Indonesian media under fire for bias, corruption

Viva Goldner, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite the increased freedom it enjoys during the reform era, the national press is increasingly under fire, with accusations of bias, corruption and a lack of professionalism among journalists.

Salahuddin, secretary-general of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), expressed his concern that the fight for professionalism was being hampered by the rampant practice of wartawan amplop (pocket journalism), where the often poorly-paid reporter is passed an envelope of money after an interview or media conference in exchange for favorable coverage.

"It is very common for Indonesian journalists to receive bribes -- our research has shown some 80 percent to 90 percent of journalists are indeed envelope journalists," Salahuddin said.

"Many sources, even government bodies, contribute to this situation. Our research in 2000 showed that at least Rp 864 billion was allocated by the government in the national budget for envelope journalism," he said.

Mohammad Budyatna, a professor in mass communication at the University of Indonesia, said the media had lost focus in its transition from an authoritarian system to one of social responsibility.

"The freedom enjoyed by the press today is too excessive, because the journalists don't yet know how to be responsible to the government and to society," Budyatna said.

He said a culture of libelous reporting was developing, where journalists gave little consideration to the rights of individuals or the government.

"The press should function as a watchdog -- to monitor the government and make corrections to the statements of government officials -- in order to expose corruption, collusion and nepotism. But there is now a wildness in the dissemination of information," Budyatna said.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has twice slapped the media over their knuckles, most recently on Friday during the celebration of National Press Day in the South Kalimantan capital of Banjarmasin.

While encouraging the press to remain critical, Megawati said the media had the responsibility to offer solutions to all the problems the country was facing.

"We are not supposed to, and should never, lose our critical stance. We indeed need criticism, likewise we should provide solutions to the problems.

"If necessary (the critics) should substantiate the validity and reliability of the alternatives they offer," said Megawati to the cheers of the audience.

A few days earlier, Megawati rapped the media for their coverage of the floods which she said placed too much the blame on the government.

While reporters are obliged to abide by an official code of ethics, Budyatna said many journalists were not even aware of the charter's existence.

Articles in the PWI code of ethics prohibit a journalist from receiving payment from sources, and stipulate reporting must be balanced, objective and factual.

Salahuddin said there was a tendency for journalists to sensationalize the events of the day, with reports aimed at heightening conflict and emotion rather than objective analysis.

He also criticized the style of jurnalisme omongon (talking journalism), where the statements of public figures are used as the basis for news stories without clarification or concern for the implications of the statement.

Despite his criticism of the press, Salahuddin expressed concern over government attempts to regain control over the media through legal measures.

The government, he said, aims to restrict press freedom by proposing the Criminal Code bill which contains 40 articles that could lead journalists to prison. The existing Criminal Code comprises just 37 articles related to crimes committed by the press.

The government's plan to revise the 1999 Broadcasting Law has also sent a warning to the media as 21 out of the 63 articles in the new draft are intended to restrict the media, he said.

AJI data in 2001 revealed 95 cases of violence and intimidation against journalists.