Interest groups to fight for mass media: Observer<\/p>\n
SEMARANG, Central Java (JP): A prominent sociologist predicts
\nthat mass media will play a more important role in Indonesia's
\nsocial, cultural, and political arenas this year.<\/p>\n
Aware of the great importance of the mass media in framing
\npublic opinion, Darmanto Jatman from the state University of
\nDiponegoro said that numerous interest groups will continue
\nmaking attempts to gain control of the media.<\/p>\n
"The trend was obvious several months before 1994 ended when
\nseveral conglomerate owners and powerful figures were trying to
\nestablish their own mass media," Darmanto told The Jakarta Post
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
He mentioned several conglomerates who have entered into mass
\nmedia businesses, including Bimantara Group with its television
\nchannel RCTI, Salim Group with its Indosiar TV station, and Bob
\nHasan with his Paron tabloid and Gatra weekly.<\/p>\n
He said that the more-informed members of Indonesian society
\nwere in need of information from the mass media to catch up with
\nissues like human rights, economic liberalization and trade.<\/p>\n
Darmanto said that the mass media had proven an effective
\nmeans to help shape public opinion on political matters like the
\nongoing conflict within the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party (PDI) as well as restructuring of the
\nruling political organization, Golkar.<\/p>\n
Darmanto said that in the long run mass media would become a
\ndevice in engineering the social and political activities of the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Economic crimes<\/p>\n
Legal expert and member of the National Commission on Human
\nRights Muladi predicted that this year would witness increasing
\neconomic crimes.<\/p>\n
He said that "white collar crimes" similar to the crimes that
\nhad happened at Bank Duta, state-owned Bapindo, and Kanindo Group
\ntextile company, will appear in a more sophisticated ways.<\/p>\n
Muladi, who is also rector of Diponegoro University, said it
\nwould not be an easy job to combat economic crimes.<\/p>\n
"We can not merely rely on legal solutions to the crimes, but
\nalso on moral and cultural approaches," he said.<\/p>\n
He also stressed the importance of a tighter control system,
\nsaying that current controls of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) as
\nwell as internal controls in several departments do not guarantee
\nthat there will be no violations.<\/p>\n
"I propose an integrated body of experts of various academic
\nbackgrounds to handle the increasing number of economic crimes,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The problem is, he said, that some crooks, like Dicky
\nIskandardinata, former deputy chairman of Bank Duta, the former
\ndirectors of Bapindo and Robby Tjahjadi of Kanindo Group did not
\nfeel guilty and claimed that they had acted on legal grounds.<\/p>\n
He said that Indonesia needs to establish better economic
\nrules and regulations in anticipation of white-collar criminal
\nactivity. (har\/imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/interest-groups-to-fight-for-mass-media-observer-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}