Ismira Lutfia – Ahead of an expected revision to the Broadcasting Law, a coalition of media watchdogs has lashed out at the government and regulators for allowing television station ownership to be concentrated among a handful of companies.
Eko Item Maryadi, coordinator of the Independent Coalition for the Democratization of Broadcasting (KIDP), said on Wednesday that this had resulted in a decline in programming quality on free-to-air channels.
"Our broadcasting industry is controlled by a handful of people and corporations laden with business and political interests, who are taking advantage of their broadcasting licences to gain commercial benefits without addressing quality of content," he said.
"There are mounting public complaints over similar, monotonous and sensationalist programs that prioritize commercial interests, showing violence and violating the privacy of public figures. This is a far cry from a broadcaster's role of educating viewers."
Eko said a notable example of concentrated media ownership was the Media Nusantara Citra group, owned by tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo, which owns three Jakarta-based stations with nationwide reach: RCTI, Global TV and MNC TV, previously TPI.
Others include Chairul Tanjung's Trans Corp., which owns Trans TV and Trans 7, and the Viva Media Group, a media investment holding company affiliated with the Bakrie family that owns TVOne and ANTV. The Viva group is headed by Anindya Novyan Bakrie, the eldest son of tycoon and Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.
"The trend is becoming more visible with the planned acquisition of broadcaster Indosiar by Elang Mahkota Teknologi, which owns SCTV," Eko said.
Paulus Widiyanto, head of People for Communication and Information, which is part of the KIDP, and a former member of the House of Representatives, said that the corporate consolidation of broadcasters had affected the quality and variety of programming.
"Diversity of content is clearly lacking," he said. "Even the news programs have a Jakarta bias because they repeatedly feature the same sources." Amir Effendi Siregar, head of Media Regulation and Regulator Watch and a KIDP member, said the situation was "clearly in contradiction to the 2002 Broadcasting Law, which ensures the diversity of ownership and content."
He said a government regulation related to the law limited individual and corporations to ownership of no more than two broadcasters in two different regions, with a maximum 49 percent stake in the second station.
"Therefore it's the government's and the business regulators' task to be firm in enforcing the Broadcasting Law," he said.
However, Gatot Dewa Broto, a spokesman for the Communications and Information Technology Ministry, on Thursday denied the allegations, saying his office had ensured that all broadcasting permits issued remained with the same parties and were not transferred to others.
He conceded there were still "gray areas" in the Broadcasting Law related to corporations and the stock market that fell outside the ministry's authority.
"We're amending the law to harmonize regulations on broadcasting with regulations on the stock market and limited corporations," Gatot said.
However, the KIDP warned the proposed amendments could make the situation worse. "We think the draft being drawn up by the government favors media corporations and could eventually legalize the concentration of ownership of broadcasters," Eko said.
Gatot asked the KIDP not to rush into judgement on the draft, saying they could always voice their objections during the deliberation process at the House.