Good News for Print Media In Face of Online Onslaught

Good News for Print Media In Face of Online Onslaught

Abimata Putra Kurniawan, an employee at a private bank, always starts his day by perusing a national newspaper.

“My favorite section is the business section, especially the business analysis pieces,” says the 34-year-old Jakarta resident. “It helps me understand what’s happening in the field I work in.”

He adds that he prefers newspapers to television.

“I always watch the morning news on television as well to get the general news, and frankly television news reporting is easier to digest,” Abimata says. “But by the time they get to the business news, I’m already at the office.”

Abimata is one of a growing number of Indonesians who rely on the printed page for their news, even as other countries experience substantial drops in circulation as a result of people getting their news from online sources and television.

According to an ABG Nielsen Indonesia survey released in July, newspaper readership increased marginally from 13.4 percent at the start of the year to 13.7 percent by the middle of the year.

Agus Sudibyo, a member of the Press Council, says that although electronic and online media is increasingly popular, print media will never be wholly replaced in Indonesia.

“Every media has its own market and everybody has different needs in terms of how they get their news, whether through electronic media, online media or print media,” he says. “I’d say that the majority of society here sees television as an entertainment media, while online media is perceived more as presenting short, instantly updated news.”

Hence newspapers fill a crucial role in providing context on current issues through their comprehensive reports, Agus says, which makes print media an attractive venture for media companies.

“Take the MNC Group, for instance,” he says, referring to a holding company with three national television stations, a satellite TV network, an online news portal and several radio stations in its portfolio.

“Although involved in electronic media, it publishes the Seputar Indonesia daily newspaper. Why? Because society still wants to read print media, and they’re aware that electronic media will not replace print media because both have different markets.”

The Nielsen survey corroborates the perception that newspapers provide a more reliable take on current issues than television or online news, with 55.8 percent of readers citing newspapers’ trustworthiness as their main reason for reading them.

Ignatius Haryanto, a media industry watcher and former journalist, is also convinced that print media will never be fully replaced by electronic or online media in Indonesia.

But he says that newspapers cannot expect to be entirely insulated from the boom in new media use.

“They will have to adapt in terms of having their own news portals and Web sites,” Ignatius says. “At the same time, they will also have to improve the quality [of their reporting]. Take Kompas and Tempo magazine, for instance. These two publications have retained their audience by presenting exclusive and investigative reports, which sometimes can’t be done by new media.”

The Nielsen survey also showed that while readership growth was uniform across the cities included in the survey, the figures were lower in large metropolitan areas like Jakarta and Bandung than in heartland areas like Yogyakarta and Palembang.

Dina Listiorini, a communications lecturer at the School of Social and Political Sciences at Atma Jaya University in Yogyakarta, attributes this disparity to lifestyle differences between big cities and small towns.

“Many people who live and work in a big city like Jakarta have to deal with heavy traffic every day. Couple this with the fact that many of them have Internet-enabled gadgets, they can kill time during their commute by accessing the news through the Internet,” she says.

“In small towns like Yogyakarta, though, the daily routine is generally more relaxed and people have more time to read newspapers.”

She adds that even though many Indonesians have access to the Internet, they tend to use it “more as an entertainment and communication tool than as a source of information.”

22 Radio Jakarta Terancam Masuk Kategori Liar

22 Radio Jakarta Terancam Masuk Kategori Liar

Jika masih ditemukan radio mengudara saat jatuh tempo IPP, maka dikategorikan radio liar.

22 radio swasta di Jakarta terancam menjadi radio liar karena belum memperpanjang Izin Penyelenggaran Penyiaran (IPP) jelang batas akhir masa berlakunya. Ke-38 radio tersebut terancam dilaporkan ke Badan Monitor Frekuensi Radio apabila

"Kami menghibau pada radio-radio yang belum mengajukan perpanjangan izin agar segera mengurus kelengkapannya," kata Ketua KPID DKI Jakarta, Hamdani Masil, dalam konferensi pers di Jakarta, hari ini.

