`Trijaya' FM Radio denies talk show censorship
JAKARTA (JP): Trijaya FM Radio denied allegations yesterday it scrapped its live radio talk show due to censorship.
Azhar Nashoba, the chief executive officer of PT Radio Trijaya Shakti, told The Jakarta Post yesterday the government made no attempt to stop the program popular for its coverage of sensitive political issues.
He said the management was just trying to upgrade the Jakarta Round-Up program.
"We have broadcast this talk show for four years now and we are worried our listeners will get bored," Azhar said.
He added that listening to radio is like eating something appetizing, "You better stop before getting full."
The Trijaya radio station, FM 104.7 MHz, terminated the talk show following interviews with Goenawan Mohammad, the chief editor of the banned Tempo magazine, and Aberson Marle Sihaloho, an outspoken legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
Noorpud Binarto, a host of the talk show, said that the suddenness of its termination on Oct. 6 had created speculation that it was due to the straightforward interviews.
Noorpud said the show, aired for three hours daily from Monday to Thursday, had been scrapped in efforts at self-censorship, after airing the two guests' views on the media bans and the current political system.
Another interviewer, Derek Manangka, a journalist of the Media Indonesia daily newspaper who works part-time at the radio station, denied any government pressure had been exerted.
"The talk show has quite a lot of imitators. Trijaya plans to create a better one," Manangka said.
Republika reported yesterday that Roekmini Koesoemo Astoeti, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, and legislator Ida Yusi Dahlan of the dominant political organization Golkar, were concerned over the program's being taken off the air. They both said they missed it.
In a bid to placate its listeners, Azhar guaranteed that the new program will be better than the Jakarta Round-Up. He emphasized that no radio program has been banned in Indonesia.
Referring to a survey done by an independent research body, he said Trijaya currently has 122,000 listeners around the greater Jakarta area who tune in to the radio station more than an hour every day.
In a related development, Sabam Sirait, a member of Commission I of the House of Representatives, said he was sure something questionable was behind the termination.
Sirait refused to speculate further, saying that it would be best for him to raise any questions with Minister of Information Harmoko during a meeting next month with Commission I, which is in charge of information affairs.
Under a ministerial decree, the government prohibits privately-run radio and television stations from producing their own news programs. The stations relay the news programs broadcast by state radio and television stations.
This policy has motivated broadcasters to rely on their own in-depth and featurized reporting, as well as live interviews.
When asked about the widely-reported controversy over the scrapped program, Azhar simply said, "Let's assume that it will result in free global promotion for our radio station." (09)