Openness key to killing rumors

Openness key to killing rumors

By Mochtar Buchori

JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto made an
appeal to the public recently not to believe the rumors that have
been making the rounds in society. At the same time he also
issued an order to crack down on those who have been fabricating
and circulating rumors.

Will this stop people from making up and exchanging rumors?

I am afraid not. Rumors as "unverified information of
uncertain origin (and) spread by word of mouth" generally emerge
when events of great public interest occur in a society and no
credible explanation is offered for them by the existing
institutions in charge of disseminating information.

Rumors are thus, in a sense, triggered by unsatisfied public
need for information worthy of public belief. As such, rumor is a
"natural phenomenon" in any closed society or in any society
deprived of credible information.

Living among unexplained mysteries is, according to the late
Carl Sagan, like living in a dark world, and in such a situation
rumors may look like a "candle in the dark."

Is it true that rumors have thrived in our society lately? I
don't know. But if this is indeed true there are, in my opinion,
real reasons for it. There have been many important events in our
society lately that up to this moment have not been
satisfactorily explained by the authorities.

The latest was the sudden dismissal of the attorney general.
The explanations offered thus far by government agencies and
officials are felt by the public to be totally unconvincing.

Another important event was the announcement of the members of
the new Supreme Advisory Council. What puzzled the public was
that the new body includes many personalities from the Soeharto
regime.

In the public's eyes this is entirely contrary to the spirit
of true reform. And the explanation given by the government is
very unsatisfactory. It was only stated that the presidential
decision in this case was based on recommendations made by the
House of Representatives, which in most people's eyes is
politically defunct, and also on recommendations from the three
political groupings, that is the United Development Party (PPP),
Golkar, and the Indonesian Democratic Party's Soerjadi faction.

It is widely known that these three political parties are
nothing more than instruments of the old regime, and as such
their commitment to the reform movement is at best suspect. And
the public wonders why not a single representative from the
reform camp, that is groups which have consistently supported the
students in initiating and sustaining the reform movement, has
been included in this body.

Has the government ever asked people like Amien Rais, Emil
Salim, Arifin Panigoro or Kemal Idris to join this body?

It is these unanswered questions that make people infer --
rightly or wrongly -- that Soeharto forces are now making a
political comeback?

Some people have even concluded that the reform movement has
come to a halt and that counterreform forces are on the ascent.

The sharing of such views among people who yearn for
explanations which can be accepted by their common sense
constitutes then the seeds of rumors.

It can thus be stated that, generally speaking, rumors do not
arise out of a vacuum. Rumors are expressions of the public's
yearning for credible information concerning events they consider
important.

As such rumors cannot be extinguished by concerted efforts on
the part of the government or the Armed Forces.

Rumors can be effectively countered only by credible
information. Even if government officials tell the public one
thousand times a day that all rumors circulating in society are
entirely false or baseless, as long as their explanations of
important events do not conform with the basic tenets of common
sense, the public will not buy these explanations.

In the absence of credible explanations, certain sections
within the public then write their own scenarios explaining what
has happened based on their own interpretations of each event.

Certain rumors may be entirely untrue. These are rumors that
are likened by Shakespeare to "a pipe, blown by surmises,
jealousies, conjectures." But it is not unthinkable that some
rumors contain some truth. Such rumors are thus partially true,
and only partially false.

And it is possible that certain "rumors" contain more truth
than lies. The ratio between truth and lies in any rumor can be
ascertained only through careful verification. And this act of
verification, if done openly and honestly, will without doubt
lead toward the revelation of the true causes of important
events.

It should be mentioned at this juncture that rumors are not
the monopoly of the public. Official information agencies also
create and disseminate rumors. The difference is that when rumors
come from official agencies, they are not called "rumors" but
"disinformation". Such rumors are usually created to mislead the
public, to make the public believe what, according to their
common sense, is not believable.

If Wiranto is serious in his desire to combat rumors then he
must start by instructing his subordinates to be more honest and
open with the public. He would do well to remember that the
public may not know all the facts related to important events,
but as long as it has common sense, it is not blind nor deaf
toward what is going on in society. And no force in the world can
take away this common sense.

The writer is an observer of social and cultural affairs.