No ban on TV news coverage: Govt

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Alwi Dahlan denied issuing an order banning television stations from airing news reports of the recent riots and growing reform movement yesterday.

But he acknowledged that a television pool had been set up to reduce the number of field reports covering the riots, saying that "unproportional reporting" only served to insight further commotion.

"I think there has been a misunderstanding. We did not ban news items on political issues or the reform movement," Alwi said here yesterday morning.

"We only said that new coverage of the unrest should be reduced and presented in a balanced and proportional manner.

"Why? Because when the unrest began, television news reports served only to fuel greater frenzy, and that is not the purpose of reform is it?" he said.

Alwi claimed that all five private television stations had freely agreed to cooperate with state-owned TVRI over television coverage.

Ministry spokesman Indrawadi Tamin explained that the pool was setup on Friday "to help create an atmosphere of calm and order following the unrest."

Indrawadi maintained that the establishment of TV pools was a normal occurrence during events of major public interest.

He explained that under the pool, each private television station will provide a television crew to TVRI which will coordinate the day's coverage.

TVRI will then broadcast daily reports which will be relayed on all private television stations from 6 to 6:30 a.m. and from 2 to 2:30 p.m.

"The focus of the coverage is the unrest and the impact it has caused. So it is not by any means intended to restrict news coverage," Indrawadi remarked.

Despite these arguments, strong criticism of the television pool continued yesterday with the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) saying that it was a clear suppression of the truth and violated press freedom.

"Television audiences have the right to receive honest, clear, objective and independent information," the foundation said in a statement signed by executive chairperson Tini Hadad.

"The television pool manipulates information because it does not reveal what is truly happening to consumers and the general public," the statement read.

Separately, the Communication Forum for Students, Alumni and Lecturers of the Institute for Economics also condemned the establishment of the pool.

"Ensuring uniformity of information on a national scale to advance the interests of small group intent on maintaining the status-quo is an attempt to weaken the reform process," the statement said. (mds)