Press must be credible

The many negative rumors that are circulating give rise to concern. The phenomenon indirectly reflects the lack of credibility on the part of the national press. People generally feel that our press cannot be relied upon to give complete and dependable information.

The question now is: What are the criteria to determine whether or not certain information can be dispensed to the public? Agreement on this point must be achieved as soon as possible. In this era of information, stemming the flow of information could lead to dangers even graver than the negative effects caused by the free flow of information.

One indication that the national press encounters restrictions is the recent statement by Soesilo Soedarman. The coordinating minister for political affairs and security called on people to "pay no attention to the foreign press" because it misleads.

In this era of globalization the foreign press no longer recognizes any geographical boundaries, and much less is it deterred by them. Because of this, to step up our national resilience in the face of the negative impact of the foreign press, only one option remains: provide our national press with authority.

This could be done by deregulating the press sector. The government must have the courage to make a breakthrough and revoke Ministry of Information Regulation no.01/84. This regulation can be used to close down a publication and therefore has far more power than the Dutch colonial administration's Press Muzzling Ordinance, under which publications can be muzzled for only 30 days at the most.

A national press that is free and which operates within the legal framework of this cherished republic is an absolute precondition for enabling Indonesia to compete in an increasingly open world.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta