Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The rampant programs on television depicting violence and sex begs a question: Are people in the TV industry equipped with any knowledge of ethics? Magazine journalist Ferdiansyah, an alumni of the School of Communication at the University of Indonesia, said that he had only received brief instruction on ethics in communication during his four years of study.
"We were taught ethics and philosophy in communication. However, it was very broad and did not cover ethics in broadcasting," he told The Jakarta Post.
Ferdiansyah, who once worked for a production house that provided programs for TV stations, said that beside working for advertising agencies many of his classmates worked for TV stations and production houses.
Production houses play an important role in the TV industry as TV stations outsource the making of many programs to these companies.
Chairman of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) Victor Manayang, who is also a lecturer at the University of Indonesia's School of Communications, admitted that the lack of understanding of ethics among workers in the TV industry could be a factor behind rampant "unethical" programs on Indonesian television.
Universities should thus be blamed for failing to provide such knowledge.
"We at the University of Indonesia's School of Communications are still trying to improve the curriculum so as to raise the awareness of students about ethical values in the broadcasting industry from the beginning of their studies," he told the Post.
He noted that many of professionals and decision makers in the broadcasting industry didn't come from communication schools but from business schools or other faculties, which had different approaches to ethics.
"They have different values, and as they see TV as just a business enterprise, and they will prioritize profit over all other factors. The challenge now is how to reconcile ethics with profit motives," he said.
He said that the nature of the TV broadcasting business was that if a TV station had a program that succeeded in attracting viewers, other TV stations would copy the program.
"If they don't do this, their rating will decline. It explains why there are so many crime and ghost stories on TV," he said.
Agreeing with Victor, Amalia Kartika, an RCTI anchor, admitted that several programs on television had little educational values but that TV stations kept them in place due to ratings considerations.
"I think RCTI has dropped most of its controversial shows," said Amalia, who herself is an alumni of the University of Indonesia.
Ferdiansyah said that many new generation TV professionals had come to realize that many TV shows sucked and were ridiculous. However, they could not do anything to change their companies' policies as they were powerless, being at the bottom or the middle of the organization "I am sure that little-by-little these younger professionals will take their turn, and pursue different policies," he said.