Mass media to blame?

A dialog aired by TVRI on Nov. 15, (with Yasirwan Uyun as anchor), and rebroadcast by all private TV stations on Nov. 16, was indeed interesting.

The dialog became more interesting when it touched on the Semanggi tragedy of Nov. 13.

The speakers in the dialog were Abdul Q. Djaelani, Clementino Dos Reis Amaral, Cosmas Batubara, Miriam Budiardjo and Hartati Murdaya.

In one part of his talk, Mr. Abdul Q. Djaelani said that "... honestly not only the Armed Forces (ABRI) can beat students, but a student had the guts to hit ABRI personnel with his car. It is not only ABRI that is armed, or so private circles have said that who... (not clear), but also the students had Molotov cocktails. So this is a fact which cannot be... (avoided? -- words were not clear)..."

I have no interest in defending any party, nor do I wish to put anybody in a corner.

How can Mr. Djaelani make a conclusion about the rioting in Jakarta on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14.

Only on Nov. 22, one week after Mr. Djaelani made the conclusion, the Armed Forces announced that four Army members will be court martialled and 144 other personnel from various military units may also be charged for excessive violence when dealing with the protesters.

In another part of the dialog, Mr. Djaelani said the data he put forward were facts reported by the mass media and were therefore irrefutable.

On the other hand, he also said he was "disgusted" by mass media reports because reporters today ignore the journalists' code of ethics and tend to be slanderous, particularly tabloids, which he said contain items which are Naudzubillah... (we seek refuge with God from such a thing...)

As a person claiming to understand the problems of journalism, Mr. Djaelani has in fact violated the code of ethics by making a conclusion that a certain student had the guts to hit the Armed Forces with his car and that some students were equipped with Molotov cocktails.

The data he had came from media reports, yet he said he was disgusted with the mass media. Why does he appear to believe them?

Mr. Djaelani also opined that people hate ABRI because of news reports. How did he conclude that the public hates ABRI? And that this hatred, according to him, stemmed from news reports? If his subjective conclusion is erroneous in the absence of accurate and reliable data, he is in fact spreading false information.

I also disagree with the mass media becoming "the Press Dictator" just as Mr. Djaelani feared. I believe everybody agrees that our media, including reporters, still have their shortcomings.

However, all parties also agree that the government and ABRI have their shortcomings. The students and the community also have theirs.

If Mr. Djaelani considers that the mass media only expose the ugly side of the government/ABRI, this proves that Mr. Djaelani prefers to indulge himself in prejudices and negative thinking.

Even if there are many negative reports, these should not be construed as "an expression of the mass media's hatred of the government/ABRI".

I wish to ask everybody to think clearly without any prejudices and without any wish to blame other parties.

Isn't it true that not even one well-run institution, including the government, ABRI, the press or student-related institutions, is free from any defect and shortcoming?

SOERYO WINOTO

Journalist