Opposition grows against decree on TV airtime cut
Opposition grows against decree on TV airtime cut
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although most TV stations have agreed to implement a ruling which
requires them to reduce airtime as part of the government's
energy conservation drive, concerned parties intensified pressure
on Saturday to withdraw the controversial ruling.
They said that the ministerial decree on a reduction in TV
airtime issued by the Office of the State Minister of Information
and Communications was a restriction to press freedom.
"The ruling is seen as an experiment by the government to curb
freedom of the press," mass media observer Hinca Panjaitan said
at a seminar on the issue.
He said that the government was apparently trying to turn back
the clock to the old days under the New Order regime, which
imposed a tight control on the press, thus constituting a serious
threat to the hard-earned press freedom here.
The mass media here has enjoyed the freedom to deliver news
stories without fear of being shut down by the authorities
following the resignation of president Soeharto.
The Office of the State Minister of Information and
Communications issued a weeks ago Ministerial Decree No. 11/2005,
ordering all broadcasting stations to cut their airtime in a bid
to conserve the use of energy in the country.
The ministerial decree, which will be in effect for six
months, requires all TV and radio stations to sign off from 1
a.m. to 5 a.m. However, all live league soccer matches contracted
between Indonesian television stations and foreign parties are
exempted.
Many TV and radio stations had been operating 24 hours a day.
Hinca said that the decree must be revoked because it was
against Press Law No. 40/1999.
The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) had also
previously protested the decree, saying that such an instruction
could be viewed as an effort to meddle in the country's
independent broadcasting industry.
It added that according to Law No. 32/2002 on broadcasting,
the government has no authority to intervene in broadcasting
stations as it was not permitted to restrict the public's right
to information.
Customers of cable TV operators have also protested the
cutbacks.
The controversial decree was a follow-up of the presidential
instruction on a nationwide campaign for energy conservation as
the government is struggling to cover the soaring fuel subsidy
amid rising international oil prices and surging energy
consumption at home.
So far, the government is resorting to the energy conservation
campaign to keep the subsidy affordable, rather than taking the
politically sensitive measure of cutting back the ballooning fuel
subsidy and raising fuel prices.