Regressing into the past?<\/p>\n
The government's refusal to extend the visa of Lindsay
\nMurdoch, a senior correspondent for the Australian newspapers The
\nAge and The Sydney Morning Herald comes like a bolt of lightning
\namid a clear blue sky -- all the more so, since Jakarta has
\nstubbornly refused to justify its action.<\/p>\n
Asked for the reason for the action, Wahid Supriyadi, the
\nforeign ministry's deputy spokesman, merely told reporters that
\nthe foreign ministry \"has its own considerations for not
\nextending his visa\". Moreover, according to Wahid, \"it is common
\npolicy for any country to decline a visa application without
\nhaving to provide an explanation.\"<\/p>\n
That may be so. However, whatever the reason or reasons may
\nbe, the government's refusal of a visa extension for the
\nAustralian journalist is sending scary signals to the media world
\nin Indonesia, and in all probability abroad as well. Nor does
\nJakarta's refusal to explain the incident help to assuage the
\ngrowing anxiety.<\/p>\n
To add to the befuddlement, Murdoch's visa expired on Dec. 10
\nlast year, but was extended for three months. Murdoch left
\nJakarta last Sunday, March 10, more than a week before the news
\nfinally became publicly known. His only comment on the matter was
\nthat \"as a guest of the country I have been shown the door and I
\nwill leave politely.<\/p>\n
Murdoch, however, said he could not understand the decision
\nbecause none of the reports he had been dispatching from Jakarta
\nwas in his opinion unbalanced, unfair or inaccurate. A joint
\nstatement received in Jakarta on Sunday from the two Australian
\nnewspapers, however, said that it had become clear in discussions
\nwith Indonesian officials that the action was taken because of
\nMurdoch's \"authoritative reporting\".<\/p>\n
Of course it would be more than regrettable if this latest
\nlittle disagreement should have a disturbing effect on
\nIndonesian-Australian relations. Not since the huge fracas over a
\nreport about then president Soeharto's family -- an in-depth
\nreport on Soeharto's alleged riches by David Jenkins that
\nappeared in The Sydney Morning Herald in April 1986 -- has the
\npress been made the scapegoat for marring relations between
\nIndonesia and Australia. Our fear is that unless this latest case
\nis handled with wisdom and restraint on both sides of the
\nargument, we could well see history repeating itself.<\/p>\n
As far as the Indonesian media is concerned, it is no secret
\nthat, of late, the government has been showing an unmistakable
\nuneasiness over what it apparently conceives as an overindulgence
\non the part of the Indonesian media, both printed and electronic,
\nin its exercise of the principles of freedom of the press and the
\nfree flow of information.<\/p>\n
All we can do for the present is hope that Indonesia, and
\nIndonesian officialdom in particular, have learned the lessons of
\nthe past. After all, nowhere in history has there been an
\nincident in which a government has fallen or country brought to
\nruin, simply because of a report in the press. The best way, or
\nindeed the only way, to effectively counter any false, untrue or
\nunfair reporting in the press is to make a sober rejoinder. Any
\neffort to hamper the press in fulfilling its duty of informing
\nthe public will only bear an adverse effect.<\/p>",
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