'TVRI' biased towards Mega, says media watchdog
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
State television station TVRI has triggered criticism from election observers for its apparent favoritism toward the incumbent President, Megawati Soekarnoputri, although it is registered as a public broadcaster.
Garin Nugroho of the Media Coalition for Free and Fair Elections said TVRI had turned itself into a vehicle the incumbent could exploit for her own interest, a common practice in the past.
"Although TVRI's lopsided coverage on Megawati is somehow acceptable given her status as the incumbent President, it has failed to come up with a critical point of view on her policies and activities," Garin, a leading film director of international acclaim, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Last Thursday, TVRI broadcast live a ceremony that marked the declaration of a loose coalition between Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS).
Ahead of the July 5 polls, it had also aired live PDI-P's official nomination of Megawati as its presidential candidate and Hasyim Muzadi as her running mate.
Garin said TVRI had frequently broadcast Megawati's activities regardless of their direct relevance to the public, but paid scant attention to her challenger in the Sept. 20 election runoff, front-runner Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and running mate Jusuf Kalla.
"As a public institution, TVRI and private television stations alike must be independent and give equal treatment to all candidates," he said.
In the last month, the state TV station has broadcast a variety of programs featuring Megawati in her capacity as the incumbent President and a presidential candidate.
In addition, TVRI and the House of Representatives' in-house television station Swara have jointly broadcast a month-long program in which all members of Megawati's Cabinet boasted about their ministries' achievements during the past three years, since Megawati succeeded impeached president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif said prior to the April legislative elections that TVRI would remain neutral.
Furthermore, he said TVRI management had drawn up a coverage standard and a code of ethics as guidelines for its reporters to help them stay objective during the general elections.
In February, however, State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi appointed veteran TVRI reporter Yasirwan Uyun as the station's new president director, replacing Hari Sulistiono, who had served for a mere 10 months.
The move triggered speculations that the hasty replacement was politically motivated, and that it was a systematic attempt to use the power of TVRI to promote Megawati.
TVRI chief editor Nunuk Parwati rejected the allegations, saying Megawati deserved broad coverage, given her status as the incumbent President.
"Every media would do the same for Megawati, just like reporters from your newspaper will always report any activities of hers," she told the Post on Sunday.
When asked about the excessive space devoted to political parties that supported Megawati, she said: "The activities of the political parties have been newsworthy -- people are eager to hear about them."
Separately, executive director of the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring Ray Rangkuti branded TVRI as excessive in its promotion of Megawati at the expense of fair and balanced coverage.
"This has been going on since the run-up to the first round of the presidential election. Megawati has been receiving privileges from TVRI," he told the Post.
Ray blamed the flawed campaign law, which strictly define campaigning as the presentation of candidates' policies and political platforms, but do not define "disguised campaigns".
"TVRI could easily reject the allegations by saying it only broadcast Megawati's state programs," he said.