Sesuai Peraturan Menteri Komunikasi dan Informatika No 28/P/M.Kominfo/09/2008 tentang Tata Cara dan Persyaratan Perizinan Penyelenggaraan Penyiaran, IPP Radio berlaku selama lima tahun dan dapat diperpanjang.

Data Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia Daerah (KPID) DKI Jakarta, menyebutkan, total radio swasta di Jakarta mencapai 43 radio. dari total jumlah tersebut, sebanyak 38 radio IPP-nya akan habis pada bulan Oktober dan Desember pada tahun ini. Sedangkan dua radio swasta habis masa izinnya pada 2012, dua lainnya 2014 dan satu radio pada 2015.

Hingga kini, tegas Hamdani, sebagian besar radio swasta tersebut belum mengajukan proposal perpanjangan IPP, sehingga mereka terancam tidak mengantongi perpanjangan izin ketika masa IPP habis. KPID DKI Jakarta baru menerima 16 proposal. Keenambelas proposal tersebut diantaranya Sonora, I Radio, Sindo Radio, El-Shinta Radio, Indika FM Cosmopolitan, Hardrock FM, A Radio, Radio Dangdut TPI, Trax FM dan Kiss FM.

KPID Jakarta lanjut dia, telah mengirim surat peringatan sekaligus mendatangi sejumlah radio swasta yang habis masa izinya. Sayangnya, sejumlah radio swasta merasa tidak perlu memperpanjang IPP karena telah siaran cukup lama.

Anggota KPID DKI Jakarta bidang Isi Siaran, Akuat Supriyanto, mengatakan radio yang tidak mengajukan proposal perpanjangan IPP Radio saat jatuh tempo akan dilaporkan ke Badan Monitor Frekuensi Radio di bawah Direktorat Jendral Pos dan Telekomunikasi, Kementerian Informasi dan Telekomunikasi. "Mereka yang tidak memperpanjang IPP dan tetap siaran akan dianggap radio liar," kata dia.

Most Media Reports on Women’s Issues Focus on Violence: Rights Group

Most Media Reports on Women’s Issues Focus on Violence: Rights Group

Activists said on Monday that violence against women still dominated reports on women’s issues in the print media and that other angles and themes needed to be explored. 

The state-sanctioned National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said its findings came from a survey of reports on women’s issues published by eight national print media in 2010, including the Jakarta Globe. 

The survey showed that from the 1,278 articles on women’s issues covered in those media that year, 82.95 percent were focused on violence against women. The majority of the rest covered gender discrimination, female criminals and morality issues. 

Komnas Perempuan’s Andy Yentriyani said at a discussion on Monday that the media should pay more attention to the frequently negative portrayal of women’s morality, even in stories where a woman is the victim of a sexual assault. 

“The presumption of innocence is often neglected by the media, especially media reports on pornography, where the moral issue, rather than the sexual violence, is being brought forward,” she said. 

TV presenters Cut Tari and Luna Maya both came under intense media scrutiny last year after being implicated in the Nazril “Ariel” Irham sex video scandal. Both women were publicly denounced by some religious groups for immoral behavior. 

Komnas Perempuan commissioner Arimbi Heroeputri said that while 83 percent of reports on women’s issues actually met the journalistic code of ethics, including in not naming victims of certain crimes, only half met both the journalistic code of ethics and Komnas Perempuan’s own code of victim’s rights. 

Nunung Qomariyah, another commissioner, called on the media to become an agent of change and help spread a better understanding of the issues women face in society. 

“The media also has a function to influence, create and change society’s point of view … on women’s issues, to have a better understanding in the society,” Nunung said. 

Another commissioner, Neng Dara Affifah, said the press council and other journalistic organizations must closely monitor the implementation of the code of ethics in media reports. 

“In order to implement the code of conduct in media reports on violence against women, media workers and women activists need to discuss and establish an appropriate code of conduct,” Neng said. 

Neng said that in reporting on violence against women, the presumption of innocence, especially for the victims, should also be respected, especially when concerning a public figure.

