RI's frail press freedom

RI's frail press freedom

Bimo Nugroho
Director
Institute for Studies on the
Free Flow of Information (ISAI)
Jakarta
bimo@isai.or.id

There is much hope that the current press freedom will
encourage Indonesia to achieve its aim in becoming a solid civil
society. But does this current freedom also liberate the media
community?

A Muslim group called the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI)
recently succeeded in persuading private television stations RCTI
and SCTV to stop airing a public service announcement about
plurality in Islam in Indonesia.

The MMI expressed strong concern that the announcement went
against religious teachings, and that it was Muslims, and not
Islam, that were plural.

More recently, the electronic media community is facing the
threat of a ban against broadcasting foreign programs, including
news, which is the result of a broadcasting bill drawn up by
legislators.

All signs of efforts to curb the press need to be watched to
avoid a repeat in history of the wounds inflicted on press
freedom. Anyone certainly enjoys the freedom to issue a
publication. However, the media has grown rapidly during the
economic crisis and faces tight competition leading to rigid
efficiency and even exploitation of workers, including
journalists.

Except for a few media organizations with grants or other
kinds of financial support, those who cannot keep up have had to
close down. The consequences have been unresolved conflicts
within several media companies.

Such conflicts in the media industry have become inevitable,
and have worsened the conditions in several media organizations.
In the capital alone, numerous disputes of various types have
been handled by the union division of the Alliance of Independent
Journalists (AJI) in Jakarta and the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute.

Press freedom, which is still in its infancy, has not
liberated the media community from the fear of being a target of
violence, state regulations or job security.

Capital competition in the information sector has led to the
collapse of several media companies. But it has also encouraged
new experiments in media; some have failed while others have
continued. Creativity is thriving.

Given these contrasting conditions, the task for new non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the media is to
strengthen the freedom of the press and assure that it continues.
Its vulnerability encourages civil society -- represented by
these NGOs -- to work on three platforms: Law enforcement, media
community empowerment and the empowerment of media consumers.

In law enforcement, there are currently two alliances
involved, respectively advocating their version of the
broadcasting bill and the bill on freedom to access information.

The legislation process faced by these coalitions is mainly
hampered by the authorities in charge of passing laws, the House
of Representatives, for several reasons.

First is the many interests contested in the broadcasting
bill, such as that of media owners. Second, the lack of knowledge
of legislators on the essence of these bills. But there is also
the third factor, the lack of experience of activists in working
the intricacies of the legislation process in the House. All
these reasons may have contributed to the results so far of the
controversial articles in the broadcasting bill.

Meanwhile, complaints about the lack of professionalism in the
media still abound, and many people could not care less about
journalists' job security or the threats made to their lives.

Under these conditions, press freedom is still fragile. It
lacks a solid constituent willing to defend it in the face of
threats.

The seeds of press freedom that sprouted when former president
Soeharto resigned can easily be crushed -- either by capital
interest, the political elite or even society, which is
exasperated by a lot of insensible news churned out day by day.

The article is based on a paper to be presented at the
International Roundtable on Journalism and Freedom of Expression,
Sept. 9-12, 2002 in Bali