Temporary media ban recommended

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Mon, 05/12/2008 10:51 AM  |  Bali

The Bali chapter of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPID) has issued a recommendation asking for a temporary ban on dozens of media outlets on the island due to their failure to complete administrative requirements.

Head of the commission's Bali chapter Komang Suarsana said Friday the recommendation had been sent to the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) in Jakarta.

If the KPI accepts the recommendation the KPID will immediately enforce that recommendation, he said.

The recommendation identified three television stations -Jimbarwana TV, SAM TV and ANTV - and 60 radio stations across the island. All are allegedly operating without proper administrative documents and licenses.

Jimbarwana TV is operated by the Jembrana regency administration and funded by the regency budget.

Suarsana said it was important for the media outlets to handle this matter in a serious manner, particularly since the KPID had already given the stations sufficient warning and leeway.

The KPID allowed the stations to continue airing their programs while they prepared all the administrative requirements.

"Besides, we will need these stations to air objective and impartial news coverage as the gubernatorial election draws nearer. This will never be accomplished if they fail to complete the administrative requirements," Suarsana said Friday.

"So the choice is theirs, whether they want to complete the requirements so that they can continue airing programs or if they prefer to be temporarily shut down."

A failure to complete the administrative requirements would have further consequences, he warned. In the future, these stations would not be given a chance to take part in KPID evaluation hearing sessions. The sessions are usually conducted by the commission to evaluate whether a station qualifies for an official broadcasting license.

However, a rumor has surfaced the proposed temporary ban for Jimbarwana TV is politically motivated. The rumor claims the ban is being pursued at the request of several politicians.

The politicians supposedly are upset because they believe the station has been exploited by the Jembrana regent, I Gde Winasa, to generate positive coverage for himself. Winasa is one of the candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial election.

Suarsana flatly refuted the rumor, stressing that the proposed ban had nothing to do with the political interests of any candidates in the gubernatorial election.(the proposed ban) is based purely on the consideration that these stations have up to this date failed to complete their administrative requirements. There is no political reason behind it," he said.

I Dewa Putu Tilem of Jimbarwana TV acknowledged the station did not have an official broadcasting license. He said that station was ready to comply with the recommendation that it temporarily go off the air. However, he presented the commission with a condition.

"The recommendation (for a temporary ban) should also include those media outlets that have received the commission's recommendation for a license but to this day haven't acquired the official broadcasting license," he said.

Tilem clearly was referring to eight media outlets that escaped the commission's recommendation for a temporary ban. These media outlets comprise four television stations and four radio stations. The television stations are Dewata TV, Bali TV, Bali Music Channel and ATV, while the radio stations are Genta Bali, Gema Satria Mandiri, Mandala and Swara Gunung Sari.

For these media outlets, the commission issued a recommendation of support, asking the KPI to grant them an official broadcasting license, which included permission to use a designated frequency.

"Having a recommendation (from the KPID) is not the same as having official permission for frequency usage. Therefore if the KPID is banning media outlets over their failure to complete administrative requirements, it must also ban these media outlets too and not just us," Tilem told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The 2002 law on broadcasting stipulates a media station must have official permission for frequency usage, and not just a recommendation, to air programs.

Suarsana, however, said those recommended stations proposed their stations establishment long before the law on broadcasting was passed.

"So we cannot just stop these stations from airing their programs since they are not violating any law, including the new law on broadcasting," he said.

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