Press censorship<\/p>\n
It is with a disturbing sense of deja vu that we learn that
\nthe government has again barred foreign journalists from visiting
\nIndonesia's trouble spots like Maluku, Aceh and Irian Jaya. This
\nkind of restriction was practiced some 10 to 20 years ago when
\nthis country was under an authoritarian regime. To make the
\ncensorship effective, the regime then also imposed severe
\nrestrictions on the local media.<\/p>\n
Thanks to this complete news blackout, the world knew little
\nabout what really happened in Irian Jaya and East Timor, a
\nterritory Jakarta acquired by force in 1975, for much of the
\n1970s and 1980s. When the restrictions were finally lifted in the
\n1990s, by the same regime but under strong international
\npressure, the nation as well as the world slowly learned of the
\natrocities committed by the regime during that period.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which informed foreign
\njournalists based in Jakarta of the ban last week, cited security
\nas the prime reason, without elaborating whose security exactly
\nthe authorities were concerned about. If it is the personal
\nsafety of journalists, then the government should have no fear.
\nIn their quest for truth, journalists know of the hazards that
\ncome with their profession. In any case, they would take
\nprecautions for their own safety before entering any conflict
\nzone.<\/p>\n
If the authorities are concerned about the security situation
\nin these trouble spots, then banning journalists from reporting
\ndirectly would be counterproductive to their own efforts to
\nrestore peace and order. In its attempt to curtail information in
\nand out of these trouble spots, the regime will also likely
\nextend the ban, albeit in different forms, to local journalists.
\nThe ban on foreign journalists must therefore be seen as a
\nwarning of an imminent attempt by the regime to impose a complete
\nnews blackout in Maluku, Irian Jaya and Aceh.<\/p>\n
The lessons of East Timor seem to have been completely lost
\namong officials in the current regime. In the absence of any
\nindependent and credible reporting, all news that came out of
\nEast Timor for much of the 1980s was mostly propaganda put out by
\nboth sides in the conflict. Since it was the regime which had
\nimposed the blackout, news it put out had less credibility than
\nthat of the proindependence camp. The government and the military
\nmust have put out so many lies then that in the end few people
\nbelieved them on the few occasions when they were actually
\ntelling the truth.<\/p>\n
In the absence of any independent verification by journalists,
\nnews from East Timor then was so heavily distorted that no one
\noutside the territory really knew the truth. The news blackout
\nhowever kept the rumor mills busy, spreading false information,
\npropaganda and half-truths among Jakarta's elite, diplomatic
\ncircle and the local and international press.<\/p>\n
Whichever way you look at it, the latest ban on foreign
\njournalists visiting Indonesia's conflict zones is but an initial
\nattempt of the regime to reimpose media censorship. It has
\ncertainly created a strong impression that the government has
\nsomething to hide from the rest of the people in this country and
\nthe world. And it could also herald an imminent news blackout.<\/p>\n
The ban, and the ensuing news blackout if that is indeed the
\ncase, seems completely out character with the present reformation
\nspirit and of President Abdurrahman Wahid, who was once known as
\na champion of free speech and democracy. Whatever the motive
\nbehind it, the government's attempt to control news in and out of
\nthese trouble spots however is not likely to succeed in this era
\nof information technology. So, while the ban may be ineffective,
\nthe government's credibility will suffer nevertheless. Is it
\nreally worth the trouble?<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/press-censorship-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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