JP/6/ONG

JP/6/ONG

Press needs to choose between high politics or the people

Ong Hock Chuan
PT Maverick Solusi Komunikasi
Partner
Jakarta

Indonesia's press is in trouble, and it's not only from the
defamation suits from notables such as President Megawati
Soekarnoputri and tycoons such as Tomy Winata and Sinivasan.

The trouble most newspapers face today is economic reality
biting after the press freedom euphoria over the past five years.
At least 2,000 newspapers, according to the Newspaper Publishers
Union Chief Leo Batubara, have bitten the dust over the last five
years.

More will follow unless they reinvent themselves and return to
basics, Batubara was quoted as saying in a recent Bisnis
Indonesia article.

This is good advice. The majority of newspapers have veered so
far off course that they have ceased to become relevant to their
readers. Instead of offering news that is important to its
readers, these papers provide news that is important to the self-
image of its editors and reporters.

This self-image, which is reflected in most of the newspapers,
is of journalists as self-appointed commentators and reporters of
"high politics," which manifests itself in the never-ending
reports of the actions and utterances of high-profile political
figures.

It is a fact that most of the time these politicians are ill
informed and have very vague notions about democracy or political
concepts. It is a fact that more often than not these politicians
shoot from the hip. And it is a fact that most readers have tuned
out most of what they have to say because of their utter
irrelevance to their lives.

Yet to comment and report on such high politics seems to be
the apex of achievement among these papers. Hence we are treated
day in and day out with endless drivel about drivel.

There is a common misconception among some newspaper
publishers that political controversies and scandals translate
into good headlines and therefore sells papers. This is true only
if you can offer something the competition doesn't. As it is, any
advantage and hope of better sales are dashed because every
newspaper is as sensationalistic and obsessed by high politics as
the next.

If newspapers are serious about pushing sales and making
money, they should consider abandoning the lofty realms of high
politics and, as Batubara advises, go back to basics.

One basic function of a newspaper is to champion the causes of
its readers, to take up the cause of the common man or woman, to
speak up for the underdog.

The need for Indonesia's "fourth estate" to take up this role
is more urgent today than ever. This is because the government
appears, to most people, either disinterested, dysfunctional or
both. So are its institutions that are meant to serve citizens.
They are not only dysfunctional; they try to extort you for
money.

The Indonesian middle class -- who form the readership base of
these newspapers -- have never been so isolated and helpless.

They need a newspaper that gives voice to their
dissatisfactions and their hopes. They need a newspaper that
would champion their causes and give them a means to bring the
public service back to serving the public instead of their own
pockets.

The incredible fact about such situations is that it can be
damned good business for a newspaper to abandon high politics and
take up the cause of the people. A case in point is The Star, now
Malaysia's largest selling and most influential newspaper.

The Star started out as a provincial newspaper covering the
island of Penang. It was a tabloid and in the early days had its
share of page 3 girls and sensational rape cases to attract
readers.

In the late 1970's, however, it went national and began to
seriously live up to its logo of being "The People's Paper."
Malaysia then was very much like Indonesia now: Lots of arrogant
officials who thought the public should serve them rather than
the other way around; inefficient services, facilities and
infrastructures such as rubbish collection, potholed roads;
corrupt policemen; corrupt local politicians scratching each
others' backs: Sounds familiar?

The Star began covering these local issues seriously. Any
reasonable grievance or complaint that affected "the people", no
matter how localized, were reported and local officials forced to
account for it. If they refused the newspaper would hound them
down and carry on a sustained campaign of exposure until it
became too embarrassing to sweep under the carpet or ignore.

One of the lessons that the reporters, of which I was one,
learned during those days was that a newspaper could actually be
made to work for the betterment of people's lives. The way to
force officials to act was to have stamina, a feature that the
Indonesian papers today lack. When the paper bit on an issue it
was like a pit bull; it would not let go until something was done
or the issue resolved. Sustained embarrassment was the most
effective tool to goad officials into action.

The formula worked. The Star rose from its humble provincial
roots to become the country's premier paper both in circulation
and revenues. Its income was so good that in good years it has
been known to pay its reporters over eight months salary in
bonuses.

It's a heartening story of a paper getting rich because it
managed to tap into what the people wanted and became their
voice. Indonesia's struggling newspapers may want to weigh the
option of being engrossed in high politics, be poor and not
change anything in the loves of their readers or to speak up for
the people, take up their cause, make a difference to their lives
and become rich along the way.

The writer is a Press Fellow at Cambridge University and a
partner at Maverick, a public relations consultancy specializing
in crisis and issues management.