TV talk is cheap

Public confessions by adulterers, gigolos, prostitutes and drug addicts -- favorite topics on many tawdry American TV talk shows -- have now hit Indonesia, although they are packaged differently. One is RCTI's Buah Bibir -- a weekly talk show involving an anonymous offender, experts on the subject and the audience; the other is Potret, an investigative journalistic program by SCTV which examines the many dark sides of life.

Among the more controversial subjects that Potret has explored include stories about "mall girls" and shop assistants who are available for sex after work. Potret also invites confessors onto the program with their identity obscured, and asks viewers at home to phone in for comments.

Both Buah Bibir and Potret, which have gained popularity, are in trouble after the influential Moslem group Muhammadiyah and Minister of Information R. Hartono, who oversees the country's television industry, blew the whistle.

Hartono's chief objection is that these programs are too "graphic", such as when one of them showed a person injecting himself with morphine.

Muhammadiyah's vice chairman Lukman Harun feels that both programs are not fit for the general audience. He said that while the problems they exposed exist, the problems are being blown out of proportion, giving the impression that they are widespread in society. He fears these programs may justify the behavior they portray, and encourage viewers to be led astray.

Hartono and Lukman's arguments are valid, although scrapping the programs altogether is not the right approach.

The programs raise subjects which were once considered taboo. But with the advance in information technology, such subjects, which for a long time were only discussed in limited circles of mostly experts, can no longer be hidden from the public. Indonesian viewers will learn about such subjects from foreign media anyway. There is nothing worse than allowing foreign media, with their biases and different set of values, to explore problems in our society. Since the nation can no longer sweep these subjects under the carpet, the best course therefore would be to allow and encourage open discussions on the topics.

Television, because of its wide reach, is probably the best medium to discuss these problems, if the intention is indeed to encourage public participation. If we agree on this, then it is only a matter of how we package a program that does not appear vulgar and does not encourage others to pick up the habits in question. This is the difficult part.

Despite rapid modernization, Indonesia has continued to retain many of its traditional values, including those inculcated by the major religions. Our society is not, and probably never will be, ready for the full blown no-holds barred discussions of controversial topics the way they are portrayed on some American talk shows.

Lukman's fear that discussions on the problems could send the wrong signals to viewers should be examined. If his assertion is right, a new survey on adultery would probably be merited. In 1988, a Jakarta magazine's survey found that two out of three married men in Jakarta were cheating on their wives. Going by Lukman's theory, then a new survey would probably find that, today, three in four husbands are unfaithful.

There is also the danger that such programs are leading to stereotyping by society: that all "mall girls" are out for a good time, and that all shop assistants are available for sex at the right price after work.

It is up to television stations to package their programs so they discuss the problems in the right proportion without sending the wrong message to their audience. Unfortunately, judging by the presentation of controversial subjects in Buah Bibir and Potret, ratings, rather than a genuine concern of finding solutions to society's problems, govern these programs.

The Indonesian television industry is still operating under a series of government regulations. The Broadcasting Law passed by the House of Representatives in December has not come into force and therefore the broadcasting code of ethics, mandated by the legislation, has not been drafted. It would be wrong for television programmers to take advantage of this situation. If they fail to instill self-discipline, they will have themselves to blame if society, through the government, decides to impose harsh rules on their activities.