Jakob Oetama, Pioneer of the Consoling Press

Kompas

Jakob Oetama.

Jakob Oetama was a pioneer of the press ahead of the development of online, digital or cyber media in the country. He was also known as the forerunner of the press with a “tender”, comforting tone, who, along with Petrus Kanisius Ojong, set up the first and largest printed press company in Indonesia. His “tender heart” was reflected in the news and opinion pieces of the Kompas daily, which have promoted educative goals and shunned provocative viewpoints.The founder and General Manager of Kompas put the press management profession as follows: “Yes, I’ve often described it that we are like walking in a river and stumbling over a rock. We can respond by kicking the rock. But if the rock is too big, we may break our leg. Yet we can also take another approach: ‘Oh, there’s a rock! I’ll withdraw.’ I don’t keep retreating, but instead turn to the path without rocks. It’s tiring, because we’re sometimes impatient. Conflict also occasionally arises as we assume that something big is at stake.”

Also read: Working with Heart

Jakob, who was once chief editor, expressed that view in an article entitled “Menunjang Keterbukaan (Supporting Transparency)” published in by Kompas on 7 January 1978. Still, the article further elaborated: “Therefore, I’ve frequently told my colleagues and juniors, the important thing is to never feel fully satisfied. It’s necessary to keep questioning. If they ever feel complacent, they are no longer journalists. They only function as news getters at most, as information officers. Journalists are more than mere information personnel. We indeed accept the prevailing situation, but take it as a reality for our further pursuit, further expansion.”

Also read: “I am a Journalist”

Jakob considered academic educational requirements important in the recruitment of professional journalists capable of news coverage and reporting, besides being visionaries. The journalists he wanted were “those capable of perceiving events in their contextual frameworks, instead of observing them in a bare fashion”. This capability, in his opinion, was at the minimum level expected to be found among those with academic qualifications.

Jakob and Mochtar Lubis

Press observers have often contrasted the “gentle” style of Jakob with the critical attitude of Mochtar Lubis, the founder and editor in chief of Indonesia Raya, the daily frequently muzzled by the government of President Sukarno and finally banned by the President Suharto administration.

Jakob called Mochtar a “courageous journalist known as an opponent of all iniquities”.

He said: “There may be different views of his political approach and evaluation. But despite the pros and cons of his political outlook and attitude, it is agreed that Bung Mochtar is a journalist with a commitment. He is the ideal type of a journaliste engagé, one who becomes a journalist because of a commitment, because there is a struggle to be waged.”

Also read: Human and Indonesia, That’s His Concern

Jakob penned that description of Mochtar Lubis in his foreword to the biography Mochtar Lubis Wartawan Jihad (Mochtar Lubis, a Jihadist Journalist), published in March 1992. He further indicated: “In his struggle he is persistent, fighting all forms of iniquity. It’s a struggle to uphold humanity and oppose everything that oppresses, harms and tyrannizes humanity. He also favors advancement, and in this perspective, he displays a very critical stance toward traditional practice and culture that are feudalistic, conservative and repressive.” For observers of the press, Jakob’s portrayal of the character of Mochtar is also seen as the standpoint adopted by Jakob.

Humble response

When the independent Press Council was formed at the beginning of the Reform period, Jakob was one of those proposed as prospective chairman out of nine members elected and already approved by President Abdurrahman Wahid in April 2000.

ARSIP KOMPAS

The founder of Kompas Gramedia Jakob Oetama (right) accompanies the Minister of Information Harmoko during the inauguration of the building of the holy house of Bentara Budaya Jakarta, on 26 June 1986.

The new Press Law, Law No. 40/1999, which was passed by the House of Representatives and ratified by President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie in September 1999, stipulates the formation of an independent Press Council to protect press freedom and promote the enhancement of the life of the national press.

The independent Press Council, as defined in this Press Law, is completely different from that of the New Order period, which served more as the mouthpiece for the government involved in media silencing. The independent Press Council is a self-regulating institution working without government intervention.

Three of its nine members, representing journalists, came from print media, television and radio corporate leadership, and two others were public figures.

In May 2000, the independent Press Council convened its first plenary meeting to elect a chairman and a deputy chairman and compose its commissions.

But he declined the offer for being nominated as Supreme Court Chairman.

Selected from the nine Press Council members, I was late for the meeting, because I was a speaker at a discussion on the press. As the last speaker at the Press Council plenary meeting, at first I proposed Benjamin Mangkoedilaga as chairman, because he was the only member with a bureaucratic background, which was needed to comprehend the cooperation between the Press Council and the government. But he declined the offer for being nominated as Supreme Court Chairman.

The next member who I thought deserved Press Council chairmanship was Jakob in view of his experience and credibility in the press media. However, Jakob, too, turned down the proposal, because – I thought he was joking – “Everybody knows, I belonged to the New Order,” he said.

I believed it was Jakob’s humble response to decline Press Council chairmanship in the period of political transition. In fact, during the rule of President Suharto, he managed to oppose the New Order government’s policy launched by Information Minister Harmoko.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

The mourners read the Kompas Daily, which features the figure of the founder of the Kompas daily, Jakob Oetama, when the body of Jakob Oetama is laid to rest at the Kompas Gramedia Building, Palmerah Selatan, Jakarta, on Thursday (10/9/2020).

The State Administrative Court (PTUN) of Jakarta examined the lawsuit of Goenawan Mohamad along with 43 journalists and employees of the Tempo magazine filed against the Information Minister in September 1994. The suit stated that, as a consequence of the ban on the Tempo magazine (as well as the Editor magazine and Detik political tabloid), the plaintiff “loses the opportunity to participate in the enhancement of the nation’s intelligence, is deprived of a forum of information and people’s aspirations, as well as the rights to exercise control and voice constructive criticism”.

Besides that, they said they had suffered real losses because of being denied their livelihood. For this reason, they demanded that the Information Minister review the revocation of the press publication business license (SIUPP) of the magazine and allow the republication of Tempo.

The PTUN session heard an important and fairly surprising statement from Jakob as daily executive chairman of the Press Council. He stated to justice Benjamin Mangkoedilaga that Press Council members at two meetings prior to the ban on 21 June 1994 only recommended that the Information Minister issue a strong warning to various press media, instead of closing down Tempo, Editor and Detik.

Also read: The Guru’s Departure

The Press Council, then chaired by the Information Minister, was an autonomous institution within the Information Department serving as an advisory agency for the government in press affairs. In the decision papers on the “revocation of the SIUPP” of the three weeklies, it was stipulated that the decision was made by “Taking into account: 1. The suggestion and consideration of the Daily Executives of the Press Council at the meetings on 21 June 1994; 2. The suggestion of the Director General of Press and Graphic Development.

Atmakusumah, Former Chairman of the Press Council and Executive Director of the Dr Soetomo Press Institute