Press urged to set up rules for campaigns coverage
JAKARTA (JP): Experts agreed on Friday that the press must set up its own rules to ensure fair coverage of the multi-party elections on June 7.
Communications expert Ade Armando of the University of Indonesia said it would not be possible to expect the government, which is thought to still represent an obstacle to the democratization, to establish the rules. Election contenders would certainly be angered by such a notion, he reasoned.
Newly formed political parties, numbering around 200, are in the process of registering for the poll. There are so far no estimates as to how many of them will be qualified to contest the elections.
"All of the parties will certainly see the media as one of the most effective means for campaigning, (even more effective) than mass rallies," Ade told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a workshop on mass communication held by the Justice Party.
"If the government now tried to set 'the game rules' for parties campaigning in media ... people will condemn it as anti- democratic, anti-freedom.
"Why? Because we are in a stage of democratic transition. The current of 'freedom' is still very strong here," Ade noted.
The media, through journalistic organizations such as the Indonesian Television Journalists Association, the Union of Press Publishers, and the Association of Indonesian Commercial Radio Broadcasters, must agree on a system of ethics for parties campaigning through their media.
He cited the possibility of the financially strong Golkar running full page advertisements in print publications.
"It is the media proponents who must find a balance to the situation. Proportional coverage is important."
Interviewed separately, political observer A.S. Hikam concurred, citing the importance for the press to have a sense of fairness.
"They themselves have to set a fair coverage rule. After all, nobody could tell you (the press) what to report," Hikam told the Post.
"Except for party-affiliated papers such as Amanat, the independent media has to avoid politically biased reporting," he said, adding there is no need for the government to interfere in the process.
"The public will naturally censor publications which present too much campaign material for certain parties," he said.
Amien Rais' National Mandate Party (PAN) owns a tabloid called Amanat, while Taufik Kiemas, the husband of PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri publishes the Demokrat daily.
However, "They will not be effective as a means of campaigning. Who's going to read it? Such publications only have a small segment of readers," Ade noted.
Parties would still aim at the media establishment, he said. "The public will only read media with credibility... there is no choice for the parties but to conduct their campaigns through well known media," Ade said.
He acknowledged the media, too, had its political leanings.
"Kompas daily, for instance, tends to support Megawati and (chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama) Abdurrahman Wahid. It's normal... but the paper does not sacrifice its objectivity." (edt)