Govt to establish public information dissemination agency<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Tired of complaining about media reports, the government has
\ndecided to establish a public information agency to put out
\ninformation from its own perspective.<\/p>\n
State Minister for Information and Telecommunications Syamsul
\nMu'arif said on Saturday that the planned agency would be used to
\ndisseminate information on government policies.<\/p>\n
"Such an agency is needed to avoid public confusion because
\ntoo much misleading information is provided by the media,"
\nSyamsul said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The agency will fall under his auspices.<\/p>\n
He stated that information from the media could be confusing
\nfor the public, especially if it was based on inaccurate reports.
\nTherefore, the agency should become a reliable source of
\ninformation from the government for the public.<\/p>\n
"The agency will gather all news on government policies and
\nthe public can access any information regarding the policies,"
\nthe minister said.<\/p>\n
Critics have attributed the confusion to the absence of
\npresidential spokespersons, who are expected to convey the
\npresident's messages to the public.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has come under fire for
\nrarely speaking to the public to explain her government's
\npolicies. But when she was abroad, she talked a lot with
\nIndonesian community there.<\/p>\n
Megawati has never addressed the nation on the steps the
\ncountry should take in the aftermath of the bomb attack in Bali
\nlast month except for her speech hours after the blast.<\/p>\n
Syamsul said when the agency is already in place, he would
\nrequire ministers to present their views on policies via the
\nagency.<\/p>\n
That way, he said, the agency could also be used by the media
\nas a reliable source of information regarding government
\npolicies.<\/p>\n
"Journalists could find information on government policies
\nfrom the planned agency," Syamsul underlined.<\/p>\n
He said that the agency was not meant to pool information for
\nthe public, but merely to present an alternative voice, from the
\ngovernment, to the public.<\/p>\n
The country has enjoyed press freedom since the fall of former
\npresident Soeharto in 1998, with no censorship imposed on the
\nmedia.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, media reports often irk the government,
\nespecially when the government thinks that the media has wrongly
\ninterpreted the government's actions and policies.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has repeatedly expressed her
\nunease with the media, saying that most Indonesian papers
\nmisinterpret her actions.<\/p>\n
"When I say something, then the next day newspapers may quote
\nme, but not the way I originally said it," she said during her
\nvisit to Egypt recently.<\/p>\n
In contrast to the government's disappointment with the media,
\na new World Bank report described the media as the key player in
\neconomic development, including in fighting poverty.<\/p>\n
The report cited that the free flow of information held a
\nmajor role in educating people, and in the end could stimulate
\neconomic development.<\/p>\n
In the report, the World Bank underlined that freedom of
\ninformation should be facilitated, especially in developing
\ncountries around the world.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-to-establish-public-information-dissemination-agency-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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