Part 2 of 2: Powering media dynamics

Jakob Oetama, Jakarta

Globalization has positive and negative impacts. Information again has become global, instantaneous and interactive. There are ample opportunities for members of the international community to know and understand one another and to cooperate to build mutual understanding and solidarity. All of us are overwhelmed because, in reality, there are nations that are advanced and prosperous while many others are still poor and underdeveloped.

Which attitude shows greater intelligence and usefulness: complaining and blaming other people or rising up to the challenge and being commonly determined to keep up with more advanced nations? All nations live in the same world with all its problems, influences and domination of influence. Why do some nations remain underdeveloped while many others have successfully risen and moved forward? Finally, only we alone can improve our own situation. We must pause to reflect critically. We must not blame other people, even if the world in which we live is yet to be free from various forms of domination.

We are facing a host of dilemmatic problems. Indonesia, for example, has been left behind in science, technology, industry and productivity. In fact, one of the effects of globalization is consumerism, which has permeated every nation. When consumerism becomes so prevalent, a nation's people tend to live beyond their means.

The media are confronted with a very difficult job and every time need a critical stance. They must know how to respond to the reality of a consumeristic lifestyle and patterns. The problem becomes harder when, like it or not, we also live in an age where offers are everywhere.

It is true that, as it is said, we live in an era where attention is being fought for. Information abounds. Like it or not, this information must be picked up, packaged and later sold so that it can attract as much attention as possible.

This reality, as touched upon earlier, affects the development of a definition about a news story, the content of the packaging and the stage as well as the style.

Competing for attention also occurs in the dynamics of the market economy. This is even true in the case of a market economy that, for Indonesia and many other countries, is still under the influence of consumerism as an economic pattern and a lifestyle.

Like it or not, we now come to the organizers of this forum: those dealing with advertising. Advertising, which means introducing and promoting goods and offering goods and services, has from the very beginning been an organic part of the media. The survival of the media relies on subscribers and advertising. In its latest development, advertising has played an even greater role as an income earner.

The position of advertising is not only decisive for the survival of the media, in terms of funds availability, but it is also strategic in terms of position and environment as it allows the media to carry out its mission independently, properly and professionally as well as in a dignified manner.

Of course, it does not mean that everything is problem-free. At least, advertising must also help encourage the public and see to it that they not only consume but also produce things.

This is the reason why we now see an increased presence of public service announcements. These announcements strengthen and nurture a productive attitude, values and living orientation. They encourage people to keep on learning, work hard, build and strengthen mutual confidence and foster solidarity.

Along with advertising and reporting by the media, there is now public relations institutions. The PR institutions, the dailies and other kinds of mass media help broaden the public stage. There is a traffic of information on this public stage. Information is the prerequisite for the existence and the development of a knowledgeable society. How critical and constructive this role will be depends on the ability of the media and the supporting climate, namely the climate of the freedom of information and the freedom to hold talks and discussions.

The role of the media is not confined solely to information. The media must also play a role in organizing discussions and public debates. The community of a country and the communities of nations are made up of groups with different backgrounds and different views and interests.

However, a national and international open stage can continue to exist and play an active role only when the citizens and various social groups enjoy the freedoms and have the opportunity to meet, communicate, hold discussions and reach mutual understanding and mutual confidence. It is through this process that these mixed backgrounds and different interests may come to mutual understanding. On the basis of this mutual understanding and mutual trust, cooperation can be established and living in a meaningfully, peaceful way with differences made possible.

Differences in social and political systems have been reduced. Over the past decade, we have increasingly witnessed more and more nations adopt democracy in market economies. However, democracy and a market economy are not just a system, a network and a legal instrument. Democracy and a market economy, in the present reality, apply to communities with different degrees of progress in social conditions, such as in education, knowledge and economy.

Not only are there differences, but there are also gaps. Gaps in this reality must become a central consideration in keeping up with more advanced nations as well as in building mutual understanding and trust in each country as well as in the international community. Humanitarian solidarity is not only our common guideline but it is something that we must commonly translate into reality.

Information at the present media stage is information that works on a stage filled with rivalry and elbowing for attention, contending not only in voice but also in power. So the media stage is a stage of spectacle. It is attractive as well as entertaining. It is all-entertaining, all-star and all-popular and vulgar. Information is packaged as infotainment, education as edutainment and commercials as informercials.

Meanwhile, international rivalry goes on. Take Indonesia, for example. Indonesia belongs to the least-developed group even among nations in Asia and the Pacific. How can Indonesia be left behind? Isn't it endowed with rich natural wealth?. Isn't it strategically positioned? Don't Indonesians possess a noble and inclusive nationalism? Is Indonesia facing various problems that act as a constraint to progress, prosperity and justice?

If all the problems that we have on the media stage are revealed, this is simply because we would like to emphasize how we, the media community, are also encountering a host of problems. Problems that can be both chances and opportunities. The question is what the media can contribute to help solve these problems and deal with these challenges.

This is the background, and the reason, why freedom of the media is not one-sided, but double-sided. "Freedom from" is the side that constitutes a condition sine qua non for the working of the media in a free, independent and professional manner.

However, "freedom from" must also be complemented by the other side, "freedom for". Free for what? This is rhetoric that has always tickled the media.

The writer is Chairman, CEO of Kompas Gramedia.