New mass media bill seen as superflous in reform era

New mass media bill seen as superflous in reform era

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Since the strongman Soeharto fell from grace in
May, Indonesia's mass media have enjoyed unprecedented freedom in
line with the vigorous demands for political reform.

Adding to the buoyant mood, Minister of Information Muhammad
Yunus lifted a 1984 ruling that gave the government the right to
revoke press publications' licenses. The government also
simplified licensing procedures and abolished the requirement
that all publications must obtain recommendations from the
Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) and the Union of Press
Publishers.

Yunus also deregulated radio news broadcasting by allowing
private television stations to produce and broadcast their own
news and that they would be required to relay the state-run TVRI
broadcasts for state ceremonies in addition to two daily news
broadcasts.

The government also cut the number of compulsory state-run RRI
radio news broadcasts from 14 per day to four, including one
regional news bulletin.

But Yunus' latest move, drafting a mass media bill, which will
regulate print media, broadcast media and the film industry, has
raised some eyebrows.

"A mass media law should be a comprehensive and
multidimensional law," Yunus said in September when disclosing
the controversial plan.

The newly elected chairman of the Indonesian Film Artists
Union (Parfi), Sys N.S., strongly opposes the mass media bill.

"Logically, it's impossible to simply combine the three
different media, printed media, broadcast media and film, under
one law," he told The Jakarta Post.

At present, he said, the national film industry was facing
many problems that the government could help solve, such as
funding shortages, so that it could get back on its feet again.

"Regulating different fields of media will only lead to
confusion. Each media already has its own laws and drafting the
bill would not be as simple as bundling three books together,"
Sys said.

He suggested that the government concentrate on improving each
law, such as the broadcast law and help revitalize the film
industry by, for example, retracing the "disappearance" of about
Rp 100 billion (about US$13 million) collected from imported
films.

"It would be much better if the government investigated where
the money is, who might have stolen it, or what it has been used
for.... it will mean a lot to inject fresh blood into the film
industry. The money, if it is recovered, could be used to make
many good films or TV series. There is no need to make a big plan
such as drafting a mass media bill," Sys said.

He was referring to the Care National Film Committee's demand
that the attorney general investigate the funds allocated for
film development collected from imported films since 1974.

Parfi is not the only organizations which has raised
objections to the proposed mass media bill.

The Indonesian Television Journalists Association (IJTI) has
also said that drafting a bill that encompassed different media
was risky.

IJTI chairman Haris Jauhari pointed out difficulties in
characterizing print and broadcast media reports.

"Print and broadcast media's reports are completely different
in character, so it's difficult to regulate them in one law,"
Haris told the Post.

Instead of drafting the bill, he urged the government to
revise the broadcasting law.

"There's still many loopholes of the (broadcasting) law," said
Haris, an executive producer at the private Televisi Pendidikan
Indonesia (TPI) TV station.

"The law's contents are mostly about obligations and sanctions
but lack any provision for rights and protection. We want the
law's philosophy to be changed to minimize the government's
control," added Haris, the host of the evening talk show Aspirasi
on education-oriented TV station, TPI.

He was referring to the controversial broadcasting law No.
24/1997, the product of the New Order administration, which
tightly controls broadcasting media.

The broadcasting law was passed by the House of
Representatives last year after being deliberated a second time.
The first bill, which was presented to the House in December
1996, was vetoed by former president Soeharto.

Under the broadcast law, private TV stations are given 10-year
renewable licenses while radio station licenses are limited to
five years.

The law also requires the five private TV networks -- RCTI,
SCTV, TPI, ANteve and Indosiar -- to continue paying royalties to
state television station TVRI, but they will have greater
freedom, such as to produce and air their own news, in addition
to having to relay certain TVRI news programs.

The chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI),
Lukas Luwarso, also rejects the concept of a mass media law.

"Even the present press law imposes many sanctions,
threatening press people, instead of protecting them... We are
afraid that the government only wants to maintain control of the
media with the proposed bill," Lukas told the Post.

He criticized the government's way in drafting the mass media
bill. "It seems like the government has no intention to ask for
our (press organizations) participation," Lukas said.

Cautious

Mass communications expert Ashadi Siregar said that the
drafting of the mass media bill should be done with great
caution.

"It is feared that the bill will be used as a means to further
control the media instead of giving them more freedom to
guarantee people's right to get information," he said.

Ashadi said there was no need for the government to interfere
in institutions like the media by trying to regulate them.

"Anyone who is not satisfied or feels discredited by media
reports can simply take the case to court, or settle the matter
out of court," said Ashadi, a lecturer at the University of
Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta.

"If the government wants to control the media, it can set up
its own media like TVRI or RRI," he added.

Ashadi said that media freedom was part of the present social
and political dynamics and that it was unfair if the government
planned to curtail the media's development like when Soeharto was
still in power.

"Media should strengthen themselves to assure that people will
get their rights to information," said Ashadi, who is also the
head of the communications department at Gadjah Mada's School of
Social and Political Sciences.

Although the government has lifted the 1984 ruling, the
minister of information still retains the power to suspend the
license of publications that violate the terms of their permits
for a "certain period of time".