Untrammeled media the price of freedom

The Nation Asia News Network Bangkok

When things go wrong, politicians have the tendency to shoot the messenger first. And that is something that happens not only here but also in countries where politicians have little tolerance for public scrutiny.

But that doesn't always mean that journalists themselves are blameless. Indonesia is probably a good example of how the media is dealing with the new challenge that came with the end of the Soeharto era and learning to dodge the bullets. Warief Djajanto Basorie, a Jakarta-based columnist, reflected on the present state of the media in Indonesia during a forum on Asian journalism organized by the Center for Media and Freedom Responsibility in Bangkok last week.

The Indonesian media, shackled for almost three decades under the dictatorial rule of Soeharto, is now considered to be the most free-wheeling in Southeast Asia. While it serves Indonesians' thirst for information during the country's most uncertain political period, its exercise of its new-found freedom has in the process earned the ire of politicians -- and in some cases raised public eyebrows.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri lent weight to the feelings against the Indonesia media recently when she complained to the Press Council that some were disseminating "disproportionate and unbalanced" reports and urged the media to "help create an atmosphere conducive" to efforts to resolve regional conflicts.

Her attitude toward the media was earlier echoed by a group of lawmakers who wanted to put a curb on what they described as "the yellow press", which was spreading "pornography and misleading stories" and constituted "a menace to the future generation".

Unaccustomed to scrutiny by the media, the lawmakers accused journalists of being "excessive with provocative reporting that is tantamount to character assassination". They launched a move to amend the Press Act so that journalists found guilty of "disparaging" the government would be liable to a maximum jail term of seven years.

Basorie noted that both the president and the lawmakers had an axe to grind with the Indonesian media. While the media initially felt sympathy for Megawati for the myriad deep-rooted economic and other problems she had to face, it was quick to give her a thumbs-down.

The Jakarta Post, for example, noted in an editorial that Megawati's "first 100 days in office were more noteworthy for things that did not take place than for what did". It also strongly questioned her leadership, which it said was "a crucial element" that was missing.

Another newspaper, Kompas, conducted an opinion poll earlier this year and found that as many as 75 percent of the people polled said they were not happy with Megawati's economic performance. It's therefore rather understandable that the president has found the Indonesian media to be so hostile.

Other lawmakers have not been spared the media onslaught. Basorie noted that lawmakers campaigning for a tougher press law were mostly those who have become subject to media scrutiny. Some have had their personal lives laid bare, while others were embarrassed by disclosures that they often skipped parliamentary meetings.

However, the media itself is not without fault. The new-found press freedom has given birth to dozens of new publications whose primary concern is circulation more than upholding journalistic ethics. Excesses and even abuses of press freedom have become common and are providing the conservative political elite with ammunition to seek a return to a controlled press.

Thailand went through a similar experience in the aftermath of the political uprising which overthrew the dictatorial Thanom regime in 1973. So did the Philippines following the ouster of President Marcos in 1986. It's only natural that in a society where freedom of expression was suppressed for so long. A sudden outburst of opinion is something that can be expected once the lid is removed.

Curtailing a free press is definitely not the way to make the media more professional or responsible, as The Jakarta Post put it so succinctly in its editorial on the question of Good Press, Bad Press: "In a free press regime, you are bound to get both good and bad press.

But in a controlled press regime, you are only going to get a bad press, a press that indulges in lies, or half-truths, because it is prevented from telling the whole truth."

Like their Thai counterparts during a period of political transition, Indonesian journalists are slowly learning to distinguish between professionalism and sensationalism. Bosarie emphasizes the challenges facing the Indonesian media by quoting Rosihan Anwar, one of the country's most respected media men, who once said that journalists "must make a choice between market journalism and duty journalism".

"Market journalism serves what the public wants. Duty journalism is journalism that serves what the public needs."