Unspun has found a kindered spirit who rants about the inanities of the Press. Rage, I say Greenstump, rage against the dying of the light (of intelligence) in the media we have to read.
32 responses to “One more justified rant about the Indonesian media”
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I agree with both of you, and I’d say it all comes down to feudalism. They rarely (very, very rarely) go to anything other than official press conferences, which they’ve been invited to. Then receive the goodie bag and dutifully regurgitate whatever the official(s) tells them. No stress, no analysis, nobody loses face and all the bapaks (feudal lords) are content with what the serfs (RI journos) have penned.
For the serf to ask tough questions or in any way upset the lords, or probe too deeply into the scandals perpetrated by these modern-day lords, would very likely mean the end of a job, and possibly the serf’s career in this country.
For the good, dutiful serfs there is always pressure from the fact that his/her obligations to the lords (and this includes his/her publishers and chief editors and gov’t officials) always takes precedence over fulfilling his/her commitment to being a real professional and a bona-fide member of the 4th Estate.
I have met a few local journos who really have a strong desire to be tough on errant officials, but they just won’t DARE do it, because they know they don’t have the support from their seniors back in the newsroom or in the publisher’s office. I know two, specifically, who’ve had to say goodbye to their homeland to pursue a serious career as a journalist in countries that not only allow tough questions and investigation, but actually reward the journalists who do!
(sorry that was a bit long, but it is a pet peeve of mine…)
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I also wonder about that, how much is fear induced and how much is just “lets just take the easy way out and how much is “thats just the way we do things (all very polite and unoffensive)”
I have always been amazed at when a journalist is assaulted, harrassed in Indonesia, the media does not close ranks to protect their own rather become just another news item. In many other countries assaults on journalists is the quickest way to bring down a goverment due the relentless bad press it brings down.
Slightly off topic but an interesting persepective watch the Indonesian Idol and American Idol..One somewhat brutal, to the point and unfeeling, the other sachrine sweet, polite and forgiving to the extreme..Does this run into investigative media as well?
My personal opinion is the media has a lot more to answer for in regards to the sorry state of the nation than the government itself.
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Rich, Oigal: I don’t think it is entirely fear.I’m more inclined to Oigal’s thesis of “that’s just the way we do it.”
That and the hubris of the established journalists. You couldn’t teach them anything new. These traits are displayed by journalists worldwide but most of them are very genuine about making the world a better place. So why is it that Indonesian jornalists are so indifferent about issues and accountability?
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Fear? I didn’t mention fear. In fact, I see it as the other way around for a great majority of local journos. I’d venture to guess that perhaps 9 of 10 journos here genuinely would much prefer to please the lords by brown-nosing and writing nice fluff about them, rather than being part of the 4th Estate accountable to society, or the governed masses.
I’d venture to guess also that most just simply don’t even realize that it is a professional journalist’s key raison d’etre in a democracy to keep leaders accountable — on behalf of all citizens.
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Something none of you are mentioning: the cost of producing news.
You’re measuring Indonesian journalists against international standards, perhaps not explicitly, but that’s what you mean by ‘Fourth Estate.’
Oigal may rage, rage, against the dying of the light, if he’s talking about his own flourescent computer screen, but like most (not all) Bloggers hasn’t got * a clue * about what it takes to gather information.
He prefers to sit back, pontificate, and other activities that end in -ate, whilst reporters – yes – real people get out, bear the macet, sweat, have phones slammed on them, get lied to, get the run around from BUMN officials, smell the stink of refugee camps, and sometimes risk getting killed.
It’s a major failing of Blogs.
A bad salary for a foreign print journalist is $3,000 a month.
A good salary for a local print journalist is Rp. 5 juta a month.
So foreign journalists are paid more than five times, and often more than ten times what their Indonesian counterparts get. Ever heard the phrase: get what you pay for ?
