Precedence: bulk Buletin PANTAU Edisi 3 (21 Mei-30 Mei 1999) BIAS IN THE NEWS COVERAGE Monitoring of the six Indonesian TV stations and the State radio station since the first day of the official campaigning, 19 May 1999, has revealed some favouritism by the electronic media. This favouritism can be seen in the bias, both in terms of quantity and quality, of coverage in news and talk show broadcasts. However, to be fair, an analysis of the distribution of news reporting between parties and the quality of that reporting indicates that the private stations were trying to provide balanced reporting. This is shown not only by our analysis of campaign and election related news but also of broadcasts such as talk shows and journals related to the election campaign. Although no specific bias in the news coverage was detected, the data gathered by our monitors shows that only big parties - PDI-P, PKB (National Awakening Party), GOLKAR, PAN (National Mandate Party), and PPP - got frequent news coverage. Small parties, on the other hand, were mentioned only once or twice on TV and there were almost no reports on their programs. The data does, however, indicate partiality on the part of the state-owned radio and TV stations, RRI and TVRI respectively. As broadcast stations funded by the public through the government, they are supposed to operate in the public interest, for instance, by providing the public with adequate and balanced information and not prioritising government issues, as is frequently the case. These two stations' partiality towards the government is quite clear from an analysis of the allocation of their coverage, about 60% of which is devoted to government related news. The partiality of these stations is confirmed by their practice of repeatedly broadcasting certain topics, usually about government activities. The peculiar nature of this practice is highlighted by the fact that there is a great deal of other important news which should be reported in the public interest, especially given that many of those who live in villages or remote areas can only receive the TVRI signal. Another problem in the election coverage by the electronic media in Indonesia is the scope of areas covered. Most stations focused primarily on Jakarta as the centre of election-related events, virtually ignoring other areas. Only a couple of TV stations made an effort not to be too centralised in their focus. One was RCTI, which set up a mini studio in Denpasar, Bali to enable it to report regularly on events happening in Bali and its environs. These reports were then broadcast throughout the whole of Indonesia, providing an alternative perspective on the elections. SCTV did the same, providing on-the-spot live campaign reporting from three major cities, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, and Medan. ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
