Media experts urge journalists to help enlighten the public
Israr Ardiansyah, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Media experts have urged Indonesian journalists to abide by the existing journalistic rules for the sake of maintaining professionalism amid the difficulties produced by the current economic crisis.
Speaking at an international symposium on Media, Security, and Peace: "Crisis Communication and Democracy" in Yogyakarta on Tuesday, the experts said that maintaining professionalism was badly needed to help enlighten the public.
The one-day symposium, which was organized by the Yogyakarta- based Atmajaya University and Germany's Ilmenau Technical University, presented several media experts and social analysts as speakers. They included Herbert Feith from the Australian National University (ANU), Martin Loeffelholz from the Ilmenau Technical University, Astrid S. Susanto from the University of Indonesia, Deddy Mulyana from the Bandung Islamic University, and The Jakarta Post's editor-at-large Susanto Pudjomartono.
Hans-Juergen Bucher, a professor of media science at the University of Trier, Germany, said that journalists must follow the journalistic rules even though the situation may not be conducive for them.
"I can only suggest that journalists act professionally and follow journalistic rules," he said.
He admitted that it was almost impossible for journalists to avoid bias in their reporting. "It's nearly impossible to avoid bias because of the problem of perspective. An outlaw in one person's viewpoint could be a freedom fighter in another's," he said.
"The most important thing is that the media has to understand that it should contribute something to the community. Even though they cannot avoid bias, they should enlighten people," he added.
Bucher said the latest media developments, marked by the presence of the Internet, entailed certain consequences for the media, including a realization that it was becoming a factor of crisis itself.
"The Internet also has its dark sides: the spreading of rumors, hoaxes, false information and bias," he said.
According to Bucher, there is no need for the government to control this kind of media. "The Internet is the most democratic state of the media. Once false information has spread through the Internet, some people will correct it through the Internet too," he said.
Deddy Mulyana, a professor at the Bandung Islamic University (UNISBA), underlined the importance of the media in not helping to spread intergroup labeling in Indonesia.
"The Indonesian people used to be flooded with various labels that tended to discredit certain groups in Indonesia. One example was the "Anti-Pancasila" label. If labeling is intensified by the media, the effect of labeling will be much greater," he said, referring to Pancasila as the state ideology.
"The media should be more careful in treating cultural and political groups that are perceived unfavorably by the government, and in reporting intercultural conflicts among different groups," he said.
Political analyst from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Kusnanto Anggoro admitted that the prolonged conflicts in certain parts of the country had placed the media in a difficult position.
"The media is in a hard position as on the one hand it should conduct investigative reporting by finding out the facts, while on the other it should also publish some responsible reporting as part of the commitment to nation- and state-building," he said.
"Maybe the solution (to such difficulties) is for the media to cover both sides, keep open and clear, and bring the message of peace and peaceful resolution of conflicts, democracy and justice. The media has to educate its readers," he said.