Now, of course, people do pay, amplops, bribes, even bullying. But given that a lot of local journalists, especially the army of freelancers are actually poor, and given that alot of Bloggers are sitting in air-conditioned comfort, playing armchair editors, how about a bit of credit.
I think at Rp.5,000 for the Jakarta Post, you’re getting a bargain.
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Riccardo,
Here’s a typical day for an average reporter: up at 5 am, chickens, radio, motorbikes starting up at the neighbors. 1 1/2 hour commute to the office. 7 am. editorial meeting, told to ride your motorbike 1 1/2 hours through the macet to wait another 1 1/2 hours until official X issues his lie for the day. Sat pam won’t let you onto 4th floor to confirm. Send the lie to the editor. Editor asks questions. Repeat for 2nd half of day. Collect monthly paycheck. Rp.2.5 juta (not uncommon).
I’d say in terms of dollar-per-unit-of-energy expended, they’re doing pretty well.
That goes for most things in Indonesia: You get what you pay for. At the end of the day, you can sift most of the major seismic events in Indonesia from an intelligent reading of the Indonesian language press. Try digesting Kompas, Media Indonesia, Investor Indonesia, Bisnis Indonesia, Koran Tempo, plus the Blogs. Not to mention the voluminous, albeit often innaccurate reporting in Tempo and Gatra magazines.
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I’ve edited Achmad’s comments so that the sarcasm is left out while the meaning is intact. Achmad, I feel, makes good points but can’t help spitting vitriol if given half the chance.
Valid point Achmad makes that maybe the quality is proportional to the pay of Indonesian journalist but I suppose the question then is this: given their conditions, are they doing their best or is it still sadly below their potential? I suspect it’s the latter.
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Unspun,
You missed one of the jabs at Oigal (activities that end in -ate).
More generally, here’s an issue with Blogs. Smug missives at the ‘traditional media’ are a staple. But they’re really biting the hand that feeds them.
Closer to home with our Indonesian Blogs, consider a few prominent ones:
Yosef Ardi:
Editor at Bisnis Indonesia. Respected Blog for his constant stream of inside news and gossip.
But guess what – he’s scooping his own paper by printing the cooler-room gossip gathered by teams of ‘traditional media’ journalists funded by someone else.
Indonesia Matters:
Very useful source of unpaid translation and media scanning. Could put some PR people out of business by providing for free what they charge for. Once again, 90 % or more of this comes from traditional media.
To be fair to both Yosef Ardi and the ever-dilligent and hard-working Patung, neither of them, I’ve seen criticise the mainstream media.
Unspun:
Whilst now fair and square new media, Unspun received many years of reporting and writing experience steeped deep in the enemy camp of traditional press. According to his Blog, he used to work for the Asia Times.
So he knows what he’s talking about when he knocks the traditional press, and unlike most Bloggers knows a fair day’s pain gathering information and news. But deep down there, I sense, a journalist-at-heart still lurks. Only the medium has changed.
The point is there’s a symbiotic relationship between Blogs and the traditional press. As Jay Rosen of PressThink said, the war should, by rights, be over.
Blogs can fill in a alot of the gaps and correct alot of the weaknesses of traditional print. They are a rightful part of the ‘Fourth Estate.’
But without a cadre of paid people with a name and salary to lose those gaps would be much, much, bigger.
And there’d be much less to Blog about. Except, of course, to readers who find a 1,000-word essay on golf courses in Bali and baggage loss stories really, really interesting.
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I agree with Ahmad on several points, however, I gotta go now, the floodwaters are lapping at the front door in W. Jakarta and I need to disconnect my computer and seek higher ground, maybe I’ll go over to the New Orleans Superdome….. signing off at 6:09 pm Friday Feb. 2, 2007
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He wouldn’t agree if he saw what I originally printed.
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Ahmad: Now, now. You’d shine more if you just made your points cogently and resist the itch to shit stir.
You made good points about blogs vs/and journalism but unfortunatley that’s not the iquestion being posed here. The question is: Why is the Indonesian press miserably failing in its duty as the Fourth Estate?
