Local media told to stay objective for election

Dicky Christanto , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Mon, 04/21/2008 10:36 AM | Bali

The Bali chapter of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) is currently drafting a joint statement with the General Elections Commission and local lawmakers to prevent electronic media from taking sides in covering stories related to the gubernatorial election.

Head of KPI's Bali chapter, Komang Suarsana, said the statement was necessary following complaints that a local television station was obviously supporting a particular pair of candidates, therefore ignoring the principle of fair reporting.

However, Komang refused to reveal the name of the local television network.

There are currently three local television stations operating in Bali -- state-owned TVRI, BaliTV, of influential Bali Post media group, and the recently-established Dewata TV.

"The joint statement will stipulate regulations that will support media fairness during election coverage. It will also provide sanctions on every level for those who ignore the principles of fairness," he said Friday.

He said the statement stipulated, for example, political radio advertisements could run up to 60 seconds and were only allowed to be aired 10 times during one show, while those on television were granted 30 seconds and could only be aired 10 times a day for each candidate.

"We will also prohibit candidates from buying a program or an extended time slot on television because it could provide one candidate with more campaigning time than others," he said.

Besides regulations concerning political advertising, he also pointed out the importance of electronic media journalists covering the event with fairness as their top priority.

"A journalist's duty is to deliver the right message to the public as part of political education, including criticizing, if there is any misappropriation during the process," he said.

Established in 2003, the commission was tasked to filter and scrutinize daily material produced by electronic media, such as television and radio. The commission was backed by the Broadcasting Law, which gives authority to impose penalties, ranging from written warnings to revocation of frequency permits.

The commission has banned materials from the media, ranging from soap operas to advertisements containing sexual explicitness.

The commission recently issued a warning to television stations to stop airing a telecommunications commercial depicting a man marrying an animal.

Head of Bali's Alliance of Independent Journalists, Bambang Wiyono, said the AJI was more concerned with how to prevent such media campaigns during the election.

"We emphasize that stories must be based on facts and not assumptions so we can provide a better and clearer understanding," he said.

I Wayan Adi, a Bali-based radio journalist, said he tried not to contaminate his stories with any political interests while covering the election. As a result, he said, there were no complaints with the stories, either from his studio or the listeners.

"As a citizen, of course I have my own political preference, but as a journalist, it is my duty to deliver proportional and insightful stories so later on the people can exercise their political rights," he said.

"I think good journalists need to be at war with themselves in order to be able to produce great stories," he said.

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