Press reporting not impartial in Aceh
Press reporting not impartial in Aceh
Kurniawan Hari and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Most national newspapers and television stations have failed to
uphold the basic principle of covering both sides in reporting
the Aceh conflict, a media watchdog says.
Head of Aceh News Watch Agus Sudibyo said on Wednesday that
monitoring of reports by 13 Jakarta-based print media and all
Jakarta-based television stations from July 28 through Aug. 12
indicated that their reports were biased, as they did not cover
both sides of the conflict.
Most of the media preferred to get information from official
sources rather than ordinary people in Aceh and the separatist
Free Aceh Movement (GAM), he said.
"It is pitiful that our media is not finding alternative news
sources," Agus said when presenting the results of his monitoring
project at a discussion here on Wednesday.
He added that many reports on the Aceh conflict mixed facts
with journalists' opinions.
According to Agus, the monitoring was part of efforts to
promote and build control into the so-termed integrated operation
in Aceh, launched on May 19.
The monitoring, funded by the Institute for the Study of Free
Flow of Information (ISAI), started last July and is expected to
end in December this year. It will publish its evaluations
fortnightly.
The 13 print media monitored were: Tempo, Forum, Gatra, Suara
Pembaruan, Harian Terbit, Warta Kota, Indo Pos, Rakyat Merdeka,
Koran Tempo, Pos Kota, Media Indonesia, Republika, and Kompas.
ISAI also monitored nine television stations: Metro TV, SCTV,
RCTI, TV7, Indosiar, TPI, TVRI, Lativi, and Trans TV.
Ivan Harris, a news editor with SCTV, acknowledged that his
television crews had to remain physically close to the martial
law administration in order to ensure their security.
"Of course we want to cover both sides, but the situation in
Aceh has prompted us to seek protection from the Indonesian
Military (TNI)," Ivan said in the discussion.
Ivan also blamed the rough terrain in Aceh and the lack of
telecommunications services for the failure of his TV station to
run balanced stories.
However, he said that although SCTV decided to stay close to
TNI in Aceh, the station would continue to supervise its
performance in the province.
"We shall ensure that TNI does not carry out human rights
abuses during the military operation in Aceh," Ivan said.
Bambang Sukartiono from Kompas daily and TV 7 TV station
concurred with Ivan, saying that attempts to cover both sides
were difficult to achieve in practice due to limited access to
the separatist movement.
"Enforcement of the military operation has reduced access
within Aceh," Bambang added.
Meanwhile, military analyst Indro Cahyono from the University
of Indonesia (UI) said most media institutions had degraded the
news value of the Aceh conflict by burying Aceh stories on their
inside pages.
Television reports from July 28 through Aug. 8
---------------------------------------------------------------
News Source MetroTV SCTV RCTI TV7 TVRI
---------------------------------------------------------------
Military 39 12 18 15 24
Police 23 - 12 3 8
GAM 5 - 10 1 -
Public 18 2 23 6 12
----------------------------------------------------------------
Source: ISAI
Print media reports from July 28 through Aug. 12
------------------------------------------------
No. News Source Percentage
-------------------------------------------------
1. Military 33
2. Police 9
3. Government 18
4. House 4
5. GAM 5
6. Non-governmental organizations 4
7. International 2
8. Religious leaders 10
9. Public 9
10. Journalists 4
11. Others 2
-------------------------------------------------
Total 100
--------------------------------------------------
Source: ISAI