Experts suggest ombudsman for media

Experts suggest ombudsman for media

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta

In light of increasing libel suits against the press, experts are
suggesting that media enterprises establish an ombudsman to
examine the news before publication and to mediate in case of
complaints.

Deputy chairman of the Press Council, R.H. Siregar, told The
Jakarta Post on Wednesday that it would be wise for every media
enterprise to have an unit to ensure that all of their news
adheres to the basic principles of journalism, including the
cross-checking of potentially libelous information.

"The ombudsman unit would also have the task of investigating
any violations of the journalists' code of ethics," he said.

The unit should be independent of the editorial board, but
could consist of senior or former editors of the company, besides
other media experts, Siregar added.

Interviewed separately, Hinca I.P. Panjaitan from the
Indonesia Media Law and Policy Center said that an ombudsman
would help in finding a more simple and effective settlement of
libel complaints.

"The settlement would be based on the right to respond in
accordance with the Press Law, not on fines or imprisonment as
stipulated in the Criminal Code," he said.

Currently only a few media enterprises have such an ombudsman,
including Jawa Pos, which settled a libel complaint made by
former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad),
Lt. Gen. Djaja Suparman, in an article that hinted at his
involvement in the 2002 Bali bombings, by publishing a response
from Suparman.

The country's media has been under fire in recent libel
lawsuits from state officials and businessmen, the indictments of
which were based on the Criminal Code, not the Press Law.

On May 17, a court ordered Tempo magazine cofounder Goenawan
Mohamad to publish an apology to well-connected tycoon Tomy
Winata in a libel suit. In January, another court ordered the
Koran Tempo daily to pay a US$1 million fine to Tomy, while last
December the same court also ordered the daily to publicly
apologize to the owner of the ailing Texmaco group, Marimutu
Sinivasan.

Earlier this month, Trust weekly was ordered to pay a fine of
Rp 1 billion ($111,111) for defaming businessman John Hamenda and
his company PT Petindo Perkasa.

Journalists and editors of the Rakyat Merdeka daily were
convicted last year of defaming President Megawati and House of
Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Ignatius Haryanto of the Institute for Press Freedom and
Development Studies (LSPP) said that the recent cases indicated
that many media enterprises had not yet realized the importance
of an ombudsman.

"Such a committee would not muzzle press freedom by becoming a
form of self-censorship, as it would only act as an advisor to
the editorial board and could not interfere with any editorial
decision.

"The final word -- and responsibility -- would still be the
board's," he said.

Meanwhile, concerning the Press Law, Siregar said that Law No.
40/1999 needed to be amended, as it did not incorporate specific
stipulations concerning libel.

Hinca, however, said that the Press Law needed no amendment.

"What is needed now is familiarization with the concept of
people's right to respond and to convey that understanding to the
public.

"The basic philosophy underlying the media and the Press Law
is 'words against words', not 'words versus imprisonment'," he
remarked.