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You will have excuse me if I don’t bother to respond to the A’s points…Possible valid but so covered in childish abuse, cannot be bothered to take the little kid serious.
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Pardon me for butting in at this late stage.
Unspun makes a very good point about Achmad. Though we don’t get to read his unedited comments, maybe it’s better this way. Achmad makes good headway at times, with some good points but these are often hidden in his shit-stirring antics. His sarcasm borders bitterness and this blunts his message.
If a local journo keeps comparing his package with that of a foreign journo’s, he isn’t going to get anywhere. Not now, not ever. I know saying this will induce Achmad to spew vitrol again. But as ourselves this. If we pay a local journo Rp. 10 juta, do we have a guarantee that he is going to ask tough questions, or take a stand on what he writes? He’d probably think now that he’s having a comfortable take-home pay, it might be better to do more not to upset everyone. Better not rock the boat or I will lose my good life!
Now, that’s food for thought. I am playing the devil’s advocate.
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Ok then, Gentlemen,
On the ‘Indonesian media’ – yes that’s plural – there’s simply so much printed, broadcast and put out on the web that a vast territory gets covered every single day. I question whether most people who knock the ‘Indonesian media’ can even read the language it’s printed in.
Sure, they can understand ‘Selamat Pagi Pemirsa,’ but it’s glazed eyes, and grumbles into the coffee from their on in.
I put it to you that a careful sifting of the roughly 10 or so Jakarta broadsheets, will reveal a very accurate picture of what’s going on. It might take more effort than reading the Washington Post + the New York Times if you were in the U.S.A, but hey, you get what you pay for.
In terms of whether or not Indonesian journalists are putting their best foot forward, I ask you: what’s a fair benchmark ? I’m proposing:
A human unit of energy per $1 spent: Let’s call it an Oigal. ($1 = Rp.9,050).
I’d say that per Oigal Indonesian journalists create as much value as their Western counterparts.
As for the not playing the fourth estate role, I’d say compared to whom ? Compared to a U.S. media that mostly waved banners in the lead-up to the Iraq invasion ? A Western media overall that’s losing audience to the internet ? Or how ’bout an Aussie media that devotes acres of space to Shapelle Corby’s retrial as kids across the Lombok Strait starve ? Ask any Bali property developer what they think about the ‘CNN factor.’
The Indonesian media is FAR FROM PERFECT, but what invisible standard are they being held to ? Bayi, in all fairness, none has been offered, except suspecting that anyone who received Rp.10 juta would slack off.
To sum up, I’d say: don’t lump the Indonesian press into a single category. Alot of fantastic journalism happens in paragraph 4, page 11, and sometimes even on page 1.
Alot of spectacular shite happens as well. One example was Tempo’s coverage of Tomy Winata. It probably deserved to get sued, using words like ‘konon,’ or allegedly.
The point about the Blogs – all Indonesian Blogs – is that you feed off the Indonesian press, much like whales do plankton, or Oigal does…I’m above name-calling (‘kids’, please…?) or making personal comments, he he he.
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P.S. To all critics of the Indonesian Press:
I challenge you to go to a press conference in Jakarta, come back with something interesting, confirm it, and convince someone else to publish it. That’s what the reporters go through on a daily basis.
The challenge only stands for those who haven’t done it and doubly stands for Bloggers.
C’mon, show ‘s’ what you got.
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The floodwaters have receded for the moment, but now the in-laws in kedoya/DaanMogot are getting it….
Ahmad, let’s not get sidetracked on pay or bloggers or whatever. I think it’s more than a little patronizing to hold Indonesian journos to a lower standard. Getting the basic news from all the broadsheets is not the question or the issue here (if I’m understanding Unspun’s original point). The issue is follow-up on crucial stories. Nearly everything is allowed to drift away after a couple a days in the headlines, then we never hear about it again. I’ve worked in a couple of newsrooms and I’ve seen the way some things go down. If there’s an alleged scandal involving, PDIP, for example, a high-level PDIP person (or her spouse) will come for a nice meeting with journos and editors, everybody is happy and gay, usually some nice little finger foods involved, and voila, there is one nice fluffy story about PDIP and the story never resurfaces….
