Businesspeople's delicate link with the media industry

Businesspeople's delicate link with the media industry

By Ignatius Haryanto

JAKARTA (JP): The televised announcement by businessman Peter
Gontha concerning the ailing Bank Andromeda, broadcast on
Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia (RCTI) early this month, is an
interesting event for media observers.

Gontha, one of the bank's shareholders, used a good part of
the 30-minute broadcast on Oct. 2 to explain the bank's frantic
efforts to save it from the government's wrath under its
International Monetary Fund-sponsored reform package.

Besides Bank Andromeda -- which is partly owned by Bambang
Trihatmodjo, one of President Soeharto's sons, timber tycoon
Prajogo Pangestu and businessman Henry Pribadi -- the government
has also liquidated 15 other insolvent banks, to meet the
conditions set by the IMF for its US$23 billion aid.

Media observers have a nagging question as to why so many
high-profile businesspeople have entered the press industry over
the past few years, including Gontha, who is part owner of RCTI.

The answer seems to be that major businesspeople know that the
press industry is not merely a tool for profit seekers. They
understand that it can be used to promote the interests of their
businesses.

The mass media is a powerful tool used to create an image. And
the way they present information is never free from their owners'
interests. Therefore, the information given is not neutral.

Gontha's televised press conference, accompanied by directors
of the bank, also contained an apology to the public, including
Bank Andromeda's depositors.

He said that despite all efforts to save the bank, he could
accept the decision of the government -- Bank Indonesia and the
Ministry of Finance -- to liquidate it if the aim was the
recovery of the country's economy from the monetary crisis.

But in a related development, Bambang Trihatmodjo, who is also
a shareholder of RCTI, reacted strongly the following day by
accusing the minister of finance of having made a political move
against his family.

Bambang eventually filed a lawsuit at the Jakarta State
Administrative Court against the government.

The stated accusation aside, this episode shows what a strong
public opinion can be created by a business group with the mass
media at its disposal.

Such a privilege of providing counter information is obviously
a luxury denied the 15 other liquidated banks.

The invasion into the press industry by major businesspeople,
most of whom have no journalistic background, has been
significant, especially over the past three years.

The government's preference to offer print as well as
electronic press licenses to well-connected businesspeople has
helped make the ownership of the mass media more concentrated.

They include Agung Laksono, who holds shares in Target and
Info Bisnis magazines, Abdul Latief (Tiras, Harian Neraca,
Belanja), Peter Gontha (Indonesian Observer, RCTI), Muhammad
"Bob" Hasan (Gatra, Paron, Sportif), Aburizal Bakrie (Harian
Nusra, ANteve, Go, Sinar Pagi, Berita Buana) and Sudwikatmono
(Bintang, Aura). Businessmen Djoko Ramiadji and Tommy
Winata are reportedly considering also entering the press
business.

Unlike in Europe, where major businesspeople have started
selling their print media in the face of tough competition from
electronic media, (Economist, Oct. 11), Indonesian businesspeople
seem, so far, not to distinguish between the two.

Furthermore, newspaper owners in France often have
difficulties with investigative and in-depth reports. "The
liberty of editorial staff is still not well understood in
France," the Economist said.

The entrance of businesspeople into the Indonesian press
industry, which has helped improve journalists' working
conditions, could be positive only if they allow editors to stay
independent from their influence.

Reality shows otherwise, particularly when news articles
affect their business interests.

Gontha's recent press coverage has jolted us to question the
hegemony of the government and investors over the press.

There is indeed a leeway for Indonesia to develop an
independent press if the government and investors are able to
refrain from intervening in the work of journalists.

In the end, control will not work on journalists who are
persistent in promoting the objectivity, independence and
reliability of the press.

The writer is chairman of the Institute for Press and
Development Studies.