Press freedom or fiefdom

President B.J. Habibie's claim that the press have abused their freedom cannot, and must not, go unchallenged. The fact that he used his budget speech, broadcast live nationwide on Tuesday, to make such a scathing attack on the press shows that his intention is to turn public opinion against the press. Government criticism of the press during the Soeharto regime usually heralded a clampdown by the authorities. It remains to be seen whether this will also be the case under Habibie. It was Habibie who, in the early weeks of his presidency last year, proposed that practicing journalists be licensed, an idea that was quickly shot down by many of those in the profession.

Admittedly, some members of the press have abused the freedom they have had since the demise of Soeharto's authoritarian regime in May. But Habibie made it sound as though this abuse is so prevalent, not only among the sensationalist tabloids -- an ugly but unavoidable side of press freedom -- but also in the mainstream press. In arguing that society must address these abuses by the press, he essentially, and conveniently, lumped the sensationalist tabloids together with the mainstream newspapers, many of which have been very critical of his leadership.

The public fortunately are much more discerning than the President would have it, as shown by an opinion poll published by The Jakarta Post on Dec. 13. The poll found that the majority of people still believed that a free press, in spite of its excesses, brings more good than harm to society. More than 60 percent of the 1,050 people polled in three cities felt that, overall, the press have not abused their newfound freedom. Only 30 percent believed that the press have abused their freedom.

The poll results contradict Habibie's claim that the press have been engaging in exaggerated and imbalanced reports, and in the process sown confusion and caused unrest. We have no qualms about his wish to see the press providing rational, fair and accurate information, for these are essential ingredients for a credible press. We have no objection either to the press being assigned the role of helping to preserve national unity. But the government can no longer dictate the meaning of "responsible press", which in Soeharto's era was arbitrarily defined to suit his interests, and used to muzzle the press.

Responsible press in the old days often meant suppressing information in the name of stability and unity. From time to time, the press were forced to turn a blind eye on tragedies and injustices that occurred. The burning of churches was one of many news items typically concealed in the name of preserving religious harmony.

In retrospect, the press's failure to raise the public awareness of these tragedies meant that law enforcement agencies were not under strong enough public pressure to catch the perpetrators. In the name of "unity", the quest for justice was virtually abandoned. As a result, these atrocities continued, and people lost confidence in the government's ability to uphold justice. This lack of confidence reared its ugly head in riots which sometimes had ethnic and religious overtones.

The attacks on churches in the Ketapang district in Jakarta, and the attacks on mosques in Kupang in East Nusatenggara, both in November, were prompted more by the people's lack of confidence in the legal system than by press reports. If the people had confidence in the justice system, they would not be compelled to riot, no matter how appalling the news may be.

It would be too easy to shoot the messenger, as Habibie is obviously proposing, when the going gets rough. But a crackdown on the press is not going to make up for the many injustices that have occurred, and still occur, in this country.

While Habibie recognizes, at least in his speech, the importance of freedom of the press in a democracy, he fell short of what even his information minister Muhammad Yunus has often underscored: that a critical press is vital in a democracy in providing an effective check on the government. A famous 1792 ruling by British Lord Chancellor Thomas Erskine could easily be applied to today's Indonesia: "The press must be free; it has always been so, and much evil has been corrected by it. If the government finds itself annoyed by it, let it examine its own conduct and it will find the cause."