Mass media reap profits from elections

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

With seriousness, Yuwana, a member of a campaign team for a candidate contesting the upcoming regional elections in Surabaya, read through a local newspaper.

His hands quickly flipped over each of the paper's 24 pages. The eyes of the former journalist at a Jakarta-based newspaper read closely for news of the upcoming elections.

A loud ring coming from his cell phone broke the peaceful atmosphere.

"Hello, yes, this is me... See, I want to an place advert for a candidate for the regional elections in your paper, but I want it to be placed only in the upper space, besides that, no way," Yuwana said. He listened for a while. "Ok, why don't you just come to see me," he said, ending the conversation.

The upcoming regional elections in Surabaya on June 27 are a god-send for the mass media, who are cashing in on the advertising bonanza.

Four pairs of candidates announced by the Surabaya Elections Committee on Sunday -- Alisjahbana-Wahyudin Husein (the National Awakening Party); Bambang Dwi Haryono-Arif Afandi (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle); Erlangga Satriagung-AH Thony (National Mandate Party-Democratic Party); and Gatot Sudjito- Benyamin Hilly (Golkar Party-Prosperous Peace Party) -- will bring in a lot of money for the local mass media, especially printed media.

As if in competition, they each offer "economy packages" for familiarization or campaign advertising for the four pairs of candidates through their campaign teams.

Data obtained by The Jakarta Post showed that almost all printed media in Surabaya have sent advertising proposals to all the campaign teams, each package valued at between Rp 15 million (US$1579) and Rp 300 million.

Once campaign adverting proposal mentioned that for Rp 300 million, a pair of candidates will get various advertising facilities -- from publication of all their campaign activities as news, special interviews, and full-page advertisements.

"We guarantee there will be no black news against the respective candidates," writes a chief editor in the proposal.

For the candidates, familiarization through mass media is essential since it is an effective way to get directly in touch with prospective voters.

"We consider the media's effectivity, that's why we take up the offers, although not all of them," Djaka M, a member of Erlangga Satriagung-AH Thony's campaign team, told the Post.

Bambang Dwi Haryono-Arif Afandi's campaign team even has someone who works specially as a mass media "architect". "Placing advertisements in the mass media requires strategy. That's what we've trying to do," said Saleh Mukadar, who heads the team.

For instance, he said, placing advertisement too often is not good. Instead he carefully picks a certain day, page and materials before placing the advertisement, he added.

Other candidates, Alisjahbana-Wahyudin Husein, take a different strategy. Head of the campaign team, Budiharto Tasmo, said his team has turned down all offers to place ads due to limited funds. "We have no funds to advertise in mass media," he said.

Budiharto claimed that placing advertisements would not guarantee that prospective voters would vote for them. "We believe in the party's loyalty mechanism... once they're loyal, they'll vote for the candidates," he said.

Head of Alliance of Independent Journalists in Surabaya, Sunudyantoro, said that apart from advertisements, some news items even work as advertisements in disguise. "In many cases we find ads presented as news, and this is not right," he said.

Moreover, many newspapers now have a special page on the regional elections, which mostly covers candidates' activities.

"There's no criticism, only positive discussion, so they're just like ads. This kind of thing only tried to fool voters," said a journalist from a Jakarta-based paper.

Dhimam Abror Jurait, chairman of the Indonesian Journalists Association, said there was a need to set up a firewall between the editorial and advertising sections of mass media to ensure they do not influence each other.

"Although candidates place advertisements in mass media it should not mean a weakening of editorial control," Dhimam said.

Mass media observer from Airlangga University, Kacung Marijan, said the effectivity of placing advertisements in mass media in Indonesia was still low, especially considering many candidates did not ever reveal their political platforms.

Head of the Surabaya Election Supervision Committee, Mahmud Suhermono, said that the committee was monitoring candidates' familiarization campaigns through the mass media. He said there had been indications that several candidates had violated regulations by engaging in campaign activity before the official campaign start.

"We're still studying whether the ads in the mass media violate (the regulations). If proven, criminal charges can be laid," he said.