Part 2 of 2: Powering media dynamics

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.