'Communication suicide' caused by gag: Gus Dur

JAKARTA (JP): Moslem scholar Abdurrahman Wahid said muffling negative information is tantamount to "communication suicide".

"If we 'hide' news, than we commit a mistake, namely committing 'communication suicide' because then the results of development could not be enjoyed by the people," Abdurrahman said in a seminar on communication in Surabaya Sunday, Antara reported.

Abdurrahman, who is chairman of the 30-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization, said the success of a country's development should not be measured only in terms of the number of roads, bridges and buildings constructed but also in whether everybody enjoyed the progress.

"The right development communication strategy is one which builds people's trust for the development program. This means that the negative sides of development programs should also be revealed, not concealed," he said.

In addition, a good communication strategy ensures reciprocality. "There should be two-way communication," he said. "We need honesty, too... if information is sifted by one party, then what exists is propaganda."

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, said he preferred that no effort be made to curb the flow of "negative information".

"Sometimes, the negative sides (of certain situation) can bring positive results for the public," he said, citing the media uproar over the August murder of Yogyakarta-based journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin.

He said the murder became a feast for the mass media at great costs to many people involved.

"Because it's been blown up, the murder case has a negative impact, namely the corroding of the government's image."

If the information on the murder were muffled, however, the adverse impacts would be greater, he said.

"With the extensive coverage, the public now knows that a certain government official might have done something bad. Whether or not he was punished, he's already 'finished'." (swe)