Readers become more selective, market tests media's survival

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesians had become more selective in choosing printed media to read, therefore restrictive criteria were not necessary for whomever planned on starting such a business, a press figure said.

Chairman of the Press Council Atmakusumah Astraatmaja told a seminar on Thursday that the situation was reflected in the fact that many of some 700 dailies and magazines which could not survive the tight competition resulting from a media boom over the past few years were those deemed as "abusive and not professional".

There were around 1,300 registered printed media in the country following the fall of the New Order authoritarian regime.

"We, the Press Council, have been told by many parties, including the government, to set criteria for professional media companies and journalists. But we think such a yardstick will hurt people's basic and constitutional rights to be engaged in the press industry.

"The rest is up to the invisible hands of market forces," Atmakusumah said on the sidelines of a discussion entitled Professional Press as the Reflection of Democracy organized by the National Information Agency (LIN) here.

He said there was no reason to kick out broke idealists from the press industry.

Many believe that the national press has stepped beyond its code of ethics and professionalism after it regained its freedom curtailed for three decades during the past regime.

Like her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has several times expressed her disappointment with the more liberal press.

During Thursday's discussion, media people repudiated the critics and rejected the idea of revising Law No. 40/1999 on national press for fears that the amendment would allow the government to curtail press freedoms.

Communication expert Bachtiar Aly pointed out that sensationalized tabloids were a common phenomenon in the press business, even in developed countries, but still they had to comply with the unwritten rules of avoiding stories which could spark communal conflicts.

Atmakusumah said professionalism should lead to a press which supports clean government and good governance and serves as a home to an open and honest public dialog.