The problem is not so much that the journo running around town is overworked and underpaid, but that he has NO support back in the newsroom or from management. So even the 1 in 10 journos (my guess-timate) that DO want to shake things up and do some heavy investigation, are not allowed, or encouraged to do so from their superiors — not because of traffic jams or silly news conferences or low pay or bloggers. So everybody plays the game, nobody loses face and life goes on for the big boys, the LORDS in this feudal system; and the serfs (Budi Q. Citizen and young journos) continue to wonder why their country’s problems of corruption and pollution and flooding and traffic jams and bird flu — but most of all the prevalence of rent-seeking lords everywhere — can’t be solved.
Sure, a few tough newspapers is not going to solve all that, but often that’s how it starts. When the rent-seeking slime are named and shamed in the mass media it really can be a deterrent.
Cheers, pray for sun!
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Riccardo,
Hmmm good points….
* On everything (italics) being allowed to drift away: I just don’t know if that’s the case. Perhaps stories lower down the food chain. But there are any number of major scandals broken and pursued by the press. Trust, for example, was reporting on the beginnings of the BNI scandal for about 10 months before it finally broke in October 2003.
* Also, Tempo, Gatra, Kontan, all have investigations nearly every week. Gatra’s can be exhaustive — too much information, alot of it irrelevant. I think poor editing, story structure, and training are all a factor. One longtime Jakarta Post editor is known to have said: “westerners think in linear steps, Javanese think in spirals,” but I think that’s stretching it.
Janet Steele’s book “Wars Within” about Tempo (maybe you worked there), has a good case study of how Gunawan Mohammad and Fikri Jufri tried to build a newsroom that addressed these issues of training and quality in the 1970s and 1980s.
* Finally, why can’t we hold the Indonesian press to different standards ? No one’s saying there’s any less talent, just less resources.
Thanks again. Hope it’s drier out there.
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Interesting discussion. Sorry if this is just too personal.
For Ahmad, I’m not an editor at Bisnis Indonesia. I was managing editor. But since 2005, I’m in charge of research, away from the news room.
FYI: I do reporting for my own blog and have no staffs or employ ‘traditional journalists’ to get the gossips/informations. But when I pick up stories from printed media, I cited their publications. But don’t expect the other way around (media cites the blog).
I’m quite happy that I broke some stories while my friends in the printed broke other news. Some rumors I posted in the blog turned out to be true, but others false.
The difference, when I broke the news I can’t claim rewards (blog is free), even though papers pick up the stories & don’t cite the blog. Ha3.LikeLike
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Yosef: Thanks for clearing that up. You’re blog is not the most widely read by the business community for nothing.
But what do you think about the state of the Indonesian media? Do they hold people accountable or have they defaulted on this role with short attention spans?
And if the latter, then why? Is it because of the caliber or pay of journalists or is it because editors these days are not focussed?
It would be great to have input from someone as experienced in the Indonesian media as you.
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Dear Ong,
I don’t think salary is the issue. Lots of journalists in town, including at my newspaper, with salary comparable to or even higher than my colleagues work for foreign media, but I don’t see they have better quality of journalism. On the other hand, other journalists at Tempo probably have lower salary than me but they managed to do better journalism.
