Press criticized over poor arts coverage

Press criticized over poor arts coverage

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian press is to blame for the
public's ignorance of the development of local arts because of
its superficial coverage, a senior journalist says.

J.B. Kristanto of the Kompas daily said at the National Arts
Congress yesterday that many journalists who cover the arts do
not have adequate knowledge of the subject.

Therefore, their writing or criticism of any artistic event is
below standard, he said. As a result, the readers get only "a
small amount of information on arts" instead of a comprehensive
analysis of works of art, he said.

Kristanto said that the press, both printed and electronic,
tend to give greater coverage to mass art such as pop music and
films because they are more interesting and easier to produce.

These pop arts dominate newspaper and magazine pages as well
as the television screen, he said.

Even the coverage of this easily-digested arts is not
"serious" and tends to focus more on gossip rather than the
content, he said.

The trend has affected the development of local arts,
including traditional, classical and contemporary music. "They
are given no room in the media, and thus become far removed from
the audience," he said.

Kristanto again blamed the pop culture-dominated media for
the stunted development of traditional and classical arts. "Only
a few of the local media pay serious attention to traditional and
rare arts," he said.

Kristanto, however, refused to put the entire blame on the
journalists.

"It's the system of the local press which should shoulder the
responsibility," he said. Nobody, for instance, has hired
competent art critics to produce quality writing on arts in
newspapers or magazines.

"Granted, there are art critics and even artists who write
their own analysis, but readers usually find it hard to digest
their writing," he said.

"Special skills are needed in order for an art critic to be
able to convey his ideas to readers," he said. "Artists tend to
be subjective in their writings, expressing their opinion as
though the readers can understand their every thought."

Kristanto also charged that the managers of press companies
rarely give their journalists the opportunity to gain in-depth
knowledge of arts through formal learning programs.

Many newspaper and magazine editors lack "cultural vision", he
admitted.

He said journalists often learn on the job, "attending
performances, interviewing artists, and reading various books".

To aggravate the matter further, he said, most reference books
on arts are in English and produced in Western countries.

The book History of Arts by E.W Gombrich, and The Oxford
Illustrated History of Theater by Russel Brown are examples of
good reference books, but they focus on the development of arts
in Western countries, he said.

"It's very difficult to find a reference book on Indonesian
arts," he said.

"There is only a limited amount of information available here
for people who want to know about Indonesian theater figures such
as the late Arifin C. Noer, or the history of traditional drama
or dances." (raw)

Schools -- Page 2