Greater openness leaves local press with dilemma
Greater openness leaves local press with dilemma
JAKARTA (JP): The greater political openness that Indonesia
currently enjoys has put the local press in a difficult position,
the National Press Council said yesterday.
Jacob Oetama, the Council's deputy chief overseeing the
organization's day-to-day functions, said that the political
openness had unquestionably boosted press freedom.
But Indonesian journalists are required to exercise self-
censorship, and try not to open the floodgates, Jacob said in a
hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR).
"The changing political condition has put the press in an
awkward position," he told members of House Commission 1
overseeing information, security, defense and foreign affairs.
Jacob, who is also chief editor of Kompas daily, was
responding to legislators' allegations that the press had used
the current greater openness to overdo their reporting somewhat.
He said the press was obligated to see to it that the openness
did not proceed too rapidly, or else it would bring undesired
social and political complications.
"But the press holds to its commitment to improve its function
as a social control," he said.
The government, the press and the public share an obligation
to manage the change, he added.
The four-hour hearing was dominated by discussions on the
controversy surrounding the government's plan to allow foreigners
to own shares in the local press and broadcasting industries.
House member H. Muchsin from the United Development Party
(PPP) faction and Aminullah Ibrahim from the Armed Forces (ABRI)
faction said the policy that contradicts existing press laws has
apparently confused cabinet ministers. "They have made
preposterous comments," Muchsin said.
Indonesian officials, including information minister Harmoko,
broke ranks last week and criticized the new regulations designed
to attract more foreign investment.
Amid the mounting controversy, President Soeharto on Monday
said foreign capital was not allowed to enter Indonesia's media
industry although the new regulation, announced June 2, states
otherwise.
Jacob welcomed Soeharto's assurances. "The President's
guarantee is more than adequate but it's yet to be decided if the
government should put it in a decree," he said.
Jacob said local media executives have reacted "as if their
beards caught fire" to the new measures on press ownership.
He noted that some government rules already run counter to the
press law, but that reaction to them had not been as strong.
The press council yesterday also asked the House to help lower
the price of newsprint.
Council officials said government protection measures made the
price of Indonesian-made newsprint abroad ironically much cheaper
than it is at home.
They said locally made newsprint is abundant in supply and
their price could be lower if left to market forces. (pan)