'TVRI' biased towards Mega, says media watchdog

'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.