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.