I have three categories of people work in the journalism here:
1) Recorders (those who simply put tape recorder in front of the talking heads/officers and print whatever they said, rarely raise questions, simply follow/hear what people ask);
2) Reporters (those who use recorders, but report the scene, what they feel, saw in the field and put into perspective; raise better/tough questions sometimes; briefed by their editors beforehand);
3) Journalists (those equipped themselves with good research way before they meet or interview someone, those who understand the rhetorics or could do rhethoric analysis; very good network, rarely attend press briefings; doing investigation upon assignments or their own initiatives);
I have to admit, most of my colleagues, including myself fall into the first/second category. Why? Some of us entered journalism simply to get job, without passion of what is journalism all about; some would learn and love the job and try to improve, but many left behind in the process for many factors.
Salary is one thing, but we need good editorial environment as well to have better journalism right? When your environment dictate us to work under terms like ‘friendly journalism’, which practically means don’t raise tough questions to sources/officers, what can we expect?
Industry structure also has something to do with the media situation here. I’m not against the conglomerates enter the business. But I’m against those entering media business not to develop media business/make money out of it, but as vehicle for their non-media businesses or to get invitation from power holders as press VIPs.
But I may be wrong. That’s what I could see.
Keep on healthy discussion!LikeLike
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Yosef,
Interesting comments. But….main question still goes unanswered, why then, if salary isn’t the issue, is the Indonesian media failing, if it is, in its ‘fourth estate’ role ?
There are plenty of people who just want to collect a paycheque in the Western media as well, especially at the wire services. Datang, Duduk Diem, Dengar, Duit’s not just an Indonesian habit.
On salaries: there might be a few ‘stars’ who make more than colleagues at the Western media, but I put it you that overall, foreign media is still better-paid. And certainly, the management incentive structure is better. I’d be happy to be wrong.
I think Tempo’s an exception due to the management structure set up by Goenawan Mohammad in the 1970s and 1980s. It’s a writer’s magazine. (The guy’s a millionaire poet, for Muhammadsakes’, how often do you get those ?)
But overall, it sounds as though you’re in agreement that the Indonesian press isn’t really cutting it. I’d agree with the esteemed Achmad Sudarsono’s assessment that the media overall works, (because there’s so much coverage), but the individual reports are often crapola majorus.
So as Suharto said to Habibie and Prabowo: Why ?
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Hallo Friend,
Pak Yosef, thanks for the comments.
Here’s the thing:
I think if you’re a smart person, and really want to know what’s going on, you can sit down with the 10 or so broadsheets (kompas, media indonesia, suara pembaruan, bisnis indonesia, koran tempo etc.) sift through them and get a fantastic sense of political life above and below ground. You might not have it packaged as professionally as the U.S. press, (which has been at it for over 100 years). But it’s still all there.
Granted, Indonesian newspapers can be bloody hard to read. ‘Burying the lead’ is nearly a must for the front page. ie:
“The BPS said inflation was 1.1 percent last month. Meanwhile, Elvis Presley was seen doing a duet with Sukarno behind the building as a hovering U.F.O. broadcast the music across the planet.”
But overall, it’s still getting at the truth. An example is those hour-long interviews with Ministers or the President on Metro-TV. Awful if you’re busy, but if you’re a pundit, fantastic.
Like so much in Indonesia, you have to find your own ‘Jalan Tikus’ to find where you’re going. Everyone else is stuck in the traffic jam, but you get there quicker if you take the trouble to find the short cut. There are a lot of scoops every day in the Indonesian papers.
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Well, I think we should start from the beginning, right from we recruit new reporters, then newsroom management, the quality of editors. Most of us failed to answer questions like What makes our newspaper different tomorrow? Why the stories are important for public to know? Why public would care about the stories? What they care about?
If you analyze, probably 80% of the contents are the same in major newspapers. The difference is only on the placement of stories.
Other issues: Rotation of assignments is so quick, sometimes only few months in one beat and moved to other beats. We can’t build up knowledge in such a situation, right?
My comments are limited to my experience and can’t be generalized. Again that’s what I see!LikeLike
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P.S., there’s alot of interest in the investment and energy community about the possibility of a Pertamina IPO if you have any thoughts to share or are looking for a blog idea.
