Indonesian press: Walking a tightrope

Indonesian press: Walking a tightrope

Arya Gunawan, Media Analyst, Jakarta

Why is press freedom always considered by some as a pre-
requisite for a democratic nation? According to a UK-based media
expert, Richard Keeble, the freedom of the press is essential as
it creates a bridge between the rulers and the ruled. The press
provides important information on political, social and financial
issues, so that the members of the public can use the information
to make the decisions that they think are right for their
everyday lives, including at the time of general elections
(Richard Keeble, Ethics for Journalists, 2001). So if the press
is suppressed, the impact is obvious: the public will not have
access to information with the result that they will be blind to
the realities around them.

There are many examples in support of this argument. One of
them is what happened in Indonesia under the New Order. The press
during that period was a suppressed press, so that many important
stories were not allowed to surface. Many facts were swept under
the carpet, or were orchestrated or manipulated. The impact was
disastrous: the nation and the country is now on the brink of
collapse in almost all areas of life. This has happened because
we as the nation were too late in realizing that the economic
growth and political stability of which we were once so proud was
only a mirage.

The importance of press freedom must have been to the
forefront of the collective Indonesian press mind, especially
given the new difficulties that are being faced by the Indonesian
press nowadays. On one hand, the press has been enjoying the
freedom that it had been dreaming of for so long under the New
Order, but on the other hand the press has to exercise its
freedom with more awareness of the importance of responsibility.
It should also be noted that the responsibilities of the press
are becoming more important and relevant as there have been
complaints made by some elements in society who think that the
Indonesian press has sometimes been exercising its freedom in a
manner that goes beyond what is acceptable to the public in
general.

After then president Soeharto's resignation in May 1998, the
Indonesian press became much more open, and this was then
strengthened through the enactment of the new press law in
September 1999. One of the consequences brought about by the
sudden coming into existence of a free press in Indonesia was the
birth of many new publications, like the popping up of mushrooms
in the rainy season. Data from the Indonesian Press Council shows
that in 1999 there were 1,690 publications all across the
country.The latest data shows that there are only 591
publications left to date.

Where did all these new publications recruit their
professional staff members such as field reporters, senior
editors, managing editors and editors-in-chief? No comprehensive
research is available yet to answer this question. But it is
thought that most of them hired less professional, or even
unprofessional, staff. It is thus only to be expected that this
core problem will generate various problems in the press itself
related to the standard of professionalism of journalists,
ethical issues (from sensational news to cheap gossip and
pornography), as well as problems concerning journalists' welfare
that will in turn create some negative excesses such as "envelope
journalism" (journalists who receive money or gifts from their
news sources).

All of the above-mentioned internal problems of the Indonesian
press will quickly be jumped upon by parties outside the press as
an excuse for criticizing freedom of the press. This has happened
already. There have been accusations from some members of society
that the Indonesian press has crossed lines that should not be
crossed, been sensational, and also been judgmental ("trial by
the press"). There have also been voices demanding the revision
of the 1999 press law because it is considered too liberal.

The Indonesian press society should carefully take into
account all these complaints. Some of them are reasonable,
especially those concerning ethics and professionalism. The
freedom that has been enjoyed by the press over the last four
years should not be exercised only for the sake of freedom
itself, because if that were the case then the freedom would
bring about many detrimental consequences for society at large.

Freedom can only be exercised properly and appropriately if it
is coupled with another important element: responsibility. In a
time of transition like Indonesia is experiencing, what is needed
is a responsible and professional press that can assist in
providing guidance and direction for the nation as it attempts to
find its feet again. Therefore, the complaints should be seen as
an invitation to the press to introspect, and to follow this up
with concrete action to remedy all remaining weaknesses.

However, if the complaints are just used as an excuse by those
in power to put new and more far-reaching limitations on the
press because they feel uncomfortable, see themselves being put
on the hot seat, and fear that the free press could undermine
their power, then the press should be on the alert. Walter
Lippman, the social thinker from America once stated that there
is no higher rule in journalism other than to inform the truth
and to humiliate those who are wrong.

The Indonesian press nowadays is walking on a tightrope: on
the one hand the press needs to safeguard the freedom it has won
after a long struggle, but on the other hand it needs to exercise
its freedom carefully in order to avoid any potential backlash.
There is one key word that will guarantee a balance:
responsibility. And not new limitations on the press, since these
could actually be the products of authoritarianism lurking behind
the mask of the need to uphold ethics.

And for Indonesia in particular, new limitations would only
send the country back into the dark tunnel again, a tunnel in
which the public are denied information as was the case for more
than three decades under the New Order. A period of darkness that
has saddled the nation with almost insurmountable burdens.