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. (16)