Ethics important issue among journalists
Ethics important issue among journalists
JAKARTA (JP): The question of ethics emerged as an important
issue among local journalists on the third day of the 19th Asian
Advertising Congress at a Nusa Dua resort yesterday.
So far, Indonesian advertising companies have been governed by
a code of conduct, the interpretation of which has been left to
individual companies. As a result, consistency has been lacking
in the code's implementation.
"When the time is right we will need a regulation, but the
best way is for advertising companies to exercise self-
regulation," said keynote speaker Prof. Subroto during a press
conference for local journalists after yesterday's session.
Also present at the press conference were panelists Prof. Umar
Kayam and Marzuki Darusman.
Consumers organizations should also play a part by acting as
"policemen" in warning advertising companies when they have
violated the regulation or code of conduct, he added.
Umar Kayam, meanwhile, looked at the issue from the point of
view of democratization. In a democratic society, he said, people
are always criticizing things; at the very least, they are always
questioning things.
"Criticism and questions serve as control. Institutions (of
regulation) mean nothing without the democratization of public
opinion, and this means power-sharing," said Kayam.
Marzuki Darusman believes that the lack of an advertising
regulation is an indication that the parties concerned have not
yet seen the urgency of having such a regulation.
"It could also be that the advertising companies do not want
to be regulated," he added.
Earlier, Marzuki said that the public has become more
critical.
"There are advertisements which can be used to change public
attitudes, such as those on the dangers of smoking or of AIDS,
which are called public service advertisements. However, a
critical public has had divergent views on a Freeport
advertisement launched while that company was having problems (in
Irian Jaya). There are those who saw it as pure coincidence, but
there were others who saw it as a scam," said Marzuki.
He was referring to the alleged shooting of more than a dozen
native Irian Jaya people by Freeport security personnel.
"Also, the advertisement by the forestry association can no
longer be used in Europe because it contradicts the reality,"
Marzuki added.
During question time, Subroto stressed that the globalization
process will make life more complicated as well as promoting
pluralism.
"The fear that globalization will create a nation of traders
is baseless. On the contrary, pluralism will grow because not all
can be producers; there have to be buyers, or distributors, for
example. Also, producers will no longer force the public to buy
only their products, because people will have more to choose
from. In the end, consumer satisfaction is the goal," said
Subroto.
According to Subroto, the globalization process has changed
public attitudes toward goods. Consumers' concerns in the future
will no longer be with the question of which country produces a
product, but with its quality.
"They might buy a pair of Balinese shoes made in Cibaduyut,"
he said.
Cibaduyut is a shoe-producing center in Bandung.
Marzuki, meanwhile, said the issue is a problem of national
identity.
"During the past 25 years our identity has been defined in
economic terms, while in fact national identity, in the end, is
determined by politics. What we need to achieve is a balance
between economics and politics," said Marzuki.
Subroto said that the trend of giant advertising companies
coming to Indonesia is part of the process of globalization and
unavoidable.
"The only way small Indonesian advertising companies can
survive is to merge or to cooperate with them (the larger
advertising companies) to improve their expertise and
investment," he said.
The most important thing is how to prepare a strategy to
benefit from the presence of foreign advertising companies in
Indonesia, he added. (lem)