Media needs help to improve themselves toward professionalsm

Ignatius Haryanto , Jakarta

Last month, Tempo weekly news magazine received two different decisions in settling the problems caused by its coverage. The two decisions from two different institutions suggests two different approaches in settling press complaints.

In the first case, Central Jakarta District Court found the magazine was guilty for publishing false material and libel over businessman, Tommy Winata. In the other case, the Press Council found that the Tempo articles did not adhere to the Indonesian journalist code of ethics in its report about PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL).

The results of these two institutions over Tempo were also totally different. The Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Tempo's chief editor a one year jail term, which was based on the criminal code. Meanwhile the Press Council told the magazine to publish a two-page correction article in its next edition, a decision which is based on the press law.

For time frame, it is also worth to compare, Tempo-Tommy Winata's case had been ruled in the court for one and half years, while Tempo-TPL case was settled only in 5 weeks.

We must admit that TPL was very wise in using the Press Law settlement mechanism in tackling press complaints, and not using the criminal code to sue the magazine weekly. This mechanism is far better since the Indonesian Press Law clearly rules the role of the Press Council in handling such matters. No doubt about the fact that the press -- Tempo is just an example -- often acts unprofessionally.

We also don't know what's the real reason behind TPL using the Press Council for settling their press complaint, whether the company had their own strategy to get public sympathy or not, but one thing for sure is that we should commend them. Using the press law mechanism and the press council settlement will give other people or institutions an alternative for having a win solution over the press. TPL is only one example we should note to inspire others in facing press complaints elegantly.

We cannot just conclude that by bringing the case to court will give harder punishment for the press rather than the Press Council, because actually if the press had to admit that they made a mistake they would have to admit it openly to their readers. Although, many people still don't believe that such a punishment mechanism is suitable, but it is true that media people would be very embarrassed in admitting their faults.

The media people sometimes resist to admit their faults, since they fear that they will loose their credibility of their readers. However in the long run, it will raise media credibility, since readers (in the case of print media) will notice that media people are just like other human beings, who can make a mistake. Therefore, talking about professional media is no longer talking about the media people who never make mistakes, but people who are ready to admit their faults.

Of course this statement does not mean they will tolerate any mistakes in the future, but at least, when media people are brave enough to acknowledge their mistakes, there are two procedures they will follow.

Firstly, the journalists will try their best to minimize their mistakes in their work. Secondly, if the journalists already try hard to avoid making mistakes, but they still fail, there is room for admitting their mistakes.

Another lesson learned from the Tempo-TPL case is the role of the Press Council, which should be stronger in the future. Since we have an independent Press Council from 1999 to now, all media stakeholders, should step up their efforts in maximizing the role of the council. By promoting the institution and its role to other regions all over Indonesia, it will help much in educating people and other media stakeholders in using the Press Law mechanism.

When we are talking about Press Ethics, we must admit that our Press Ethics are too simple and short. More elaboration is needed to anticipate the complexity of the press environment today.

Again, learning from the two different decisions from two different institutions over the Tempo case, it will be much more efficient and for anyone who wants to complain about media coverage by using the Press Law mechanism.

The reason is very obvious: The Press Council settlement will take the issue within the press mechanism, and then it will take shorter time, and cheaper budget, both for the media, and to those who lodged the complaint.

However if people still prefer to go to court, where the criminal code will be likely used instead of the press law, of course it is their right to do so.

Quoting Eduard Depari, a senior corporate adviser of TPL, when he spoke to the journalists after the Press Council decision, "There are no winners or losers in this case; the victor is the country's press freedom." When we agree that press freedom should be secured, we should really work together to maintain our press freedom, including improving the quality of journalists and the media.

The writer is a researcher and vice executive director of Institute for Press and Development Studies in Jakarta.