A wise pen is still mightier than the sword<\/p>\n
Endy M. Bayuni, Deputy Chief Editor, The Jakarta Post,
\nCambridge, Massachusetts<\/p>\n
The media in Indonesia has come under fire once again. Unlike
\nthe Soeharto years, when the attacks came directly from the
\ngovernment, this time it is coming from the wealthy and the
\npowerful in league with the courts -- their battleground of
\nchoice. Sadly, the media rarely wins these \"legal\" tussles. And
\namazingly, journalists and editors are now responding in the same
\nfashion as they always did during the Soeharto era whenever they
\ncame under attack: Duck for cover, play it safe.<\/p>\n
Atmakusumah Astraatmadja, the former chairman of the Press
\nCouncil, said he already had the sense that this series of court
\ndefeats was intimidating journalists and undermining the freedom
\nof the media, according to a report by The Jakarta Post last
\nweek. \"They force journalists into self-censorship. The media no
\nlonger dares to speak out for public interests,\" he was quoted as
\nsaying during a seminar on the state of press freedom in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Self-censorship is something that all professional editors do
\neach day. Keeping in mind space constraints, editors take out
\nwhat is not relevant and\/or deemed indecent. We publish or
\nbroadcast what we feel is in the interest of the public. There is
\nnothing wrong with self-censorship in and of itself. But
\nAtmakusumah was clearly referring to the insidious habit that
\nmost of us indulged in during the Soeharto years: Taking out what
\nis relevant to public interests, just to stay on the good side of
\nthe powerful and wealthy.<\/p>\n
The threat of an expensive, financially crippling lawsuit is
\nenough to force most of the media in Indonesia into submission.
\nUnderstandably, most are operating on shoestring budgets. Only a
\nfew media groups in Indonesia have the kind of money that our
\npredators demand in terms of compensation in the courts.<\/p>\n
For most of the media, losing a major lawsuit has a similar
\nimpact as Soeharto's threat to rescind our press licenses a
\ndecade ago: Closure. It should come as no surprise then that many
\neditors and journalists have simply resorted to reporting
\ninconsequential news as a result of fear and self-censorship.<\/p>\n
The nature of the attacks against the press are also different
\ntoday: In the court room. As far as the Indonesian justice system
\nis concerned, the wealthy and the powerful are winning their
\ncourt battles. Of course, they are helped along the way by their
\nhighly paid, but often sleazy lawyers, and I suspect, they are in
\ncollusion with judges.<\/p>\n
They have even hijacked \"the rule of law\", one of the battle
\ncries that we in the media helped popularize at the start of the
\nreform era six years ago, and turned it into a weapon to fight
\nagainst us. Now, they too are using the buzzwords of the reform
\nmovement.<\/p>\n
The media is never going to win this fight if it keeps whining
\nabout how the law of the land is not protecting them. The 1999
\nPress Law, with all its imperfections, still provides us with far
\ngreater protection than we ever had before. And the amended
\nConstitution provides clearer guarantees for us in going about
\nour business.<\/p>\n
Is the sword actually mightier than the pen in Indonesia, even
\nin this era of democracy where freedom of the press is supposedly
\nguaranteed?<\/p>\n
There are a few things that we could do to turn things around
\nin our favor. To win this battle, we need to move the focus of
\nthe war away from the courtrooms, where we seem to be
\nconsistently losing.<\/p>\n
The media needs to improve the skill and professionalism of
\njournalists. This is an absolute requirement. Some, though not
\nall, of the lawsuits brought before the court were caused by
\nsloppy journalism. The message is clear: A mistake can be costly.
\nAnd sloppy journalism is a disservice to the profession. Keep
\nthis up, and pretty soon we lose our credibility and the trust of
\nthe people, and before long, our freedom.<\/p>\n
Many print and broadcasting media, as well as professional
\norganizations, have conducted training seminars and workshops in
\nrecent years to improve the professionalism of their newsrooms. A
\nquick glance at their coverage today, however, suggests that we
\nstill have some way to go. Investigative journalism, increasingly
\nan important function of the profession in today's complex world,
\nis one area where more training is needed because this is where
\nthe media is most vulnerable to libel lawsuits.<\/p>\n
The media community must also fight for the passage of the
\nfreedom of information act, currently held up in the House of
\nRepresentatives. This would be more important than amending the
\n1999 Press Law. Such a law would assist journalists in getting
\ncloser to the truth in their reporting, particularly when
\nconducting investigative reporting.<\/p>\n
Finally, the media must treat this battle as part of a wider
\ncampaign to preserve democracy. Freedom of the press\/media is
\nreally a subset of the freedom of expression and opinion. These
\nrecent attacks against the media should be seen as part of a
\nlarger conspiracy by the rich and powerful to deny the people
\ntheir right to freely express their views or opinions. As long as
\nthe media treats this as simply a threat to its own freedom, then
\nwe will be fighting this battle alone with little support of the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
The media must stop treating itself as part of the elite, the
\nway it has been in recent years. It must see itself and function
\nas part of the public. It must act in the interest of the public,
\nas a conduit to defend the weak, powerless and the marginalized.<\/p>\n
When an editor and a reporter of Tempo magazine were attacked
\nby a gang of thugs last year, the media immediately responded by
\nlaunching a campaign to wage a war against thuggery. The campaign
\nnever really got off the ground, the public response was
\nlukewarm, and Tempo journalists lost their cases in court.<\/p>\n
What went wrong? For most people in Indonesia, thuggery has
\nbeen around for centuries. They have felt the brunt of the
\nviolent and arbitrary behavior of such thugs for a long time.
\nSuch a campaign would have been more effective, and certainly
\nwould have won wider public support, if it was launched in
\nresponse to thuggery in general, and not simply narrowed down to
\nthe attacks on two Tempo journalists.<\/p>\n
It is probably unrealistic to expect the media in Indonesia to
\nunite in fighting their predators. Some of the big media
\ninstitutions, particularly the TV stations, are owned by members
\nof that wealthy, powerful clique. But the really concerned media,
\nthose who profess to serve the public interest, must unite with
\nthe people it claims to represent, and fight the battles
\ntogether.<\/p>\n
We owe our existence, and hence our freedom today, to them.
\nLet us not underestimate our own power and capability if we act
\nin unison.<\/p>\n
The pen is still mightier than the sword. But only if we are
\nuse it wisely.<\/p>\n
The writer is currently studying at Harvard University under a
\nNieman Foundation fellowship, with funding from the Ford
\nFoundation and the Asia Foundation.<\/p>",
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