Indonesian media should help empower civil society

By Djafar H. Assegaff

JAKARTA (JP); The Indonesian mass media is in the throes of a press freedom honeymoon. It is an understandable condition after 30 years of the suppression of that freedom and the curtailment of people's civil rights. A similar press freedom euphoria came about shortly after president Sukarno's downfall in the mid 1960s and the advent of the New Order. At the time, the regained press freedom lasted only briefly.

It reminds one of a pendulum: moving from the extreme right, down and up to the extreme left. The Indonesian press is currently enjoying extreme freedom to the extent where it seems that no government agency can hold it back. That freedom is being exercised in a way which, many observers fear, may elicit reactions detrimental to the newly gained freedom. If this happens, it would be really be a sad case of history repeating itself.

The public at large is concerned about this and so are many in the press itself. They want press freedom regained by the student-led reform movement to stay. They are worried that excessive indulgence will prompt the government to again resort to authoritarian ways.

A study on paradigm of the role of the press in a developing nation in the 1970s shows that it was indeed able to help the nation to attain a high level of development measured in economic growth rate figures. But it went too far and resulted in the destruction of the fabrics of society's civil power. At the same time, because of the deep involvement of the bureaucracy in development, the latter obtained quite excessive liberties and authority in the name of development.

Daniel Lerner shows the correlation between literacy and media consumption in The Passing of the Traditional Society which would promote society's participation in a developing country's economy and politics.

But during the New Order, we neglected the need for society's participation in politics because of the trauma of our experiences during the Sukarno era.

As a result, the economy developed enormously but with the participation of the small elite. Society's participation in politics, which is actually the essence of empowerment of civil society, was neglected.

Foreign mass media heaped praise on Indonesia's and other Asia-Pacific countries' economic successes. Indonesian technocrats and economists even won various international citations. Economic terms and jargon became popular and were imbibed in rhetoric.

Government officials and the middle class were proud of the mushrooming skyscrapers, often being deceptively cited as tangible proof of their achievements.

No wonder that when the economy started to collapse many decisionmakers in government kept trying to allay the public's worries by asserting that the country's "economic fundamentals" were still viable.

This is a costly experience to appreciate the importance of new efforts to develop civic education which aims to teach the meaning of being a citizen and political subject in a democratic society.

The supreme power in a state is vested in the people and state policies must be made with the people's approval. Empowerment of civil society is a must in developing societies which includes the capability to criticize and supervise. Where in these efforts should the press play a role?

The press, which bears the additional task of mass education, should feel obliged to carry out this task so as to breed civilian citizens who are capable of participating in a democratic system as political subjects.

The press must abide by democracy's supreme principle that government is responsible to the people. It must be able to empower all democratic institutions and promote the separation of the powers of the executive, legislative and judicial organs of the state.

The press must also be able to play a role in maintaining the check-and-balance system in a state. All of this smacks of American-style democracy. But every nation can apply it in ways adjusted to its particular conditions as long as the principle of the people's sovereignty is upheld.

And the press must play a role in empowering civil society so that it becomes the arbiter of the truth and boost the growth of the freedom of the press and of creativeness which are badly needed to enable the nation to maintain itself in the globalization era in the forthcoming third millennium.

During the past 30 years, the press has also learned from a bitter reality that its past growth and advances also led it to compromise with those in power.

The big capital interests in the mass media industry, for the sake of their own survival, were compelled to come to a compromise with the power holders and business tycoons to suppress the growth of a critical civil society.

Certain established print and broadcast media as well as a handful of journalists have shown their concern about their role in helping to curb the growth of a civil society.

Indeed, an author has said that "an established press tends to become a conservative press bent on maintaining the status quo".

In which ways, more specifically, could the mass media play a role in civic education? The answer perhaps is by stepping up coverage that stimulates the public's political awareness.

The public should be taught to be always aware that it is within its power to determine in whichever way the government should act.

The press and mass media should have the courage to let pluralism develop within itself, promote the freedom to discuss state affairs, to differ in thinking and avoid becoming too partisan. Pluralism in the press should be maintained to reflect the same quality of Indonesian society.

Is civic journalism already sufficiently known? The answer is in the negative.

Some think that civic journalism is a concept that evolved in conjunction with new ideas about Asia's failures in the economic field. Failures that resulted from failures to give economic development political significance and to let the masses participate.

To attain good results in implementing the civic education concept, there must be comprehensive activities and involvement of all relevant parties. Civic education is actually a process of democracy itself, a process that continues to grow commensurate with the development of a society. It is not something that can be accelerated at will as it constitutes a long educational process.

When applied by the press and media in developing countries, it must be preceded by introducing the concept of mass media- society interaction. Society as the consumer of mass media should have sufficient critical sense to understand how the media functions in a democratic system. The public must also be made to understand that powerful mass media should also be subject to supervision, namely supervision by the public itself.

The creed that must be developed among journalists is not only that of getting scoops, or among publishers that of making the biggest possible profit.

Journalists and publishers should also make sure that they offer information that stimulates the public's further thinking about their own well-being and welfare. The information must be able to provoke thinking and to arrive at the truth about matters being debated with a cool head.

The following might be considered in designing programs to enhance the role of the mass media in civic education for a civil society:

1. Establishment of a body or institute to develop and promote civic journalism.

2. Providing opportunities to journalism educators at university level to understand civic journalism and, if possible, to integrate as a course subject and sponsor the compilation of textbooks on civic journalism.

3. Increasing coverage capable of empowering the civil society actively involved in the nation's political life.

4. The mass media should also assume a role in promoting society's ability to abide by democratic decisions taken by democratic institutions.

5. Promoting bodies and institutes that supervise the functioning of democratic mechanisms, from general elections to daily democratic processes, through legislative reporting.

6. The press as the "fourth estate" should also be supervised by the public. To this end, bodies or institutions such as "press ombudsmen", "media watchers" or a "press complaint committee", should be set up or promoted.

7. Providing training to journalists about matters relating to the "pyramid of competence" concept developed by the Poynter Institute.

The writer is the chief editor of Media Indonesia daily and dean of the faculty of mass communications at Mercu Buana University, Jakarta.