RI press violates own code of ethics

RI press violates own code of ethics

JAKARTA (JP): While the Indonesian press is constrained by a
blatant lack of freedom, it has made the situation worse by
ineptly violating its own ethical code.

The problem became an impromptu topic at a seminar yesterday
on the closure of newspapers, with particular reference to
Indonesia Raya," which was banned in 1958 by president Sukarno's
government and again in 1974 by the current administration
following a student uprising.

Atmakusuma, the former managing editor of Indonesia Raya,
said that the mass media should not expose the identity of
criminal suspects because "it is against international law to do
so. The press should protect all people from defamation."

"This protection has not been included into Indonesian press
law," Atmakusuma said.

Citing examples, he first pointed to a recent TV broadcast of
the mother of a man who had allegedly stolen Rp 1.2 million
($511,945) from a Panin Bank branch office in Surabaya. The TV
network joined police officers in asking the woman to appeal for
her son to return home with the loot.

"And newspaper clippings have been manipulated by police to
form the basis of their charges against three lecturers from
Satya Wacana University in Salatiga, Central Java, to support the
reasons of their dismissal," Stanley said.

Atmakusuma said that the newspapers involved in the lecturers
case had violated the right of not exposing in public people whom
the police had blacklisted.

He also said that the press has blocked information to the
public and news media has been controlled excessively.

News reports have also been manipulated by media that are
under the tight control the owner, Atmakusuma said. The policy
has curtailed press freedom.

Mashuri, former minister of information, who banned the
Indonesia Raya newspaper in 1974, said that the condition of the
press nowadays is different from the time when he held the
position.

"We were then in an emergency situation which I expected to
end in 1976. But judging by the fact that the media ban still
applied in 1994 (when the magazine Tempo was banned) the
emergency conditions seem to have dragged on somewhat," he said.

Mashuri urged journalists not to continue dreaming about
freedom of the press because the press is only a small part of
the whole political system.

Wimar Witoelar, a noted television talk-show host, who
moderated the seminar, said that the question about to whom the
press is responsible is too dangerous to answer.

Atmakusuma said it is obvious that newspapers are responsible
to the readers, not to other organizations or individuals and
much less to the Ministry of Information.

Mochtar Lubis, the chief editor of the defunct newspaper, said
that when Indonesia Raya was still riding high Indonesia enjoyed
sufficient freedom of expression.

"Many newspapers were able to contribute substantially to the
nation's development," Mochtar said.

He was proud that his paper had carried an investigative
report on the corruption in the state-owned oil company Pertamina
in the 1970s.

Mochtar said that the report was not motivated by selfishness
but by a mature desire to save the state-owned company.

Stanley Prasetya Adi, a member of the Association of
Independent Journalists, speaking about the good-old-days,
reminded the participants of a time when a journalist was granted
an interview by President Soeharto, an event that is now
completely unheard of.

Stanley said today the burden of giving information to the
public has increased, and that many journalists have been afraid
to defend the people's right to know what happens in the country.
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