Civil society can be a threat to freedom of the press

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Leo Wahyudi S., The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Mob violence against journalists coupled with questionable reporting practices by some among members of the Jakarta press corps are threatening Indonesia's freedom of the press, according to two prominent journalists.

Aristides Katoppo of the daily Sinar Harapan and Goenawan Mohamad of the weekly Tempo magazine said during a panel discussion organized by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Forum here on Tuesday that the Indonesian media should continue criticizing itself, and not take the current freedom of the press for granted.

"The lack of respect for the rule of law weakens the freedom of the press," said Aristides; he cited recent incidents in which groups threatened reporters and occupied offices of the media outlets they suspected of having printed or broadcast stories they disagreed with.

The latest such episode took place just few months ago, when a group invaded a newspaper office in Central Java in response to stories about one of the political party's members.

"People who take the law into their own hands are the clear and present danger against the media," said Aristides, adding that those who feel aggrieved should instead take legal recourse when dealing with such issues.

Aristides did not rule out the idea that the government may be seeking to restrict press freedom by amending the current law on the press, or issuing new regulations.

Goenawan, meanwhile, emphasized that the country's press freedom is also threatened by the fact that many Indonesian journalists themselves receive bribes from the very politicians and business people on whom they report in exchange for favorable coverage.

"If journalists cannot maintain their dignity, it will be difficult to maintain press freedom," Goenawan said.

The popular anger resulting from such bribes, he added, would merely offer politicians justification to enforce strict censorship laws.

He said that the current press freedom that Indonesia enjoys is far better than that in many other countries in the region like Singapore or Malaysia. Indonesian media outlets, he said, should be proud of these conditions, and try to maintain them.

"It would be ironic if the current government tries to derail the current press freedom that we are enjoying by setting a new regulation on censorship or licensing," Goenawan remarked.

He did not elaborate on what percentage of Indonesian journalists take bribes from politicians or people in the business community.

Meanwhile, two media observers faulted the Indonesia's press for delving too much into issues, and neglecting the arena of investigative reporting.

Maiysyak Johan of Judicial Watch said that many publications pursue actual issues for their news coverage, but never explore deeper into the news.

"The Indonesian press does not give society good and correct information," Johan said. This phenomenon, he added, will only lead society to dubious and confusing questions.

Bachtiar Aly, a member of Indonesia's Press Council, shared Johan's opinion, saying that the country's press institutions were weak in investigative reporting.

"The press does not offer enlightenment to people at large who have all the right to know," Bachtiar said, underscoring the fact that background issues of many subjects tend to be left ignored.