News is hot on television

News is hot on television

News really sells. Private televisions now enjoy the freedom
to cover and broadcast it -- anytime -- which was forbidden by
Soeharto regime.

JAKARTA (JP): There is good news and bad news about the media
industry. First the bad news: a number of publications, including
those born during the initial euphoria of newfound press freedom,
have folded after failing to survive the tough competition.

Now the good news: the electronic press business is thriving.
Many online newspapers and independent news websites are now
available in the Internet -- something that did not exist here
until a few years ago. News has become a hot commodity.

Private television stations are still facing financial
difficulties - that is an old story. However, there is hope of
recovery with the increasing advertising expenditure in media. A
survey by AC Nielsen Indonesia reveals that last year television
grabbed Rp 3.4 trillion (US$465 million) in ad expenditure
compared to Rp 1.2 trillion in newspapers, Rp 186 billion in
magazines, Rp 94.4 billion in tabloids. The potential business
opportunity in television has lured the private sector to plunge
into the area, as reflected in the government's issuance of
licenses for five new TV stations.

Entertainment still dominates television and radio. But news
is getting more and more room.

Gone is the time when news on radio and television was the
monopoly of the government. Turn on the radio on your way to work
and you can hear not only music and traffic reports but also the
latest news.

News programs are broadcast extensively by the country's five
private televisions: RCTI, SCTV, TPI, ANteve and Indosiar.

At 6 a.m. you won't see any video clips, melodrama or movies.
All channels are packed with news.

The public cheers and ad revenue pours in.

"Our news program contributes the second biggest ad revenue
after prime-time movies," SCTV spokesman Budi Darmawan said.

News has become one of the main attractions in television.
Every day each station airs at least two news programs that they
produce themselves, in addition to the two news programs of state
TVRI that must be relayed by private televisions at 7 p.m. and 9
p.m. as stipulated by Broadcasting Law No. 24/1997.

The oldest private television station, RCTI, when it launched
Seputar Jakarta (Around Jakarta) in September 1989, a month after
the station opened, it emphasized it would only present feature
news.

Why not hard news? Because then minister of information
Harmoko issued decree No. 111/1990 which banned private
television and radio stations airing their own news programs.
Later Seputar Jakarta became Seputar Indonesia, and at the end of
1991 it started to present hard news.

"There was positive response from members of the public, they
started to invite us to cover their events," Ray Wijaya, producer
of Seputar Indonesia, said.

And the government did not object to the coverage -- as long
as the news was not critical. "Up until last year, we were still
'partisan' -- well, you knew that. But we have now determined to
be independent and nonpartisan," Ray said. To maintain its
independency, Wijaya said the station would cover events as they
are. "We'll leave it all up to the public (to form an opinion)."

Due to the lack of press freedom in the old days, private
television stations, like newspapers and magazines, were timid in
their coverage until the riots that ravaged Jakarta in May 1998.
Jakarta was on fire, people were gripped by fear and the whole
country wanted to know what was happening. After a day of intense
coverage by private stations, the government intervened and
introduced a TV pool, ordering private stations to relay censored
broadcasts at certain hours.

After Soeharto stepped down as president, his successor BJ
Habibie opened the gate to press freedom. The policy has been
maintained by President Abdurrahman Wahid. Abdurrahman even went
further with a controversial decision to close down the ministry
of information.

Private TV stations have since become bolder. Even though they
are supposed to relay TVRI news at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., they
sometimes air other programs instead, ranging from political talk
show Menuju Indonesia Baru (Toward a New Indonesia) and sports
events to movies and concerts. The TVRI news is often rescheduled
to another time, or sometimes not aired at all.

Since late last year, RCTI has Nol Kilometer (Zero Kilometer),
a news and cultural program that is broadcast every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday at 9 p.m. "We want to serve the public in
our own way," Wijaya said.

So far there has been no objection from the government.

The Broadcasting Law is in fact not relevant to the current
situation as it is against Abdurrahman's idea of press autonomy.
A call for amendment of the law has been made by, among others,
the Indonesian Broadcasting Society. Hinca Panjaitan of the
society said it had sent a copy of its proposed amendment to the
House of Representatives, but considering there are dozens of
other laws which need to be revised, it is unlikely that the
House will prioritize amendment of the Broadcasting Law.

Television is a powerful media with its superiority over print
media. It presents not only sound but also pictures, and the news
can be transmitted instantly in live coverage. What's more, it
also has a much wider coverage than newspapers or magazines.
According to AC Nielsen, the TV viewership reaches 79.3 percent
compared to magazine readership (29.3 percent) newspapers (31.9
percent) and radio (42.1 percent).

RCTI has five news programs with a total of three hours and a
half of airtime, while SCTV sets aside four hours for Liputan 6.
Its lunchtime and evening news features newsmakers in live
interviews.

ANteve has Aktualita, an hourly news break, while Indosiar
broadcasts Patroli, a criminal news program that last for half an
hour, just before noon.

Perhaps because of the tight competition to present the
hottest news, TV stations also give a lot of time to violence and
sensational activities, which is against the code of ethics
issued by the Association of Television Journalists. Some people
have raised concerns over the tendency, calling on the press to
be more responsible in implementing press freedom.

"Some tabloids, and even television shows, tend to be
decreasing in quality, looking at crime or news which caters to
the base instincts of people," Wimar Witoelar, a communications
consultant and one of the country's prominent talk show hosts,
said.

In order to grow in the right direction, television needs
watchdog to monitor broadcasts. Panjaitan said the Indonesian
Broadcasting Society deals only with legislation, and suggested
that viewers themselves act as a TV watchdog. Both Wimar and
Wijaya believe a committee consisting of media people or public
figures, but not government officials, could become an effective
control mechanism.

Overall, however, Wimar is happy with the "excellent"
performance of local news programs on television considering the
news industry is still very young. "Besides, it is better to have
an active media and then design it to conform to the challenges
rather than face a media which is dead ....

"The press is alive and kicking, and that is a very strong
starting capital." (sim)