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Really ?? That’s amazing. I can’t help asking again. Why don’t they ask those questions ?? I’ve noticed that one of the best news-gathering intelligence operation is the Kampung gossip network that seems to be constantly focused on what people want to know (even if the results are mixed in with slander and disinformation)!!
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Ahmad,
Sorry, I didn’t comment your statements. I did comment the guy before you. As I said, my comments are limited to my experience at my own newspaper. Even so, I’m probably wrong.
Oh, thanks for your Pertamina IPO info. I’ll take a look at that.
On Kampung gossip: Don’t discount gossips…he3. In fact people love to talk about gossips.LikeLike
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All: we seem to agree that Indonesian media is not at its full potential and that is because it lacks the focus. As Achmad would put it, it constantly buried the lead.
If this is so then the people who must be held responsible are the editors, who do not get paid that shabbily and some are quite well trained and exposed to how others do it through scholarships and fellowships abroad.
Te question then is why are these editors not functioning effectively as gatekeepers? Is it something about them as individuals or as a collective; or is the environment so depressing that no one can do anything about it?
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Can’t agree more! It’s a comprehensive effort, multi-discipline.
We once tried to establish a system like this:
Front page articles: If you have four spots, three should be exclusive, in depth, research/investigative stuffs, huge magnitude & public interests at stake.
All headlines: Should be exclusive;
Each page: May contain four articles, 50% outsourced (wires, etc); 50% from internal reporting outputs (so if you have three reporters per page, they can have more time to develop a story).
With the hopes that we could reduce the burden on quantity; boost quality.
Unfortunately didn’t work well. I don’t know why.
I’m out of the editorial board now and doing gossips as Achmad said. Surprisingly, I got more readers than my newspaper. Ha3.LikeLike
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I once tried to hook some Indonesian colleagues up with a fantastic, animated, interactive, full-color free online course at the Poynter Insitute called “News University.” Very disappointing outcome. They seemed to look down on it because it was internet learning, and because there was no extra money in doing it.
Anyway, Yosef, in a short 18 or so months you’ve skyrocketed to the forefront, so as they say in Australia: maintain your rage !LikeLike
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Achmad,
Probably because people love free stuffs.
Once I offered to one of our products to be relaunched as free magazine, but the management rejected.
We’re stuck with very low circulation and you know it’s a pain in the ass to boost ads.
One thing I can’t understand, why we have so many publications in financial difficulty, still in publication, and reject to merge?LikeLike
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That’s interesting. I’d been under the impression the main Indonesian papers were doing very well. I beg to differ (disagree politely) with Unspun; I think Bisnis Indonesia is a bargain, I have a subscription and read the website every day. Some ideas to get more competitive (maybe dumb, or maybe you’ve probably already suggested):
– RSS
– E-mail alerts
– Get the columnists to do business blogs.
– Get the marketing department to place your star writers as commentators on radio, TV, and the internet. There’s a big market in explaining business to the general public, especially now that deposits of over Rp.10 juta aren’t guaranteed by Bank Indonesia. More middle class people to the mutual funds.BTW – any thoughts on the Pertamina IPO – maybe I could e-mail you direct ?
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Ahmad, Thanks for the advise. I’ll certainly think of them.
BTW, FYI, to get better understanding about the financial state of our media, we could read financial statements of Republika, Koran Tempo, Indosiar, SCTV, RCTI Group, Jawa Pos (they’re listed or partly listed). I bet only the TVs are good except Indosiar which booked Rp57bn l0sses last year. Kompas is healthy (except the TV7 which then acquired by TransTV), Media Indonesia Group (shaky financially), Bisnis Indonesia (still profitable but not like few years ago), Neraca (not sure), Investor Group (not sure), that’s what I know. You need to reconfirm.
On Pertamina IPO, I don’t think this is the right place to discuss that. Ong would angry with us! But Hey, this is good discussion and good for Ong’s traffic. (Sorry man!)LikeLike
Unspun 
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