TV stations advised to air crime shows

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Following the circular issued by the National Police discouraging television crews from joining police operations for reality shows, telecast experts advised TV stations to continue airing crime shows, but with more restrictions.

Bimo Nugroho of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) argued that such shows can be educational.

"Those crime shows teach us to be alert and we come to know that our neighborhood is not immune to such crimes," he told The Jakarta Post in an interview on Thursday.

Earlier this week, the police chief made it clear to his subordinates in all provinces that the media should not be invited to observe police operations. The circular, which was also made available to all TV stations, stated that the police objected to the violence being highlighted in the shows.

Many education experts and viewers have complained about the unedited footage of the reenactment of the crimes, the depiction of the condition of the victims as well as the brutality of the police in handling suspects. The shows are aired during various time slots by almost all 10 private TV stations, including the time when children would still be awake.

Despite numerous complaints received by the police and published in letters to the editor in newspapers, crime shows still get high viewer ratings.

The high ratings, which automatically invite commercials, makes the crime shows profitable for TV stations and would help the stations to develop, according to Bimo. "And it is KPI's duty to help TV stations to develop themselves".

But, he added, the stations should stick to the rules of the game, which are: no brutality or blood; no reenactment -- because criminals or would-be criminals could learn from it -- and not to air the shows during prime time.

"These shows have to be aired after 9 p.m. so that children would not be able to watch them. Some TV stations have already moved their programs to the evening hours," Bimo said.

Ray Wijaya of the Indonesian Television Journalists Association criticized the police for behaving violently on camera.

"I've seen a policeman slap a suspect on TV. Maybe he didn't realize that he was being recorded. The police therefore should behave themselves, not just criticize the TV stations."

Indosiar TV station spokesman, Gufroni Zakaril, said that his station would continue to air police-success stories on Patroli, but would be more careful in choosing the content of the show.

"Our crime show never shows police brutality as we edit it carefully. We have told our journalists and editors not to show images that would upset viewers," he said.

However, Gufroni said that his station would not move its program to the evening hours as it would affect the scheduling of all the TV programs.