[Nasional-m] RI's frail press freedom

[Ambon]

The Jakarta Post
6 Sept. 2002

RI's frail press freedom
Bimo Nugroho, Director, Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of
Information (ISAI), Jakarta, bimo@isai.or.id

There is much hope that the current press freedom will encourage Indonesia
to achieve its aim in becoming a solid civil society. But does this current
freedom also liberate the media community?
A Muslim group called the Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia (MMI) recently
succeeded in persuading private television stations RCTI and SCTV to stop
airing a public service announcement about plurality in Islam in Indonesia.
The MMI expressed strong concern that the announcement went against
religious teachings, and that it was Muslims, and not Islam, that were
plural.
More recently, the electronic media community is facing the threat of a ban
against broadcasting foreign programs, including news, which is the result
of a broadcasting bill drawn up by legislators.
All signs of efforts to curb the press need to be watched to avoid a repeat
in history of the wounds inflicted on press freedom.
Apart from apparent attempts at censorship there is the fragile situation of
the industry. Press freedom, which is still in its infancy, has neither
liberated the media community from the fear of being a target of violence,
state regulations or job security.
Anyone certainly enjoys the freedom to issue a publication. However, the
media has grown rapidly during the economic crisis and faces tight
competition leading to rigid efficiency and even exploitation of workers,
including journalists.
Meanwhile, complaints about the lack of professionalism in the media still
abound, and many people could not care less about journalists' job security
or the threats made to their lives.
Except for a few media organizations with grants or other kinds of financial
support, those who cannot keep up have had to close down. The consequences
have been unresolved conflicts within several media companies.
Such conflicts in the media industry have become inevitable, and have
worsened the conditions in several media organizations. In the capital
alone, numerous disputes of various types have been handled by the union
division of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in Jakarta and the
Jakarta Legal Aid Institute.
Capital competition in the information sector has led to the collapse of
several media companies. But it has also encouraged new experiments in
media; some have failed while others have continued. Creativity is thriving.
Given these contrasting conditions, the task for new non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) working in the media is to strengthen the freedom of
the press and assure that it continues. Its vulnerability encourages civil
society -- represented by these NGOs -- to work on three platforms: Law
enforcement, media community empowerment and the empowerment of media
consumers.
In law enforcement, there are currently two alliances involved, respectively
advocating their version of the broadcasting bill and the bill on freedom to
access information.
The legislation process faced by these coalitions is mainly hampered by the
authorities in charge of passing laws, the House of Representatives, for
several reasons.
First is the many interests contested in the broadcasting bill, such as that
of media owners. Second, the lack of knowledge of legislators on the essence
of these bills. But there is also the third factor, the lack of experience
of activists in working the intricacies of the legislation process in the
House. All these reasons may have contributed to the results so far of the
controversial articles in the broadcasting bill.
Under these conditions, press freedom is still fragile. It lacks a solid
constituent willing to defend it in the face of threats.
The seeds of press freedom that sprouted when former president Soeharto
resigned can easily be crushed -- either by capital interest, the political
elite or even society, which is exasperated by a lot of insensible news
churned out day by day.
The article is based on a paper to be presented at the International
Roundtable on Journalism and Freedom of Expression, Sept. 9-12, 2002 in
Bali.