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AJI slams biased media outlets ahead of election
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has criticized a number of media outlets for biased coverage of the presidential race
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The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has criticized a number of media outlets for biased coverage of the presidential race.
'Some of the most obvious cases are biased reporting by a number of television stations owned by leaders of political parties that have joined with a presidential candidate's coalition,' said AJI in a press release on Wednesday as quoted by tempo.co.
AJI said supporting a certain presidential candidate would turn newsrooms into campaign offices, and that unbalanced reporting deprived the public of its right to objective, accurate and fair information.
'Such partisan journalism reminds us of practices during the New Order era in which press was often used as a propaganda tool of political leaders and failed to carry out its duties as a check on power,' said AJI.
In May, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) warned five television stations for presenting biased coverage of the election. They were TV One, RCTI, Global TV, MNC TV, and Metro TV.
A month earlier, those five stations and four others, namely TransTV, Trans7, Indosiar and TVRI, had received warning letters for allegedly broadcasting campaign advertisements that exceeded the limit set by the commission.
A number of television stations in Indonesia are affiliated with political parties. TV One, for example, belongs to Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, while NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh owns Metro TV.
Meanwhile, three television stations ' RCTI, Global TV and MNC TV ' belong to Hary Tanoesoedibjo, the Hanura Party figure who has pledged support for Prabowo Subianto.
According to AJI, however, the warnings have failed to deter the networks. (fss/ebf)
