Govt demands permit for live TV broadcast
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information R. Hartono warned private television stations yesterday against illegal live broadcasts.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting at the Bina Graha presidential office, the minister said the newly enacted Broadcasting Law stipulated that private TV stations ask for government approval before airing live broadcasts.
He was making his third comment in as many days on a government decision to ban ANteve and SCTV from broadcasting live coverage Monday of Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad's address on the economic reform package at the House of Representatives.
"A private TV station violates the rules if it broadcasts live coverage without informing the government. This (Monday's case) should not happen again," Hartono warned.
However, he failed to elaborate on which sections of the Broadcasting Law stipulate the ban.
"The law clearly states that state-owned TV station TVRI is the only authorized broadcaster to conduct live coverage of state events, while private TV stations should relay.
"Is it that difficult for a private station to ask for our approval if it intends to run live or delayed broadcasts?" he asked.
Hartono said the law allowed the government to revoke the license of a TV station which ignored the government's reprimand three times.
He suggested that a private TV station intending to run a live broadcast contact the Ministry of Information or TVRI.
"In the case of House plenary meetings, its secretary general used to lodge a formal request to me and then I ordered TVRI to cover the meeting," said Hartono.
Regular live broadcasts by both TVRI and private stations were conducted when President Soeharto delivered the state budget plan and the state-of-nation speech on the eve of Independence Day.
News
Four House legislators asked yesterday the Ministry of Information's secretary general, Tonny Soekarton, about the ban.
Not until the end of the almost seven-hour meeting, however, did Tonny manage to satisfy the legislators' queries.
Tonny told House Commission I on security, defense, law and information affairs, that Monday's plenary House meeting was considered a news program and therefore was subject to government approval if a private TV station intended to broadcast it live.
He was referring to a 1982 ministerial decree which classifies TV programs as news and entertainment. The decree says live news coverage must be conducted by TVRI.
"The Minister of Finance's address was categorized as a news program because it informed the public," Tonny said.
He admitted the government directives for live TV coverage were only now being drawn up. But the Broadcasting Law suggested that, pending the issuance of new directives, the government apply related old regulations as long as they did not contradict the new law.
"It's clear now that the problem is not why a live coverage is banned... (but) who will take responsibility if something goes wrong during or after the live broadcast," Tonny said.
He regretted that the two private TV stations had already advertised the live coverage without learning the rules beforehand. "The public who had eagerly waited for the program fell victim to the false ad," he said.
Also during the hearing, director of TVRI Aziz Husein said he was considering a live broadcast of Mar'ie's second meeting with the House next Tuesday. (prb/amd)