Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Pressure is mounting on the Indonesian media to support the military offensive against the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), with the government insisting that national integrity should come before press freedom.
Asking the media to develop what he called patriotic journalism, State Minister of Communications and Information Syamsul Mu'arif told journalists on Thursday not to give media space to the separatists.
Syamsul said information coming from GAM "always contains insinuation and psywar" with questionable accuracy and motives. "We ask the media to be wise. Frankly, publishing statements from GAM will only hamper the [military] operation and alienate the TNI from the people," he said, referring to the Indonesian Military.
He acknowledged the efforts of Indonesian media in covering both sides during the operation to quell Acehnese rebels, but claimed that the principle was not relevant in the event of separatism. "Covering both sides is aimed at developing objectivity. But when it comes to separatism, it [the principle] might be damaging," he asserted.
The government has imposed martial law in Aceh, giving the military extraordinary powers that allow it to, among other things, restrict the press or to go as far as order a news blackout. A few days after martial law took effect, the administrator of martial law in Aceh instructed the media in the province not to quote statements from GAM.
Almost two weeks since the military operation began in the province, the Indonesian media appears to have complied with the instruction. Syamsul hailed the way the Indonesian media was covering the military operation in Aceh, but noticed "negative information which is based on unreliable sources".
Press freedom has been put to the test after the TNI disclosed a plan to sue Koran Tempo daily and AFP news agency for reporting the deaths of civilians at the hands of TNI troops in the regency of Bireuen last week. The decision came after the TNI conducted an investigation to verify the report.
Later in the day, Syamsul attended a closed-door meeting hosted by TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto with media chief editors.
Like Syamsul, Endriartono reminded the media to work "within the framework of the unitary state of Indonesia". "In solving the Aceh case, public support plays a major role. If Indonesian media report news coming from GAM, we should question the depth of their nationalism," he told reporters after the meeting.
In a bid to secure international support in the Aceh conflict, Syamsul said the government planned to hire an international public relations firm. "We are weak in international public relations as foreign press coverage on Aceh has been giving a negative impression of the operation in Aceh," he said.
Yasril Ananta Baharudin, a member of the House of Representatives' information and foreign affairs commission, said the government had failed to gain public support for the integrated operation in Aceh. He suggested that the government emulate the United States, which set up media centers to sway public opinion during its attack on Iraq.
Another legislator representing the TNI, Maj. Gen. Slamet Supriyadi, urged the Indonesian media to make national interests a priority. "There should be no "cover both sides" for the sake of national interests," he said.