'Uncertainty creates anxiety in the press'<\/p>\n
DEPOK, West Java (JP): The government controls the press by
\nsending editors unclear signals as to what degree of freedom is
\nallowed, an expert says.<\/p>\n
This method has been forcing the press to engage in guessing
\ngames, said Dr. Harsono Suwardi, a political communication
\nscientist at the University of Indonesia (UI), 30 kilometers
\nsouth of here.<\/p>\n
In an oration marking his UI professorship, he discussed how
\nthe government exercises control over the press. Harsono also
\ndealt with the press' attempts to exploit recent political
\n\"openness\".<\/p>\n
Harsono pointed out that the prevailing axiom of \"a free and
\nresponsible press\" applied by the government represents control
\nof the press, albeit in no absolute form.<\/p>\n
\"History has shown,\" he said, \"that the so-called press
\nfreedom here actually serves as an indication of the government's
\ncontrol.\" Press freedom is not certain, he concluded.<\/p>\n
\"This uncertainty has created anxiety in the press because it
\nhas to continuously gauge the sensitivity of the authorities. It
\nhas to rely on instincts only,\" Harsono said before a panel of
\nprofessors led by Rector M.K. Tadjudin.<\/p>\n
\"If press control is unavoidable,\" he said, \"it seems that
\nwe'll need a mechanism of supervision so that all parties are
\nsure of their rights and duties.\"<\/p>\n
Establishing a \"fixed\" mechanism of control, however, could
\nbacklash because it connotes a certain rigidity in its
\nimplementation.<\/p>\n
Entitled Reflections on the Relationship among the Press,
\nGovernment and Society in Relation to Freedom and Traditional
\nValues, Harsono's oration also explored the press' ability to
\ncontrol the government.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that Indonesia once enjoyed great press
\nfreedom, which faded away following a number of political crises
\nin the 1970s.<\/p>\n
For his dissertation, Harsono studied 10 major newspapers
\npublished and circulated in Java and Bali. He discovered that
\nthey tended to maintain the so-called paternalistic relationship
\nwith the authorities in order to survive.<\/p>\n
The government has been blamed for its efforts to control the
\npress but the press itself is not entirely innocent, he said in
\nthe dissertation.<\/p>\n
Harsono said yesterday that the government's efforts to
\nprovide greater political leeway have been misused by some
\nmembers of the press to \"criticize the government in liberal
\nmanners and this has been understood as transgressing the agreed
\nbounds\".<\/p>\n
To create a \"free and responsible press\", he said, all parties
\nneed a certain level of tolerance for each other.<\/p>\n
\"This virtue is really important because harmony and
\nsimilarity in the approach are pre-requirements for a better
\nrelationship among the press, government and society.<\/p>\n
Harsono is the 212th professor at the University of Indonesia
\nand the 15th at the School of Social and Political Sciences.<\/p>\n
Born in Tanah Merah, Irian Jaya, in 1937, Harsono now lectures
\nin the post-graduate program of his almamater. (swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/uncertainty-creates-anxiety-in-the-press-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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