Press freedom -- Good or bad?

Press freedom -- Good or bad?

The Indonesian press have enjoyed unprecedented freedom since
the fall of the New Order administration in May. But after the
initial euphoria wore off, press freedom has been constantly
debated as to whether it causes more harm than good. The Jakarta
Post's Edith Hartanto, Ahmad Junaedi, Kornelius Purba, Kosasih
Daradjat, Silvia Gratia M. Nirang and Dwi Atmanta take a look at
the issue.

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian press look destined to play an
eternal tug of war with the government for the right to exercise
freedom of expression.

After a brief honeymoon, in which the press celebrated their
newfound freedom following the fall of the New Order regime in
May, the fears of yesteryear are reappearing.

Government reaction to the press coverage on the violence-
marred Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly in
mid November, a series of riots that had religious overtones and
relentless student demonstrations recently came as a warning to
the media that history could very well repeat itself.

The press hailed the end of the Old Order in 1966 and viewed
it as a victory in regaining the freedom that eluded them during
the seven-year-old Guided Democracy era. But then the New Order
government banned Indonesia Raya daily in 1974.

That was the first blood drawn. And then it became obvious
that the oppressive regime of president Soeharto tolerated only a
"don't-touch-the-regime" type of journalism. So overwhelming was
the government control that even the Indonesian Journalists
Association pushed the press into a corner.

Fresh pressure was applied last month, with the media coming
under fire for allegedly stirring up trouble with its "one-sided"
and "antigovernment" reports.

While criticizing the trend of excessive coverage on
antigovernment rallies, Djaffar Assegaff, chief editor of Media
Indonesia daily, attributed the press' siding with the students
to an emotional linkage between them.

"Many of our current media employ greenhorns who form close
relationships with students. The young journalists have failed to
keep a distance from the students," Djaffar said in an interview
with RCTI on Friday.

Since Soeharto's resignation, the government has issued no
less than 400 new publishing licenses.

A group of people representing a group calling itself the
Islamic Committee for Press Monitoring rallied at SCTV's Jakarta
office to demand the station apologize for its "biased coverage"
of clashes between students and security personnel.

The rallies were staged amid reports that the government had
forced state bank BBD to take over 52.5 percent of SCTV's shares
held by two businessmen, Henry Pribadi and Sudwikatmono, a cousin
of former president Soeharto.

SCTV has failed to settle its Rp 250 billion debt to BBD. The
debt matured early this year.

The Jakarta Post joined the list of targeted media when it
received telephoned bomb threats last month. It turned out to be
a hoax, but the message was clear: a free press is considered
dangerous.

At about the same time Minister of Information Muhamad Yunus
asked the state-owned TV station TVRI and RRI radio station to be
more selective in their news broadcasts to help cool down the
political climate. Yunus did not say this, but it was clear that
he was also taking aim at the national press in general.

"If anarchic demonstrations continue, national unity will be
threatened and international confidence in our government will be
undermined," he said.

President B.J. Habibie has also shown concern at the constant
press coverage of the antigovernment movement and criticism of
the government's sluggish investigation into former president
Soeharto over charges of alleged corruption.

Tyranny

Speaking at an anniversary celebration of state news agency
Antara on Saturday, Habibie warned the press against efforts to
establish a tyrannical power that dictates public opinion.

"Freedom encompasses moral responsibility to promote human
rights and the rule of law. The media should, therefore, abide by
the objective principle in its reports so that it will not serve
the interests of a certain group," he said.

Habibie insisted that the spirit of reform was not intended to
allow a group of people to force their opinions on others through
media campaigns.

Indeed, too much liberty is bound to have excesses and abuses.
But, as noted author Albert Camus put it, without freedom the
press will never be anything but bad.

A poll commissioned by the Post and conducted by the Resource
Productivity Center on 1,050 respondents in Jakarta, Yogyakarta
and Surabaya unveiled that people believe a free press brings
more good than harm to society.

Ninok Leksono, managing editor of leading daily Kompas,
defended the constant coverage of student rallies, saying that
they were part of the ongoing process of democracy in the
country.

But he is also fearful about the costs of the demonstrations
which always involve huge crowds.

"Demonstrations are prone to creating chaos. But we cannot
stop people airing their grievances or disappointment because it
will retract our commitment to democracy," Ninok said.

He insisted that street rallies were just a means for people
to exert their right to freedom of expression which also includes
press freedom.

"There may be suspicion that the press have certain political
interests by covering the student rallies. But I don't think so,"
he said.

Rev. Samuel Purwadisastra, the head of the Synod of Indonesian
Christian Churches, underlines the need for a free press in terms
of the right to tell the truth, particularly in revealing the
reality of religious disharmony.

Disharmony

"It's good that the disharmony is printed in the open, but not
through vulgar exposure. Even though we are not sure whether the
recent unrest was a spontaneous consequence of the repression of
the New Order era, we realize that in the past religious issues
were used to compartmentalize society.

He said in the past, the government glorified unity through
slogans, but forgot that at the grassroots level religious
harmony was really frail.

Mass communication expert M. Budyatna shares the same view,
saying the press does not need to practice self-censorship when
dealing with racial, ethnic or religious issues, as long as it
maintains an objective stance and avoids one-sided coverage.

He also suggested that peer pressure can also ensure that the
press uses its newly found freedom wisely.

"Failure to do so would not only undermine its credibility,
but could be counterproductive and lead to the return of the old
restrictive rules," he said.