Media told to support operation

Media told to support operation

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Pressure is mounting on the Indonesian media to support the
military offensive against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), with the
government insisting that national integrity should come before
press freedom.

Asking the media to develop what he called patriotic
journalism, State Minister of Communications and Information
Syamsul Mu'arif told journalists on Thursday not to give media
space to the separatists.

Syamsul said information coming from GAM "always contains
insinuation and psywar" with questionable accuracy and motives.

"We ask the media to be wise. Frankly, publishing statements
from GAM will only hamper the (military) operation and alienate
the TNI from the people," he said, referring to the Indonesian
Military.

He acknowledged the efforts of Indonesian media in covering
both sides during the operation to quell Acehnese rebels, but
claimed that the principle was not relevant in the event of
separatism.

"Covering both sides is aimed at developing objectivity. But
when it comes to separatism, it (the principle) might be
damaging," he asserted.

The government has imposed martial law in Aceh, giving the
military extraordinary powers that allow it to, among other
things, restrict the press or to go as far as order a news
blackout. A few days after martial law took effect, the
administrator of martial law in Aceh instructed the media in the
province not to quote statements from GAM.

Almost two weeks since the military operation began in the
province, the Indonesian media appears to have complied with the
instruction.

Syamsul hailed the way the Indonesian media was covering the
military operation in Aceh, but noticed "negative information
which is based on unreliable sources".

Press freedom has been put to the test after the TNI disclosed
a plan to sue Koran Tempo daily and AFP news agency for reporting
the deaths of civilians at the hands of TNI troops in the regency
of Bireuen last week. The decision came after the TNI conducted
an investigation to verify the report.

Later in the day, Syamsul attended a closed-door meeting
hosted by TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto with media chief
editors.

Like Syamsul, Endriartono reminded the media to work "within
the framework of the unitary state of Indonesia".

"In solving the Aceh case, public support plays a major role.
If Indonesian media report news coming from GAM, we should
question the depth of their nationalism," he told reporters after
the meeting.

In a bid to secure international support in the Aceh conflict,
Syamsul said the government planned to hire an international
public relations firm.

"We are weak in international public relations as foreign
press coverage on Aceh has been giving a negative impression of
the operation in Aceh," he said.

Yasril Ananta Baharudin, a member of the House of
Representatives' information and foreign affairs commission, said
the government had failed to gain public support for the
integrated operation in Aceh.

He suggested that the government emulate the United States,
which set up media centers to sway public opinion during its
attack on Iraq.

Another legislator representing the TNI, Maj. Gen. Slamet
Supriyadi, urged the Indonesian media to make national interests
a priority.

"There should be no 'cover both sides' for the sake of
national interests," he said.