'Violence on TV erodes people's sensitivity'
'Violence on TV erodes people's sensitivity'
Bambang Nurbianto and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta
Criminals with nasty scars and tattoos have been regularly
entering the living rooms of millions of Indonesians in the last
year.
The popularity of the crime/reality TV broadcasts -- mainly
showing police arresting, manhandling and sometimes shooting
various street criminals -- are now aired on almost every TV
station.
A sociologist from University of Indonesia (UI), Paulus
Wirutomo, warned that such excessive broadcasting of violence on
TV would have a negative impact on society as the shows would
erode the nation's natural sense of repulsion to violence.
He explained that when people were continually exposed to
violence, they began to accept it as a common occurrence, and
thus are themselves not opposed to using violence if the
opportunity presents itself.
"Slowly but surely, people become desensitized to perverse
brutality. Violent acts then become such a big part of their
knowledge base it naturally affects their behavior," Paulus told
The Jakarta Post recently.
Airing reports of police capturing known criminals itself is
important, he said, as it educates people about the existing
crimes. The reports that show police getting tough in cracking
down on criminals, as long as procedures are being followed, are
also important so that people know that the police are ridding
the streets of criminals.
Paulus, however, emphasized the need for TV stations not to
focus on so much violence. He also advised them to refrain from
showing dead people who had suffered lethal wounds, because such
vulgarity should not be shown to the general public.
The Press Council must also create guideline for TV stations
on how to broadcast criminal reports. The council must also issue
warnings against TV stations which violate the guidelines, he
added.
"As members of the council are selected by media
representatives in the country, the media company must respect
their decisions. I think it is important for the media to make
self corrections," Paulus said.
National Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis also
lamented the media which have failed to abide by general ethics
in airing such violence, regardless of market demand, which the
stations often refer to in justifying the shows.
"The airing of wanton violence will not bring any good for
public education," he explained.
Zainuri also said that the police, as an institution, should
never allow the press to film their operations.
"Any raids are supposed to be carried out undercover. The
presence of journalists carrying a camera will be too obvious and
the raids can be leaked to the targeted criminals which could
allow them to escape," he said.
However, the police are unable to ban the press as it is the
right of the media.
Last year, the police issued a circular prohibiting the press
from interviewing suspects. But now, tens of millions of viewers
can clearly hear the suspects during interrogation on their TV
screens.