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TV self-censorship takes toll on National Games
TV censorship?: The blurred bodies of swimming athletes are seen in this screenshot, which has been circulating in social media
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span class="inline inline-center">TV censorship?: The blurred bodies of swimming athletes are seen in this screenshot, which has been circulating in social media. Several TV stations blurred the bodies of female athletes in their National Games coverage. This picture was taken from CNN Indonesia.(Courtesy of Facebook)
A penchant for self-censorship among local television stations has reached new heights with one channel blurring images of a swimsuit-clad female swimmer at the 19th National Games (PON) in West Java.
Viewers have expressed their concerns on social media regarding such censorship since the start of the games.
One of the viral photos that circulated online depicted the blurred image of a female athlete who was interviewed by news channel CNN Indonesia.
CNN Indonesia spokesperson Hadi Lubis said the channel would investigate the case.
“We will conduct an internal review. And for the time being we can’t give any statements,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Earlier this year, private station Indosiar came under fire for blurring the torsos of Putri Indonesia pageant contestants who wore figure-hugging traditional Javanese kebaya blouses.
Another private station, RCTI, also faced criticism for blurring a scene from a popular cartoon because one of the characters wore a short skirt.
Muhamad Heychael, director of television watchdog group Remotivi, said television stations had erred on the side of caution by deciding to censor innocent images.
On CNN’s decision, he said female athletes’ outfits were worn in the context of a swimming competition.
“The TV station, in this case CNN, appears to have been a little too afraid,” he said.
Heychael said self-censorship could be avoided if the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) provided clear guidance through the Broadcasting Code of Conduct and Public Broadcasting Guidelines and Program Standards (P3SPS).
The KPI’s 2012 broadcasting guidelines, aimed at ensuring programs do not contradict values, norms and decency, ban sexually charged scenes, including those displaying genitalia and nudity, as well as sexual activity and kissing.
The guidelines include a ban on scenes that “exploit or display certain body parts such as thighs, buttocks and breasts in a close-up or medium shot”.
Responding to CNN’s move to blur the image of the swimmer, the KPI said there were no specific orders for TV stations in relation to censoring athletes’ bodies.
KPI deputy chairman Rahmat Arifin said his office acknowledged that it issued guidelines to regulate TV stations in showing certain parts of human bodies, but did not specifically order the blurring or censoring of athletes, particularly considering that in the context of sport, athletes needed to wear certain attire and did not necessarily promote pornography.
“Apparently it’s an initiative from the TV station to adhere to the KPI’s Public Broadcasting Guidelines and Program Standards. The initiative is good, but it appears to be too much. As long as the cameramen do not pan to the sensitive parts, censorship is unnecessary,” he said on Sunday.
PON media center manager Reza Gudarba said organizers had no authority over how athletes would be presented on television.
“We are not dealing with such censorship policies [...] This is sport. We don’t promote any pornography here. Therefore, it is up to the cameramen’s professionalism in finding good angles that don’t suggest sexual exploitation,” he said. (win/fac)
