The role of the media

I consider the verdicts against the Koran Tempo daily and Tempo magazine as slaps in the face of justice and democracy. These verdicts prove once more that many state officials, politicians and business tycoons cannot -- or for whatever reasons, don't want to -- understand the role of the media in a democratic nation.

The media is guardian of a country's constitution and its democratic system. This means that the media is independent of the state and its institutions, as well as of political parties. Tempo fully understood and accepted this role and acted accordingly.

I am convinced that many rotten eggs in Indonesia would not have been discovered, many corrupt maneuvers would not have been detected and many taboos would not have been discussed in public without publications like Tempo.

It is only through the free press that public opinion can reach those with power; and it is through the press that public opinion can act as public conscience. Giving voice to public opinion is the real democratic function of the press -- if democracy is supposed to have meaning at all.

Looking at the role the press in Indonesia has played in recent years, it is only fair to say that most newspapers have realized and fulfilled their tasks in a responsible manner. It is therefore most alarming that nowadays, powerful people are trying to undermine the freedom of the press at any cost in order to safeguard their own interests.

I miss the outcry of human rights activists and NGOs. Are they not worried that a muzzled press might no longer be in a position to report on human rights abuses?

If the press is muzzled, then who will defend the weak against the powerful, who will stand up for the freedom of the individual against the superior strength of the state and powerful business tycoons?

HILDE MAY Jakarta