Private stations suffered during New Order

Private stations suffered during New Order

By Brillianto K. Jaya

JAKARTA (JP): The oppressive political climate in the New
Order era meant that the freedom of private television stations
was severely hampered. They had to bow to the wishes of the
authorities and toe the official line on all sensitive issues.

The authoritarian ruler took repressive measures against
private television stations to defend his own existence.

In 1997, the then Minister of Information R. Hartono ordered
ANteve and SCTV to cancel their plans to broadcast live then
finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad's explanation of the liquidation
of 16 banks to members of the People's Consultative
Assembly/House of Representatives. The broadcast had already been
scheduled and had the approval of the House. The cancellation was
clearly the result of an intervention by the New Order
authorities, who did not want the public to know the details
behind the liquidation of the banks, some of which were owned by
Soeharto's relatives.

The press was also under pressure when Harmoko, now the House
speaker, was the minister of information. Like the print media,
private television stations could not spread independent
uncensored information. All information, news, and programs which
were not running according to government policies were silenced.
Through the Ministry of Information, Soeharto developed an
authoritarian government to fulfill his dictatorial vision.

Examples abound of how the Soeharto government, through
Harmoko as information minister, stopped private television
stations reporting on the arbitrariness of the power holders and
the government apparatus, and human rights violations by the
Armed Forces. Private television was precluded from reporting on
matters considered sensitive to the government's image. It is not
surprising that, to protect their own livelihood, private news
programs rarely covered such issues, and if they did, only
touched the surface. The result was that there was no in-depth
reporting or investigation of questionable government actions or
official misdealings.

The government bared its iron hand when it banned the talk
show Perspektif on SCTV in 1995. Perspektif, hosted by Wimar
Witoelar, featured sometimes controversial comments by prominent
figures and political observers. The program did not fit the
official vision, and was thought by those in power to have the
potential to change the thinking of the Indonesian community to
the government's detriment. The authorities were afraid that
Perspektif would become an alternative media forum for the
development of the opposition.

The program Debat Terbuka (Open Debate) was another similar
case. In the same year, the Ministry of Information censored a
session of the ANteve program because the government guests were
unable to answer questions concerning the monopoly of national
films. During the debate, Dewabrata, the Ministry of
Information's director general of radio, television and film, and
Johan Tjasmadi, chairman of the National Development Film Board
(BPPN), were unable to give satisfactory answers to questions and
statements by chairman of the arts council Salim Said and a
legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party Sophan Sophian.
But the program itself was not banned. It continues to be
broadcast at the end of each month and is hosted by Fahmi Idris,
the current minister of manpower.

The New Order government allowed an open dialog program
featuring representatives from opposition parties and members of
the public during the election campaign of 1997. However, the
program was no more than a political chit-chat. The forum was
prearranged so as not to discredit any election contenders or
damage the government's dignity.

The last minister of information in the New Order government,
Muhammad Alwi Dahlan, an expert in communications, continued to
hinder the free flow of information on television. One method was
the compulsory relay by all private TV stations of TVRI news at 6
a.m. and 2 p.m. every day, starting May 16, 1998, following the
bold reports on the May riots by private news programs.

In the reform era, no form of intervention or censorship is
popular. Although private TV stations are compelled to join the
TV Pool (coverage of all kinds of state ceremonies and government
news relayed from TVRI every night at 9 p.m.), station managers
keep hoping that information minister Muhammad Yunus will create
a freer news environment, without any conditions attached.

The writer works with a private television station.