Press and public go their separate ways after 1998

A'an Suryana and Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The press has a stake in the growing public apathy toward reform, and getting its act together is key to revive faith in the four-year old campaign, according to experts.

They said four years of press freedom has increased the quantity and frequency of reform coverage, but poor quality has caused public interest to fade.

"The media hasn't been able to optimize the freedom it won to deliver better news," said Veven Sp Wardhana, coordinator of the Media Watch Program at the Institute of Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI).

Press freedom here has bred irresponsible news coverage that is either baseless or smacks of pornography.

People demand news that show them how things are, instead of how things appear to be, according to Veven.

He blamed the media for relying too much on statements made by politicians without adding meaning to them. Over time, the public has simply got tired of this style, he explained.

The reform movement between 1997 and 1998 showed the media in a different light. News coverage of the movement was crucial in spreading the reform message and garnering nationwide support.

In late 1997, students seized the opportunity of a government weakened by the economic crisis to push for political change.

News coverage was high, yet restrained, due to self- censorship.

At that time, the government could impose a ban on an outspoken media and force it to fold.

This divided the management of most media organizations as to what extent their coverage of the reform should be, when faced with the possibility of imminent closure.

Journalists working for TV stations owned by the Soeharto family were reportedly pressured to refrain from covering pro- reform news. But they defied orders and pushed ahead anyway.

Sensing the strong undercurrent of the students' reform movement, the media kept testing the limits of Soeharto's regime.

However, it was not until the Trisakti tragedy in May 1998 that the media coverage kicked off in stark favor of the students.

TV footage of a peaceful rally, which turned violent and later killed four Trisakti University students, stoked anger across the country.

In the days after, the press was in its element recording the smallest development, while the nation ushered in a new era.

Soeharto's resignation marked the climax of the students reform movement and of the role the press had in it.

Thereafter, it went downhill. The industry indulged itself in its new found freedom, cashing in on a surging demand for information that was once held taboo.

In one instance, readers snapped up a local magazine that listed the names of companies related to Soeharto's family.

Soon photocopies of the edition hit the streets, selling at three times the price of its original.

The once untouchable first family found itself at the center of corruption charges and rumors of its immense wealth.

And, amid high running anti-Soeharto sentiment, reports like these often paid scant regard to the code of ethics in journalism.

Years of neglect has taken its toll. There are signs the public has begun to dismiss news broadcasted by the media.

Veven and a communications expert at Makassar's Hasanudin University, Andi Abdul Muis, said the media must win back the trust of the people by giving in-depth stories providing greater insight for the public.

Only then could the media guide the public toward the reform agenda.

Analysts said the public's weariness over the reform movement was due in part to its lack of direction.

While toppling Soeharto was a viable target of the 1998 reform movement, the reforms' underlying message was not.

Calls for establishing the sovereignty of the people have been left behind because of the absence of a nationwide consensus binding the government, analysts said.

Consequently, politicians have taken over the reform movement, making it their vehicle for short-term goals.

A free and trusted press could pull back the reforms in the right direction, said Andi, calling the press the "fourth estate" of a democracy.

"The media should once again contribute to the reform movement, by guiding it onto the right track," Andi added.