Indonesian press needs to strive for independence
Indonesian press needs to strive for independence
SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Political and social analysts
here have concluded that as long as the Indonesian press remains
subservient to the state it will not be able to propagate the
democratic values that are required to meet the challenges of the
21st century.
The panelists, speaking at a discussion meeting here on
Tuesday evening, confirmed what the public perceives as a
servant-master relationship between the press and the government.
"How could a press in such a shackled state contribute to the
cultivation of the autonomous institutions needed to develop
democracy," lamented Ashadi Siregar, a mass media analyst.
While newspapers, as a business entity, have to weather market
competition in order to survive, they are at the same time at the
mercy of the political power of the state bureaucracy, Ashadi
said.
Ashadi, however, did not blame the problem on the mass media.
He pointed instead to the series of restrictive licensing
regulations of the state bureaucracy that leave virtually no room
for freedom and autonomy.
Soemitro, the top security chief in Jakarta in the first half
of the 1970s, shared Ashadi's views, arguing that the kind of
democracy Indonesia is now pursuing will not be effective in
facing up the challenges in the 21st century.
"I think the checks and balances between the three branches of
the government -- executive, legislative and judiciary -- should be
improved," said Soemitro. Soemitro is himself widely suspected to
have played part in the banning of several newspapers in Jakarta
in early 1974.
The discussion on The role of the press in developing
democracy at the Sahid Raya Hotel was organized jointly by The
Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta-based Bernas daily and the Sebelas Maret
University, Surakarta.
The discussion was part of a series of programs held on the
eve of National Press Day and the 50th anniversary of the
Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) to be observed at a
ceremony here tomorrow which will also be attended by President
Soeharto and several ministers.
The meeting, which was chaired by Sabam Siagian, former
Indonesian ambassador to Australia and currently a member of the
board of directors of PT Bina Media Tenggara, the publisher of
the Post, presented three panelists -- Ashadi Siregar, Ishadi SK,
chief of the Research and Development Agency at the information
ministry and Suparnadi, the third assistant to the rector of
Sebelas Maret University.
The meeting was also attended by PWI Chairman Sofyan Lubis,
Secretary General of the Indonesian Newspaper Publishers
Association S. Leo Batubara and such noted social and political
analysts as Mochtar Buchori, Soemitro and Ignas Kleden.
Questions and comments from most of the around 120
participants, which included students from Surakarta and
Yogyakarta, mostly pointed to the dominant power of the state
bureaucracy.
They observed that the state bureaucracy is so powerful that
it controls almost all aspects of political life, co-opting most
institutions that are seen as potential challengers to the
government.
Fikri Jufri said he fully felt the naked power of the state
bureaucracy when his weekly news magazine Tempo and two other
publications were banned in June, 1994.
Ignas Kleden observed that the state bureaucracy wouldn't have
so much power if democratic values had been nurtured.
"We therefore need a new, improved democracy, a new vision and
a new attitude to gear us up for the 21st century, and all the
completely new challenges the new era will pose," Soemitro said.
"But I warn you, the young generation, against trying to blame
people," he told the students present.
Soemitro warned that there are no short cuts to reform. Short
cuts would only cause disruptions and discontinuity "which would
nullify what we have achieved so far."
There was nothing new regarding the problems of the press and
democracy discussed at the panel discussions.
Nonetheless, as Sabam cautioned at the outset of the three-
hour meeting, such free-wheeling discussions, however futile they
may seem to pessimists and cynics, still form another building
block for the development of democracy.
Anyway, as a participant noted, such a discussion could not
have taken place if there was not a certain freedom of expression
in Indonesia. (vin)
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