[Reader-list] Media independence in Indonesia

[marn*i]

hey all,
I recently spent a couple of months in Java, Indonesia as part of the 
smallvoices project. Below is an article on the current state of 
independent media in Indonesia that i thought might be of interest.

More localised content on individual media projects can be found at: 
http://www.smallvoices.org/featurelisting.htm

You can join the smallvoices announcement list for monthly updates by 
sending a blank email to: announce-subscribe at smallvoices.org.  For more 
about the project, go to: http://www.smallvoices.org/about.htm

cheers,
marni.


THE STATE OF PRESS: MEDIA AND INDEPENDENCE IN POST-SUHARTO INDONESIA
By Marni Cordell  from www.smallvoices.org

During the Suharto regime in Indonesia (1966 - 1998), media was severely 
State restricted and subject to enforced self-censorship. When Suharto 
stepped down - at the beginning of what has been dubbed 'the Reform Era' - 
press restrictions were lifted, and commercial and government-funded media 
in Indonesia was allowed to function relatively free from State control. 
Although stronger restrictions will almost certainly be introduced when the 
Megawati government's new broadcast law is presented in July of this year, 
the Indonesian archipelago is currently considered to have a "free press".

Under Suharto, in response to the government's repressive media laws, a 
strong sector of independent and alternative media existed throughout 
Indonesia. Post '98 however, many independent journalists have now shifted 
their focus to work in the mainstream arena, or, independently but with the 
financial support of large foreign NGOs and even multinational companies. 
Although many do hold grievance with the government's plans to tighten 
press laws, there exists a widespread belief among media workers in 
Indonesia that an independent sector is no longer necessary since overt 
press restrictions have been lifted; because "press freedom" exists.

There is however, still a strong community of grassroots organisations 
throughout the country that work without influence or support from 
corporations or government: creating photo-copied information leaflets and 
zines, using political songs and public mediums such as graffiti and 
posters to disseminate information and address issues that remain to be 
confronted in the mainstream press.

DEFINING INDEPENDENCE
While in many countries the term "independent media" is used to describe 
media that is free from governmental and commercial control, in Indonesia a 
higher emphasis is placed on whether or not a journalist remains 
independent from the issues; or: un-biased. So a journalist will often call 
themselves "independent" if they believe they report with integrity and 
even-handedness, even if they work for a mainstream news source.

While the concept of 'subjectivity' might be something that is embraced by 
an independent media source in Australia (through the belief that allowing 
different points of view creates a media democracy), in Indonesia, 
personally-affected reporting has been the cause of a huge amount of 
violence and conflict, and most people are very wary of its destructive 
capacity. In Indonesia, if an issue is presented from a point of view that 
is heavily sympathetic toward one party, the under-represented party will 
often express their dissatisfaction through personal attack. Particularly 
in areas where conflict between social groups is already rife, destruction 
of equipment, threats, kidnappings and even murder, all 'control' the media 
in ways that government restrictions used to.

The reason for this, according to Akuat Supriyanto, External Relations 
Officer for the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), is that neither 
journalists nor the public in Indonesia are accustomed to having a critical 
press; or to legitimate avenues for complaint when the press oversteps its 
bounds. In Supriyanto's opinion, the population of Indonesia is not yet 
ready for press freedom. He explains: "In the reform era, there is a kind 
of euphoria. A lot of people think that they can do anything; that there is 
no law. So journalists sometimes do anything they want to, they ignore the 
ethics of journalism. And on the other side, the readers of newspapers and 
magazines in Indonesia
don't know how to complain (through legal avenues) 
if the newspaper or magazine writes something bad about them."

Supriyanto describes how the Reform Era has left many people disillusioned 
with the government's ability to exercise control: "if, for example, 
someone finds a robber in the street, they will attack them. They don't put 
their faith anymore in the legal system." Similarly he believes that people 
attack media workers directly "because they don't believe the law authority 
will give sanction to the press." In the past three years there has been a 
push by NGOs and media support organisations to educate both journalists 
and the public about the rights and responsibilities involved with press 
freedom. According to Supriyanto: "the Indonesian people need media 
education."

PRESS FREEDOM AND PUBLIC EDUCATION
The South East Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA) is just one of a handful of 
independent media support organisations working within Indonesia. SEAPA was 
formed in 1999 by press organisations from the Philippines, Thailand and 
Indonesia and was modeled on the Committee to Protect Journalists in New 
York. According to Rico Aditjondro, Publication Officer for SEAPA in 
Jakarta, the main purpose of the organisation is to "protect journalists 
and promote press freedom". SEAPA Jakarta provides education and training 
to media workers in the ethics of journalism, as well as providing support 
and advocacy for journalists who get caught on the receiving end of an 
angry member of the public. They are also involved in a public education 
campaign to inform people of their role within a free press, which, 
according to Aditjondro, attempts to impart that "no matter how bad the 
journalist is, if you want to complain or attack them, don't do it through 
physical violence or threat, use the legal channels, and dialogue."

