. You're the big boss!'' The piece of paper is the Press Publication License issued by Information Minister Yunus Yosfiah to Siburian, naming him both chief editor and chairman of a new tabloid. Siburian is one of hundreds of reporters given new press licenses after the government liberalised press rules following the departure of former president Suharto and the installation of a new government last May. Since then, the Information Ministry has issued hundreds of new press licenses, most of them to tabloids so that each city or town in this country of more than 200 million people has its own. But the move, though meant to demonstrate a new climate of freedom in Indonesia, has produced some adverse results. Journalists and other media practitioners now realise that getting a license is the easy part; what to do with this privilege and responsibility is the difficult part. Siburian, for example, is struggling to attract investors in his new tabloid. So far, he has only been able to recruit six people for his staff because that is all he can afford at the moment. ''We can print three or four editions. After that, I have no idea how to survive,'' he said. ''Press business is a costly and long-term investment. Only a few investors are willing to get down to this business. Besides, the country is now going through prolonged economic crisis. Investors would think more than twice to make up their mind in this business,'' observed Andreas Harsono, chairman of the Study Institute on Free Flow of Information . Audrey Tangkudung, reporter-turned publication chairman, has to work extremely hard to keep his newly-established Ekonomi magazine survive. Even though his magazine appears once a month, he works 14 hours a day. He has also set a loosely negotiable rate for advertisements in his paper. ''My top priority is to get ad revenue to cover operations. This is not the right time to expect profit,'' he told IPS. Due to a lack of financial backing, these new publications can hardly recruit good and experienced reporters. So one problem leads to another. As a result, they turn to young and inexperienced reporters, most of whom are fresh out of universities and raring to meet new challenges. ''They are willing to get low pay while working hard," said Siburian, who concedes that these new reporters hardly get any training. ''So they go out and hunt (for news) with no proper and basic knowledge. Their main asset is their energy.'' This, many believe, is the reason behind the rash of one-sided, biased, emotional and irresponsible writing in the Indonesian press. And the 'reformasi' fever is adding fuel to this. ''There is pre-assumption that good coverage is anti-government, anti- establishment. Media are now outspoken. But what is being outspoken worth under this free era? You can write everything now without fear. That does not need courage,'' said Mangarahon Dongoran, a senior reporter of the Bandung- based 'Pikiran Rakyat' daily. Information Minister Yunus, who is regarded as a strong reformist, had this to say to journalists. ''I promote freedom of the press. But please make use of this freedom for your own good. The government will no longer close down the media for its criticism or being outspoken. But the public will intelligently know which media deserve their trust and appreciation. If you rely only on emotion or your personal mood, readers will throw away newspapers or magazines," he told reporters recently. Media observers tend to agree with Yunus' assessment. They say some journalists have over-stepped their bounds, and have themselves become the object of protest by some quarters. Private TV station SCTV received flak from Muslim demonstrators recently for its alleged one-sided coverage of a shooting incident amidst the violence outside parliament during a special session in October. The 'Merdeka' daily had to run a full-page apology to taxi drivers after hundreds of them marched to its office to protest its coverage of a conflict between them and their employers. An editor of one local magazine said the new media outfits fail to present a balanced picture of the events they cover and during demonstrations, the papers openly side with the students. ''I am a witness of student brutality during rallies. But the student brutality has never hit the media headlines,'' said a street vendor in Slipi, Central Jakarta. ''All brutalities seem to only belong to the military and the police.'' Djaffar Assegaf, chief editor of Media Indonesia daily said new reporters fail to draw the line between objectivity and their own emotions. ''Many of our current media employ greenhorns who form close relationships with students. The young journalists have failed to keep a distance from the events they cover," Djaffar said in an interview with private TV station RCTI. Harsono attributes this failure to the low quality of human resources and weak institutional control. ''They lack background knowledge on the issues they cover. Frequently, they ask stupid questions.'' As to institutional control, the problem is more serious. ''There is no strong and acceptable institution to control the press. I think it's time to have a sort of media watch,'' Harsono added. Unless the press can police its own ranks, he said a government clampdown may become an attractive option. ''More and more people complain about the press coverage, and they will turn to the government to impose measures on the press. And the government will have reason to put harsh restriction on the media. This is what I am afraid of,'' he said. A recent poll conducted by the Jakarta Post showed that 42.5 percent of respondents said press coverage has been excessive and out of proportion, 23.3 percent said the press has been unethical and 17.9 percent said it has engaged in character assassination. Only 9.3 percent said that the press encourages readers to be more critical. And it looks like the government is closely watching. Speaking at an anniversary celebration of state news agency Antara recently, President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie warned the press against efforts to establish a ''tyrannical power'' that dictates public opinion. (END/IPS/ap-cr/ky/ral/98) _______________________________________________________________________ To subscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] HI-Reliability low cost web hosting service - http://www.IndoGlobal.com Indonesia without violence!
