SBY’s last national press day Warief Djajanto Basorie   ;  The writer teaches journalism at the Dr. Soetomo Press Institute (LPDS) in Jakarta

                                                JAKARTA POST,  09 Februari 2014                

                                                                                                                        

                                                                                         

                                                      

Indonesia’s annual National Press Day on Feb. 9 will take place in Bengkulu province on the west coast of Sumatra, observing the founding of Persatuan Wartawan Indonesia (PWI, the Indonesian Journalists’ Association) in Surakarta, Central Java, in 1946.  The PWI always invites the sitting president to this event. The Bengkulu function is the last that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will attend as head of state. Yudhoyono’s second and final five-year term ends this October.  SBY can use the occasion as a platform to give his views on the press, particularly his probable consternation on how the media has covered his decisions, actions and party – the Democratic Party (PD).  On press day, two topics that will be raised are election coverage and media ownership, and the link between the two.  Numerous op-eds in mainstream, non-partisan media outlets have voiced concerns about the nature of the link and of media-owners using their media companies in political campaigning.  In an opinion piece titled “Media dan Iklan Politik” (Media and Political Ads) in Kompas daily on Feb. 1, Paramadina University analyst Fajar Kurnianto contends that presidential candidates who happen to be media owners will launch political ads more intensively.  “Political ads are by nature are a form of campaigning because their content attempts to persuade the public at large to support to merchandise and services on offer,” Fajar writes. However, Endy Bayuni argues such advertising could come to naught.  “Fortunately, voting is by secret ballot and voters know that no amount of money, coercion or advertising can influence how they cast their ballot on polling day,” Endy writes in The Jakarta Post’s annual publication of the political and economic state of Indonesia.  Meanwhile, Ong Hock Chuan and Iwan Kurniawan, in the English edition of Tempo, the Jakarta-based weekly magazine, on Jan. 5, cited the quiz show Kuis Kebangsaan WIN-HT, on RCTI, a major private TV station with nationwide reach.  The show’s name touts the acronym of the presidential candidate of the People’s Conscience (Hanura) Party, Gen. (ret) Wiranto, and his running mate, Hary Tanoesoedibjo, the owner of RCTI and other channels.  “The quiz was a farce and was such a badly disguised attempt at drumming up support in the 2014 presidential elections for the political party sponsoring it, that it looked Monty Python-ish,” the pair chided. The nation’s fourth post-Soeharto legislative election takes place on April 9 and the third direct presidential election on July 9. Two concerns on covering the elections are biased reporting and political parties recruiting journalists as media advisers and even candidates.  Media magnate Dahlan Iskan, the current state-owned enterprises minister and a potential presidential candidate of SBY’s PD, has received favorable coverage on his activities practically every day in the Jawa Pos group of newspapers, which Dahlan owns. Meanwhile TVOne and ANTV run daily messages on and by conglomerate chief Aburizal Bakrie, who is also Golkar Party chairman and presidential candidate.  Bakrie owns TVOne and ANTV. National Democrat (Nasdem) Party chairman Surya Paloh’s political ads are on the TV station he owns, the all-news channel Metro TV. Another presidential hopeful is Wiranto, former armed forces commander during the closing stages of Soeharto’s authoritarian rule. Wiranto, like Surya Paloh, broke away from Golkar when Bakrie became party chairman in October 2009. Wiranto set up his own party, Hanura, and later gained his media influence from Hary, who became his designated running mate. Hary owns the MNC Group, which consists of RCTI, MNC TV and Global TV. Come the election campaign, given the perceived lack of balanced reporting in the media outlets owned by presidential candidates, the stewards of the newsroom from across the nation gathering in Bengkulu are reminded to uphold Article 1 of the 2006 Journalism Code of Ethics that they themselves drafted: “The Indonesian journalist is independent and produces news stories that are accurate, balanced and without malice.”  In the code’s explanation, “[the word] ‘independent’ means reporting events or facts in line with one’s conscience without interference, coercion and intervention from other parties, including the owners of the press enterprise.” And what words does Yudhoyono have for the press on National Press Day? It could be similar to what he said in his 800-page book on his time in office, Selalu Ada Pilihan (There is Always a Choice), released on Jan. 17.  The President’s relationship with the press is marked by discontent. Although he accepts the function of a free press in a democracy, the President does not disguise his displeasure at the constant criticism aimed at his presidency.  On page 233 in chapter 19 on a critical press, Yudhoyono writes: “God willing, at the end of my term as the sixth President of Indonesia, I can be grateful to God that although I have been under attack ceaselessly from the press and from observers, I can still work. What this means is that I have not fallen off and toppled over.” ●