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".