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Saturday, June 15, 2013

President Says News Media Should Aid Social Unity

Jakarta Globe, Robertus Wardi & Novy Lumanauw,  June 15, 2013

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono arrives at the Chief Editors Forum
in Bali on Friday. (Rumgapres Photo)

Nusa Dua. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called on the country’s news chiefs to contribute to order and tolerance in the country by ensuring greater objectivity in their reporting.

In his keynote speech at the annual Chief Editors Forum in Bali on Friday, the president said the news media had a responsibility to publish news which did not set out to inflame cultural or religious sensitivities.

“I ask for the support of the media, in this case the chief editors of the country’s news media, to help keep the peace in our society,” he said.

“We must maintain tolerance and unity among the public.”

Yudhoyono added he wanted to use the rest of his time in office to build up a “good society,” and urged the chief editors to join him in the endeavor through more objective news reporting.

“A good society is part of the kind of civilization that we should strive for. We have to reach for a level of civilization that is developed and advanced,” he said.

He also said that the news media had a responsibility to put into proper context the democratic achievements made over the past 15 years, and to address the issues still to be resolved.

“I have to say a lot of what we’ve done over the years has been justified,” Yudhoyono said.

“But if we’re being completely open and transparent, there are still a lot of issues where we haven’t done enough.”

He did not cite examples of issues he believed had been adequately addressed or not, but said that in general the country’s social and democratic development was on the right track and should be maintained, with the help of the news media.

“This is the essence of sustainability amid change. We must guard that which is good, and fix that which is not,” he said.

Muhammad Ihsan, the chairman of the forum’s organizing committee and chief editor of the business publication Warta Ekonomi, said that while Indonesia enjoyed one of the freest press climates in Asia, that privilege was sometimes abused by irresponsible parties pushing out sensationalist or willfully provocative reports.

He said the problem was compounded by the Indonesian public’s frenzied adoption of social media platforms as one of their primary sources of news — a dangerous scenario, Ihsan said, given the lack of journalistic standards for this media.

He identified political meddling as another threat to press objectivity, saying it was no secret that well-placed politicians were using their media connections to take public swipes at their opponents.

Ihsan said while many of these attacks could reasonably be discounted as groundless, the problem was that the generally low level of education of the Indonesian public meant that most people tended to buy into such tendentious reporting.

“It’s truly sad to see such nonsensical claims being repeated in our mass media,” he said.

“It’s ironic that in an era where more than ever individuals have the potential to be the drivers of positive change, certain groups with vested interests are doing the very opposite.”

He said that in light of all these factors, the Chief Editors Forum had drawn up a draft declaration to cement the participants’ commitment to journalistic principles, with the ultimate purpose of contributing to national development.

Wahyu Muryadi, the forum chairman and chief editor of Tempo Magazine, said the participants had identified five sectors where the role of the press was considered important in helping to maximize contributions toward overall development.

He said these sectors were infrastructure, food security, energy security, finance, and technology and information.

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