TV Show Canceled At Urging Of Police

TV Show Canceled At Urging Of  Police

A television station in East Java’s Malang district has pulled a musical based on the life of a national hero after police voiced concerns about the program’s “communist” content.

Batu TV was visited by intelligence officials from the local police department to inquire about the musical, based on the life of nationalist and communist leader Tan Malaka.

Sr. Comr. Yantofan, a spokesman for the Batu Police, said the officers found indications of communist-related content in the recorded musical, though he did not provide any details.

“ ‘Opera Tan Malaka’ is totally different from the film ‘G30S/PKI,’ which dealt with the topic of communism in a more traditional way,” Yantofan said on Tuesday.

“G30S/PKI” is a film promoting the Suharto government’s vision of the events surrounding a failed coup d’etat in 1965, which was blamed on communists.

“Because there are elements of communism [in the musical], Batu TV should not broadcast it,” Yantofan said. “And even if Batu TV wants to broadcast it, I wonder who will watch it as [the recording] is blurry.”

Adj. Comr. Kuncoro, an intelligence official from the Batu Police who visited the TV station last Thursday, said the visit was not to ban the program, but simply to “get information about the substance of the program, ‘Opera Tan Malaka.’ ”

“I met with Andry Hoediono, the director of Batu TV. He told me that he had not watched the recorded musical but promised that Batu TV would not broadcast the recording,” Kuncoro told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.

The musical was produced by Tempo TV, a television production company that offered the package to 45 television stations in the country. Ten stations agreed to air the musical on different dates in January.

“Unfortunately, of the 10 stations, Batu TV and KSTV in Kediri [East Java] canceled their broadcasts of ‘Opera Tan Malaka’ after they were visited by intelligence officials from local police departments and were urged not to broadcast it,” said Eri Sutrisno, from TempoTV.

Muftie Ali, the operational coordinator of KSTV, confirmed that intelligence officials from the Kediri Police had visited the station.

“The intelligence officials who came to see us never banned the film, they just advised against broadcasting the film because it contains communist elements,” he said.

Nezar Patria, the chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalist (AJI), criticized the police’s handling of the program.

He also pointed out that the musical had already been performed live for hundreds of people in October. 

“If there is a problem on Tan Malaka, then why can we still enjoy the book about Tan Malaka nowadays? So, it is clear to see that the problem is the lack of understanding of the country’s history at a local level,” he said.

Nezar regretted that BatuTV and KSTV decision to submit to the intelligence units suggestion for canceling the broadcasting of the Opera Tan Malaka.

Pretty Face Secret to Success in Indonesian Broadcast News

Pretty Face Secret to Success in Indonesian Broadcast News

Jakarta. The media is a powerful force in forming public opinion, but all too often, that power is used in a way that reinforces the exploitation of women for profit, analysts, activists and professionals working in the industry say.

Women working both in front of the camera and behind it are often judged based on standards of physical beauty.

In visual media, Indonesian female journalists are almost always conventionally attractive, with light skin, trim figures and long hair.

Experts say this ideal of feminine perfection represents a skewed image of reality.

“In our daily life, when was the last time you saw a woman of great physical beauty walk elegantly to a busway stop, as what some audio-visual advertisements show?” says Mariana Amiruddin, editor in chief of Jurnal Perempuan, a women’s rights magazine.

“A few years ago, there was so much critical writing about beauty advertising in media. But unfortunately, nowadays it seems that the beauty myth in advertising has instead spread out and influenced the journalism world.”

And some female journalists back her claim, saying that physical beauty, not talent, is the essential element for a successful onscreen career.

Luviana, a news producer with private broadcaster Metro TV, says many female journalists are not allowed to present their own news reports because they do not have a “camera face.”

“There are many television companies which will only hire female news anchors who have won a beauty contest or used to be models,” she says.

“The reason why television companies hire female anchors is based on the myth of beauty. They believe it helps them earn more profits. Other than that, many male sources, from the police or at the parliament for example, would much rather be interviewed by a good-looking female journalist,” Luviana adds.

Chantal Della Concetta, a former news anchor for RCTI, is diplomatic about the industry’s preference for beauty.

