President Habibie's press warning gets mixed reactions

President Habibie's press warning gets mixed reactions

JAKARTA (JP): Political observers Andi Muis and J. Kristiadi
have said that President B.J. Habibie's concern over the abuse of
press freedom were groundless, but Muslim scholar Abdurrahman
Wahid said he shared Habibie's opinion, pointing out that he
himself had become a victim of the press.

Andi, who is a communications law professor at Hasanuddin
University in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, said that he did not
think the press had gone "too far." But he agreed that the recent
criticism should serve to strengthen the press and the country.

"No single country in the world was ever destroyed by its
press freedom," he said, quoting a recent statement by the
Minister of Information Muhammad Yunus.

Kristiadi, who is a researcher at the Centre for International
and Strategic Studies (CSIS), described the national press'
response to its newfound freedom as "normal." He pointed out that
the public was now able to discern the credible media from those
which he termed "bombastic".

"Untrustworthy elements of the media will be abandoned by its
readers and eventually die," he said.

He called on Habibie's administration not to attempt to
control the press, a call echoed by Andi Muis.

"A repressive approach through the revocation of publishing
licenses, as the government used in the past, would only ruin
Habibie's credibility," he said, adding that his tolerance of
press freedom was the only selling point that Habibie still had.

On Tuesday, Habibie said the abuse of press freedom had
reached an alarming level.

While delivering the 1999/2000 state budget to a plenary
session of the House of Representatives, Habibie reminded the
media of its responsibility to preserve national unity, which he
said was important in the context of building a modern civil
society.

He pleaded for media employees to act professionally and to
consider what constituted violations of the press code of ethics.

Abdurrahman, who is better known as Gus Dur, said Habibie's
remarks should do the press good.

Abdurrahman charged the press here with sensationalism and
blowing small matters up into big news.

"I myself am a victim of the press... my every move is
watched and sometimes the press land me in uncomfortable
situations when they misinterpret my words," he said after a
ceremony to receive S$12 million (US$7.2 million) in humanitarian
aid from the Singapore government at his residence in the
Ciganjur subdistrict of South Jakarta on Wednesday.

"Sometimes my words are twisted, too," he added.

However, Abdurrahman disagreed with any form of press ban.

"I do not want any press publications to be banned because I
think the media is playing an important role in this country's
struggle during the reform era."

"But I believe that the press must be open to criticism and be
willing to change its bad habits... for the sake of this
nation," he said.

He also called on the public to help control the press.

He called on the media to be professional, independent and not
to be used as a tool to serve the interests of certain parties.

Andi speculated that Habibie's worries about the abuse of
press freedom arose after senior media figures recently stated
their wish to become the fourth force in Indonesia after the
executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government.

Andi agreed that press publications should not be banned or
face having their publishing licenses revoked, and said that the
press code of ethics and criminal laws were adequate to bring any
errant writers and publications to heel.

"The most important thing is that journalists observe their
code of ethics," he said. (imn/edt)