The Press Should Safeguard Public Reason during Political Year
The press should not function as watchdog, but also be able to provide education to the public, as well as quality information so that citizens can make the best rational choices.
By
DIAN DEWI PURNAMASARI
·5 minutes read
DIAN DEWI PURNAMASARI
Chief editor of Kompas Daily Sutta Dharmasaputra (left), Chair of the Commission for Complaints and Enforcement of Press Ethics at the Press Council Yadi Hendriana, Chair of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission Agung Suprio, CNN Reporting Director Titin Rosmasari, spoke at the seminar "Press and Simultaneous Elections 2024" held by the Council Press in Jakarta, Thursday (26/1/2023).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — In the political year, the press should play its part to increase public intellectual understanding of electoral issues. The press should not function as watchdog, but also be able to provide education to the public, as well as quality information so that citizens can make the best rational choices.
In his address at the seminar Press and 2024 Simultaneous Elections in Jakarta, on Thursday (26/1/2023), the chairperson of the Press Council, Ninik Rahayu, said the potential for conflict in holding the 2024 elections would be quite high. Ahead of the 2024 Election, the media should, therefore, be able to carry out their function as supervisors of the election stages, both those regulated by law and those outside regulations.
In addition, the press also has a mandate to increase public intellectual understanding of electoral issues. "The press is not only a watchdog, but also has to provide dialogues that can help the public judge what is right and what is wrong," said Ninik.
The Press Council must oversee the media to behave professionally during the 2024 General Election. Journalists are required to have integrity and credibility. Newsrooms are expected to be able to demonstrate independence so that they are not contaminated with economic, political or media-conglomerate interests. By taking care of these matters, it is hoped that the public will obtain credible information from the press.
The chief dditor of Kompas daily, Sutta Dharmasaputra, emphasized that the 2024 simultaneous elections will be a very important time for the public to obtain quality information. So far, journalism has produced information with a good and proven methodology. At this important time, it is an opportunity for the journalists to prove the sanctity of their profession. The mainstream media must again show its identity as a reliable provider of information rather than social media.
“So far, the press has been able to carry out its duties as an information provider with a good methodology. It must be maintained. The state and political actors must also trust the work of journalists because a free press coexists with democracy," he said.
In addition, Deputy for National Unity at the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Janedjri M Gaffar, hoped that the press would have awareness in playing a strategic role to stem social divisions, like what happened in the 2019 election.
The press should have the ability and awareness to play that strategic role. For an example, the press should be selective in choosing competent and responsible sources, titles and constructive news points of view so that they would not get caught up in clickbait practices and phenomena.
Curbing disinformation
The role of the press was very strategic as one of the pillars of democracy, Janedjri said. The press has so far played a strategic role in stemming hoaxes and disinformation that are rife on social media ahead of the 2024 simultaneous elections. Therefore, the press is required to become an institution with high ethical standards and accuracy.
The culture of verification, check and recheck, must be upheld. Thus, the news produced by the press can lead the public to rational and objective choices. The press must be the main reference for people's choices in the 2024 elections. The people's choices must of course be based on considerations of the interests of the integrity, unity and progress of the nation, not based on hate groups or personal sentiment.
In line with that, Ninik also reminded the press not to convey disinformation, misinformation and malinformation. "If disinformation, misinformation and malinformation on election are spread, this will have a bad impact on society," she said.
For election administrators, disinformation can have a negative impact. Member of the General Election Commission, Mochammad Afifuddin, gave an example, in the 2019 Election. At the time, one of the items of disinformation that had caused problems for the General Elections Commission (KPU) was false news about the existence of seven containers of ballots that had been punched in Tanjung Priok, Jakarta. Officials from the KPU and the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) at that time immediately checked the location. As a result, no facts were found like the news that was spread virally on social media. However, for some people, the news was true and election organizers were considered fraudulent.
Regarding supervision of reporting and broadcasting, a member of the Bawaslu, Lolly Suhenty, said that there was already a task force consisting of the KPU, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission and the Press Council to do the job. The task force will act when there are allegations of campaign, advertising and reporting violations in broadcasting institutions or print and online media. The complaint-management mechanism is considered to have been running quite effectively. Alleged violations will first be handled by the Press Council.
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.
