Media's election coverage biased, say observers<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Journalists and media observers concluded on
\nTuesday the majority of the Indonesian media, both print and
\nelectronic, had been biased in its coverage of the election
\ncampaigning and the June 7 polls.<\/p>\n
However, Muslim scholar Ulil Abshar-Abdalla, sociologist
\nHotman Siahaan and senior journalist Djaffar Assegaf, who spoke
\nin a seminar here on Tuesday, disagreed on whether it was
\nacceptable for the media to take sides.<\/p>\n
Held by the Institute for Study of the Free Flow of
\nInformation (ISAI), the seminar discussed the findings of two
\nseparate studies. The first study, conducted by ISAI, was on the
\nelectronic media's coverage of the elections, while the second
\nstudy was carried out by the Institute for Social Change Studies
\n(LSPS), which focused on four major Surabaya-based newspapers:
\nSurabaya Post, Jawa Pos, Memorandum and Surya.<\/p>\n
Ulil criticized all television stations as giving undue
\ncoverage to Golkar, the government and the military. He cited TPI
\nas an example. The private television station, owned by
\nSoeharto's daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, referred to the
\nruling Golkar Party in its reports of the attacks it suffered
\nduring campaigning as a \"certain political contender\".<\/p>\n
Ulil, however, was more concerned because the state television
\nstation TVRI and radio station RRI, which are both publicly
\nfunded, were also biased in their coverage. An example was when
\nTVRI anchor Usi Karundeng cut off an interview with an eastern
\nIndonesia poll organizer when he spoke critically of Golkar.<\/p>\n
Hotman revealed a number of print media reports that he
\nbelieved were biased and had mixed facts with the journalists'
\nopinions. Memorandum, for instance, wrote in one of its reports
\nthe following: \"It seems that only an unfair poll can lead PDI
\nPerjuangan to a defeat.\"<\/p>\n
Both studies found the media have committed three categories
\nof bias, namely language bias, coverage bias, and omission bias,
\nwhich could be disadvantageous but could also be otherwise.<\/p>\n
Ulil told an audience of some 50 representatives from the
\nmedia and media-watch organizations of the need to monitor the
\nmedia, as it is a powerful institution. \"Power tends to corrupt,\"
\nsaid Ulil, citing Lord Acton's famous quotation.<\/p>\n
Assegaf, however, believed it was acceptable for the media to
\nbe biased. He cited obstacles for the media in remaining
\nobjective, including time constraints and other technicalities.<\/p>\n
\"The important thing is how the media coverage can educate the
\npublic so everybody can share the responsibility for
\ndemocratization,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ulil challenged Assegaf's view, saying there was never any
\nexcuse for the media to be biased. \"When there's a bias, the
\ninformation conveyed will be distorted,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A seminar on press, film and broadcasting bills which has been
\nsubmitted to the House of Representatives in the Central Java
\ncapital of Semarang on Saturday discussed a number of articles
\nthat experts said could curtail press freedom.<\/p>\n
Leo Batubara of the Association of Newspaper Publishers
\n(SPS), said the current Criminal Code has 35 articles which could
\nsend a journalist to prison for doing his job. However, the new
\ncriminal code being prepared has 42 articles that will curtail
\nthe press freedom further, he said.(05\/har)<\/p>",
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