PANTAU: ?Press for Public Interest?

The more quality of journalism in a society the more quality of the information society will be sought.

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When the quality of journalism in a society is getting better, the quality of information that reaches society is improving as well. It was said by Andreas Harsono, Chairman of PANTAU Foundation in a discussion of Lee C. Bollinger?s book titled “Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open ? A Free Press For A New Century” on March 12, 2010 at Grand Ballroom A, Aryaduta Hotel, Jakarta.

Andreas suggested Indonesian press to follow the press in United States which has a mission to serve public interests, not only the interests of certain groups of people. In connection with his statement earlier, he gave an analogy that in a society where the media or communication is better, the quality of decision makings will also be better.

Therefore, the process in obtaining qualified information needs to be protected. That protection is called ?freedom? of the press. It means, the press or media should have freedom in order to protect public life.

Theoritically, in Indonesia there is a guarantee for freedom of the press. “But if we look at the existing laws, ever since Indonesia declared its independence up to this day, there are still a lot of laws that fail to guarantee freedom of the press. In the Criminal Code (Kitab Undang-undang Hukum Pidana ? KUHP), for example, there are 38 chapters that conflict with freedom of the press. That’s the conclusion made by the Press Council,” said this journalist who has experiences for more than 10 years.

The threat to freedom of the press can also come from media owners, sometimes for business reasons. According to the survey by National Democratic Institute, nearly 95 percent of all information on politics that the Indonesians get ? except for those residing in Maluku and Papua ? is obtained from newspaper and television with shareholders residing in Jakarta. So, it is highly concentrated only by a few people in Jakarta. Around eleven national televisions located in Jakarta control nearly 92 percent of the audience throughout Indonesia.

“This situation disturbs me a lot because all voices, reports, perspectives, and news interpretation are determined from Jakarta. The result is, voices from outside Jakarta have never appeared in the media,” said Andreas.

Basically, freedom of the press is good, especially in a democratic country like Indonesia, which considers the fourth pillar of the government is in the hands of the press. But of course this freedom should not be used carelesslly, there must be clear boundaries. Because if freedom has no limits, chaos will happen right away. The information that appears in the mass media becomes uncontrolled. (cyn)

Speakers of the book discussion (left-right): Tjipta Lesmana (moderator), John Riady, A. Lin Neumann, Andreas Harsono, Ezki Suyanto, Endi Bayuni, and Jolee (CEO Times Bookstore).

UPH Media Relations