Young reporters lack national pride: Harmoko
Young reporters lack national pride: Harmoko
By Santi WE Soekanto
MANADO, North Sulawesi (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko lashed out at the new breed of journalists for their lack of nationalism and for engaging in smear campaigns.
Harmoko delivered the blow on Thursday evening here in front of hundreds of journalists of all ages, who were attending the presentation of awards to long-serving journalists in conjunction with National Press Day.
"Those young journalists have been badmouthing our own press abroad," he said. "They had never gone abroad before, but once they had the opportunity to go, even for only two weeks, they started to say things against our press."
"This just serves to show how we all should increase efforts to instill a sense of nationalism among our younger generation," said Harmoko, himself a former journalist.
This criticism was the second round of reprimands that the domestic press received on Thursday. The first came from President Soeharto who said the press often oversteps its bounds and attacks the public's sense of propriety.
Prior to Press Day, senior journalist Rosihan Anwar, called younger reporters "common garden" journalists who rely too much on technology, but lack substance in their writing.
The long-serving journalists, who received letters of appreciation and cash prizes for their dedication from the information ministry, are all above 70 years of age.
They are Soedjarwo of the Jakarta-based KNI news agency, H.R. Wahjudi from the Suara Merdeka daily, Subekti Mangunwiharjo of the Jayabaya magazine, Tuti Azis of the Surabaya Post daily and H.E. Rorimpandey of Suara Pembaruan daily.
Minister Harmoko also presented the Adinegoro Press Award to Tuti Gentini, a journalist from the Suara Pembaruan daily on Thursday. Tuti is known for her human interest articles.
Harmoko pointed out the significance of President Soeharto's decision to inaugurate the Malalayang Public Hospital in Manado on Thursday, the same day as the commemoration of Press Day.
"This bears a special significance ... it reminds us that journalists have to be healthy so that they can produce healthy news, articles and editorials."
"Sick journalists produce sick stories. Their diseases will seep into their writing," he said.
However, criticism also flowed the other way in connection with Press Day as a number of scholars aimed at the government's policy on the press.
Speaking in a seminar held by The Jakarta Post, Mochtar Buchori and Daniel Dhakidae deplored the state that the Indonesian press is in at present.
Mochtar, who is rector of the Jakarta-based Muhammadiyah Teachers' Institute, in response to a participant's question, stated that there is no such thing as a "free press" here.
"The free press is still an ideal," Mochtar, who is also deputy chairman of the research and development center of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), said. "A free press is not one hundred percent existent. And neither is democracy."
"But Indonesia is a dynamic country which never loses hope or ideals, no matter how grim a condition it's facing. The free press and democracy are a dream shared by all of us. Let's keep on hoping."
Dhakidae, who is from the Kompas daily's research center, pointed a finger at the imbalance in the relationships between the state and the different groups in society, including the press.
"The state is everything. Everything is conducted for the sake of providing service for the state," he said. In return, the state will reward institutions or bodies in accordance with their contributions.
"Here, the press does not exist for its own sake," he told some 100 participants. "The press exists for the sake of the state, therefore, the state's stipulation that the press be a responsible press is its sole ethical foundation."
Harmoko, in his speech on Thursday, likened the Indonesian press to a crusader, "a tool for national development and struggle".
He said the press should play a role giving color to the social, economic and political developments of the nation.