Government must balance information flow: Expert<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government should play a stronger role in
\nbalancing the flow of information to help educate the media
\npublic, a mass communication expert says.<\/p>\n
"As the government has opened the door to a free flow of
\ninformation, both negative and positive, then it must try to
\nbalance this flow," Astrid Susanto said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Regarding television, Susanto suggests that the government-
\nowned TVRI station provide equal air time for social messages to
\nbalance consumption attitudes ingrained through advertising.<\/p>\n
"Measures to ban certain advertisements like alcohol would not
\nbe realistic," she said during the last of a three-day
\ninternational annual conference of the Asian Mass Communication
\nResearch and Information Center.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's discussion included "Communications, Culture and
\nDevelopment".<\/p>\n
"But the government must take responsibility for educating the
\naudience to become critical," she told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Susanto, one of the founders of the center, which organized
\nthe conference, discussed how audiences in Indonesia and Asia
\nneed to be less gullible.<\/p>\n
She quoted the Minister for Tourism, Post and
\nTelecommunications Joop Ave, who urged the Center to be more
\nactive after its 24 years of existence and especially in the face
\nof the rapid changes in telecommunications technology.<\/p>\n
Susanto agreed with the minister, who opened the conference,
\nand his idea to work with Asian experts in developing "cultural"
\nprograms which are "more Asian".<\/p>\n
Emily Abrera, the president of the McCann-Erickson advertising
\ncompany in the Philippines, stated that access to interactive
\ntechnologies such as the Internet have "engendered an amazingly
\nwell-informed consumer with the ability to discern truth from
\nhype."<\/p>\n
Advertisers are now more challenged in delivering "thought
\nprovoking" ads, she said.<\/p>\n
But a conference participant, environmentalist John Laird,
\ncriticized advertising companies for their "pervasive" messages
\nwhich go against campaigns like sustainable development.<\/p>\n
He suggested equal air time for advertisements and educational
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
Susanto said the "counter messages" could only work if they
\nwere packaged like the entertainment programs they are supposed
\nto balance.<\/p>\n
"TVRI should air attractive, not propaganda-like, programs to
\ncounter programs which contain negative influences like
\nviolence," said a staff member of the National Development
\nPlanning Board.<\/p>\n
Funds, she added, should be made available through the state
\nbudget.<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organizations could also buy air time through
\ntheir funding agencies for such efforts, Susanto said.<\/p>\n
Other topics in the conference included the information
\nsuperhighway and "Asian Values and the Media".<\/p>\n
Akiyoshi Kobayashi, the president of the Japanese NHK
\ntelevision network and Jakob Oetama, chief editor of the Kompas
\ndaily, also spoke at the conference. (anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-must-balance-information-flow-expert-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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