Press urged to set up rules for campaigns coverage
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)