“It doesn’t mean that physical beauty is the only requirement for a news anchor. Keep in mind that inner beauty is a must for a news anchor. We have to be smart to ask questions and analyze the current issues,” Chantal says.

Many viewers, however, look past a pretty face in their search for substantive news.

“I do not like to watch a news anchor who appears too arrogant when interviewing their source, either ordinary people, actresses or actors or a member of the House,” says Faozan Latief, a television viewer in Jakarta.

“Yes, they might be pretty. But what do we need after all if we are watching a news program? To watch the anchor or get the news?” he says.

Iswandi Syahputra, a media analyst and member of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), explains that in the broadcast and television sector, many women working as news anchors, actresses or advertising models welcome the chance to be judged on the basis of their looks, believing that any resulting popularity is a path to economic success.

But beyond those working in the media sector, experts say women are often exploited for the sake of producing sensational — and popular — news stories.

Neng Dara Afifah, a senior member of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), says there are many blatant cases of unethical newspapers and TV programs churning out stories about sexually abused women.

“When it comes to sexual abuse, women as the victims are always exposed, but what about the perpetrators?” Neng says.

She says media companies, which sensationalize what should be private cases, are actually guilty of “sexual violence” against the victims.

Since January, Komnas Perempuan has recorded 151 news reports of sexual violence against women.

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and Komnas Perempuan are urging journalists to apply the Indonesian journalists’ code of ethics, in particular articles 4,5 and 8.

“Those three articles focus on gender perspective, requiring journalists to show sympathy to the victims of sexual abuse in their reporting,” says Rach Alida Bahaweres, coordinator of the women’s division at AJI.

Nation’s Gay, Transgender Community Searches for a Voice in the Mass Media

Nation’s Gay, Transgender Community Searches for a Voice in the Mass Media

Yogyakarta. The media wield enormous influence in informing public opinion, and in Indonesia this power has often been used to discriminate against marginalized social groups such as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Homosexuality is often portrayed in local media as a sexual aberration or deviant behavior. These and similar other labels are used to denounce the LGBT community through the media, both directly and indirectly.

“When was the last time you read a news report about a crime committed by a heterosexual person, in which the headline made reference to their sexual orientation, like ‘Heterosexual man kills girlfriend,’ for instance?” said Mira, an activist with the Yogyakarta-based LGBT group People Like Us One Heart.

“So why is it the media insist on trumpeting the suspect’s sexual preference if they are homosexual, as in the case of Ryan, the serial killer from Jombang [East Java]? And another thing: why don’t media report on the achievements of LGBT individuals?”

Mira was speaking at the LGBT in the Mass Media forum on Tuesday, held by PLU One Heart and Yogyakarta-based Atma Jaya University’s School of Political and Social Sciences.

The skewed reporting can be traced to journalists’ lack of formal training on the topics of sexuality and gender studies, said Ashadi Siregar, the executive director of the Yogyakarta Research, Education and Publishing Institute.

“Media workers are not trained to understand LGBT issues correctly,” he said. “Their reference paradigm is one that has been molded by prevailing religious and cultural values, so what they need is more education on this topic.”

Atma Jaya journalism lecturer D Danarka Sasangka blamed the poor standard of LGBT news coverage on the fact that the media were catering to viewer tastes in a largely conservative country.

“The media cannot be separated from business and political interests,” he said. “Their level of objectivity in terms of homosexuality should therefore be seen from the point of view of industry.”

Danarka cited the reality-based television show “Be a man,” in which male transvestite contestants undergo a series of tasks ostensibly designed to make them renounce their lifestyle choice.

“Unfortunately, there are many transgender people who want to take part in the show,” he said. “It paints an often very negative picture of the transgender community. This is how the mass media shape our reality.”

Ashadi said there were steps the LGBT community could take to rectify the situation.

“They can help end the stigma in two ways,” he said. “First, by establishing a media-monitoring institute to combat the negative stereotypes, and second, by developing alternative media for advocacy purposes, which will help the LGBT community raise public awareness about the issues it faces.”