Media bill will put 'spy' in Jakarta TV, radio
Title -- 3750 INDONESIA: Media bill will put 'spy' in Jakarta TV, radio
Date -- 1 September 2002
Byline -- None
Origin -- Pacific Media Watch
Source -- The Straits Times, via John M. Miller, fbp@igc.org, 31/8/2
Copyright -- PMW/Listener
Status -- Unabridged
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The Straits Times
August 31, 2002
MEDIA BILL WILL PUT 'SPY' IN JAKARTA TV AND RADIO STATIONS
An official inspector would be placed in broadcast companies, a requirement
which operators say will curtail press freedom
By Devi Asmarani
JAKARTA - A Bill that involves placing a government 'spy' in broadcasting
agencies here is likely to be passed next month by Parliament to regulate the
electronic media.
The Bill has been deliberated in the House for the past two years to regulate
the rapidly growing broadcasting industry but is being opposed widely by
operators of television and radio stations.
They say the Bill will curtail press freedom and retard the industry's growth.
Under the Bill the government will issue a 'frequency licence' to broadcast
to radio and television stations.
An independent regulatory body, the Indonesian Broadcast Commission, will
recommend the stations to the government as well as set a code of conduct for
electronic media and impose sanctions.
Coordinator of the Indonesian Society of Press and Broadcasting (MPPI) Leo
Batubara told The Straits Times: 'The Bill gives back the legal authority to
the government, instead of the independent body, to decide on which
broadcasting company will get licences. It also allows the government to
interfere in the daily running of the broadcasting business.
'This is certainly not what we had in mind when we proposed the draft Bill to
Parliament - this is a return to the old paradigm that the government
controls the press.'
The MPPI proposed the first draft of the Bill to parliament three years ago
to replace the 1997 broadcasting law, which it claimed to be repressive.
The draft Bill was debated in Parliament and over time its content has been
altered drastically as the lawmakers thought too much freedom had encouraged
irresponsible and provocative press.
The MPPI said that at least a third of the 63 articles in the Bill carried
the threat of imprisonment or fines if radio or television operators were
found to have broken the law.
One of the contentious articles requires all TV films and advertisements to
undergo censorship by the government.
Currently, only TV films are censored by the government, but TV operators had
called for an end to all sorts of government censorship, arguing it should be
done by the respective TV stations instead.
The Bill also says that a 'government official inspector' would be placed in
each broadcasting company.
'This is like having a government spy in our station,' said an executive in a
private TV station.
Established private television with nationwide reach such as the RCTI and
SCTV, will also be forced to undergo major restructuring as the Bill requires
all national TV stations to become local stations.
This means the country's 10 private national TV stations have to set up a
separate company with local partners and broadcast localised content in each
of the regions.
Parliament has argued that such a move would prevent the 'monopoly of
information'.
The Bill also limits media cross-ownership and requires electronic media to
renew frequency distribution licences after 10 years of operations.
Several media group such as Kompas Gramedia and Media Indonesia operate both
print and broadcasting media organisations.
'What we fear is that under this system, the government can deny or lift the
frequency licence of some company under the pretext that it broke some law,
if its coverage is too critical,' said Mr Leo.
Several publications were banned for their critical coverage during the 32
years of President Suharto. His fall in 1998 opened the door to the current
press freedom.
PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region. Launched in October 1996, it has links with the Journalism Program at the University of the South Pacific, Bushfire Media based in Sydney, Journalism Studies at the University of PNG (UPNG), the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, and Community Communications Online (c2o).
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