Although SEAPA Jakarta was only formed in January 2000, it is currently the 
largest branch. According to Aditjondro: "Indonesia has the highest attack 
rate on journalists" of all three countries.

The concept of Peace Journalism is also being introduced by some of the 
NGOs that are undertaking media training, and does offer some sound ideas 
about socially responsible journalism. The Peace Journalism concept was 
developed by Johan Galtung, Peace Studies professor and director of the 
TRANSCEND Network, who first started using the term in the 1970s. Rather 
than focusing on the immediate accounts of conflict such as the amount of 
dead bodies and collateral damage, Peace Journalism, according to the SEAPA 
publication Alert, attempts to "map out the problems: identifying parties 
involved and analysing different agendas" and also recognises that 
"nationalism and cultural identities often unconsciously effect journalism 
reporting". In short, says Lucia Fransisca, Media Information Officer for 
the British Council in Jakarta, Peace Journalism is about "working out as a 
journalist how you can play a role in solving the conflict," by reporting 
accurate facts alongside humanising points of view.

Fransisca's position at the British Council has involved organising 
training programs for journalists in conflict areas, where she says the 
ethics behind Peace Journalism have been useful. The main challenge to 
providing training to journalists in these areas is to recognise that the 
journalists themselves are often deeply affected by the conflict: "because 
they live in that conflict area it's difficult for them to separate their 
emotions from the issue
we might be talking to them about professionalism, 
but deep inside their heart there is anger or hatred because maybe their 
family's been killed; so first we need to offer space for people to sit and 
understand each other." In Ambon in the Malukus, where there is serious 
ongoing conflict between religious groups, a media centre has been set up 
to act as a neutral space between journalists from both sides.

Francisca is cynical about the notion of a free press, claiming that no 
matter what level of press freedom is advocated by the State, mainstream 
media will never be independent "because the Power uses the mainstream 
media as one of their tools, to manipulate people's awareness." She says 
that one major way that the government in Indonesia does this is "by 
blaming ethnicity for conflict," when often the conflicts that take place 
between religious or ethnic groups in Indonesia are initiated - and 
perpetuated - by government policy.

THE CHALLENGE OF INDEPENDENCE
Perhaps then, the only truly independent media sources in Indonesia are 
those who work completely free from commercial, governmental and 
non-governmental support and influence, such as the Kontra Kultura Kolektif 
(KKK) from Bandung, Java. KKK produce photo-copied leaflets that critically 
address issues such as government policy and corporate intervention and 
distribute them throughout their neighbourhood. They work with very little 
funding and have a small but growing readership.

The difficulty with attempting to establish any kind of independent media 
source in Indonesia, according to one newspaper vendor, is that most 
Indonesian people have a strong religious bias toward a certain news 
outlet, and are very reluctant to explore other options for information. He 
refers to the situation in Jakarta: where Christians read Kompas and Muslim 
people read Republika. In his opinion, there is no changing this bias.

But as Pam, a member of KKK, says, the purpose of independent media is not 
just disseminating information to a large audience, it's also about 
empowering people: "Why I don't agree that we should depend on the 
mainstream media is because it makes us more passive
The point of the 
alternative system is leading by example, because then we empower people by 
showing them that if they don't like how something is done, they can make 
their own."

A REVISION OF LEGISLATION
Late last year there was a push by the People's Representative Council in 
Indonesia to tighten press laws, claiming that the Reform Era law had 
failed to anticipate the downside of press freedom such as defamation and 
provocative reporting. Members of the press community argue that the State 
Criminal Code (KUHP) already has articles to prevent each of these 
violations, and that the problem lies in the implementation of the KUHP, 
not in the press law.

However, a revision of the law - with tighter regulations - is currently in 
parliament and expected to be presented in July of this year. Using the 
draft as indication, it is anticipated to be much more repressive than the 
current legislation, with threats and fines up to billions of rupiah for 
broadcast violations.

It will be interesting to note whether the tightened restrictions will 
succeed in silencing those journalists who shifted from the student and 
alternative to mainstream sector in the belief that it would allow them 
freedom of expression; or whether they will head back underground and 
revert to the methods of Pam and his crew: distributing critical 
information by moonlight, whether press law allows them to or not.
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