Lawmaker Criticises RRI's Broadcasting Budget, Deemed Smaller than Management Costs

Member of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Putra Nababan has criticised the disproportionately small budget allocation for public broadcasting by the Public Broadcasting Institution (LPP) RRI, which stands at just Rp15 billion, compared to a jumbo management budget of Rp931 billion. According to Putra, the disparity between the budget for employee management and the broadcasting programme budget that directly engages with the public reflects an orientation of allegiance. “We can see here that the burden of employee expenditure is extraordinarily large,” Putra said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday. He fundamentally questioned the function and output of LPP RRI if its financial structure more closely resembles an institution solely accommodating employee burdens rather than serving the public’s right to information. Putra asked RRI’s echelon ranks to reflect on this budget anomaly. “Is the state paying employee salaries or are we serving the public? Looking at the budget posture, we are paying employees, not serving the public,” he asserted. He stated that RRI, alongside other public institutions such as TVRI and ANTARA, bears a significant expectation to stand in a state position that transcends the interests of the executive branch, legislative branch, or political parties. This state position, Putra said, must be manifested in the form of maximum service to the people, rather than being trapped in bureaucratic wastefulness. Meanwhile, LPP RRI President Director Hendrasmo stated that the budget posture is a design from the Ministry of Finance. According to him, the budget posture has undergone efficiency measures, which creates a demand for RRI to continue innovating. Although the budget for programmes is very small and lacking, he claimed RRI has successfully improved its performance on the media side. He noted that the DPR RI also gave a record of appreciation regarding the digital transformation, which is considered successful. “We have succeeded in improving the performance of the RRI portal, from a ranking of over 150 to 30–31. We also succeeded in increasing streaming per radio, reaching tens of millions of visitors and users, as well as on social media,” he said. Additionally, he conveyed that RRI has also successfully improved governance indicators; for instance, the bureaucratic reform score was 55 in 2021 but is now over 78. “We have successfully certified more than 50 per cent of our journalist and broadcaster population from among our content staff. We have 860 journalists and broadcasters who have taken competency tests held in conjunction with the Press Council,” he said. He firmly stated that even if the budget has undergone efficiency to a small amount, it does not mean RRI is not siding with the people. “We have succeeded in improving our performance as a media institution and as a bureaucracy,” he said.