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.