Local media a pillar of corruption?

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 12/02/2006 1:01 PM  |  Opinion

Muba Manihuruk, Medan

Independent and free media play a significant role in creating and maintaining a democracy. It is not exaggerating to state that the media is the fourth pillar of democracy.

Quoting UNESCO director-general Koichiro Matsuura, without freedom of expression and media freedom, ""democracy cannot prevail and development remains unattainable. Independent, free and pluralistic media have a crucial role to play in the good governance of democratic societies, by ensuring transparency and accountability, promoting participation and the rule of law, and contributing to the fight against poverty and corruption"".

Nobel Prize laureate Amartya Sen, in his famous book Development as Freedom, points out that ""no substantial famine has ever occurred in a country with a relatively free press. Press freedom ... has an important protective function in giving voice to the neglected and the disadvantaged, which can greatly contribute to human security. The rulers of a country are often insulated ... from the misery of common people"".

But what about the role of media during a period of decentralization? People often incorrectly assume that the numerical growth of media automatically creates independent and free institutions; that a flourishing media facilitates democracy. However, the experience of the regions reveals the local media is failing to play such a role.

Under regional autonomy, power shifts from central and provincial governments down to regional executives and legislative bodies. But this does not mean that local media automatically become an effective watchdog of local government. Instead, there is a tendency that when more powers are decentralized, the less powerful the regional media becomes. The many powers local elite groups assume mean they can now operate without sufficient monitoring and evaluation.

Local governance is getting worse, as is evident in the deteriorating quality of public services in education and health. Corruption is widespread and pressure groups such as local non-governmental organizations and civil society groups are barely functional. Sadly, local universities -- the traditional defenders of rational morality, more often collaborate with the elites.

What is the role of media in local politics then? A brief meeting with several local print and electronic journalists and communications officials recently exposed the low-key role of regional media practitioners.

Although decentralization devolves powers down to local governments, there has been no accompanying devolution in the media. In North Sumatra, for example, it is unusual to find national media with offices at the district level. Only community newspapers and radio with limited reach operate along with a few stringers for national publications.

Surprisingly, only a few of them earn a salary below the minimum regional wage. One of the correspondents talked of having to pay Rp 250,000 to obtain a press card. Whenever he was invited to his newspaper's head office, he has to pay for accommodation.

The realities of life for these local journalists reveals an unhealthy code of conduct when news-gathering, writing, and publishing information. Basic values such as fairness, truth, balance, accuracy and the public interest are almost utopian goals. Such conditions are fertile ground for unprofessional journalism, which belittles ethics and good conduct. Ultimately, news content is dominated by an ""unholy triple bill"", locally known as ""SDM"" (seks, darah dan mistis) or sex, blood and mysticism.

At the local level, you frequently run into ""CNN"" journalists, an Indonesian acronym cuma nengok-nengok, or sight-seeing reporters. These hacks only go to certain events, usually those organized by local governments, and send ""copy-paste"" news to their editors. If the story is published, they will get an ongkir kickback, standing for ongkos kirim, a ""delivery fee reimbursement"", from local government officials. There is a price tag for this service. A story plus a full-color picture of government officials appearing on the front page will be highly paid.

Another group of local journalists are called muntaber, the Indonesian version of media diarrhea, or muncul tanpa berita (stories without news). These journalists simply collect press releases from local government agencies and rewrite them for publication. They sometimes insert quotes from regional officials or councillors, who have to pay for their statements to appear.

Then there are journalists named after France's World Cup player Zinedine Zidane. Referring to Zidane's infamous head-butt in the World Cup final against Italy in July, these journalists tend to force themselves on news sources, demanding money or valuable goods. Not content with money, they often ask for free meals and cigarettes.

One communications official once asked me to be careful when training local journalists to analyze council budgets. He worried that certain reporters would use their improved skills to extort local government officials or councillors. He could only see them intending to take advantage of bad governance, instead of investigating it for the public good. His journalists didn't care about corruption, as they were already part of the corrupt system.

These findings raise serious doubts that local media can function properly as the fourth estate. Perhaps they are pillars of corruption instead?

The writer works as a media specialist for the USAID Local Governance Support Program in North Sumatra. The article reflects his personal view.

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