Sebuah Perspektif Press, Democracy and State in Indonesia Post-Soeharto
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Pers, demokrasi dan negara Indonesia Post-Soeharto: Sebuah perspektif Press, democracy and state in Indonesia Post-Soeharto: A perspective Herdi Sahrasad Fakultas Filsafat dan Peradaban, Universitas Paramadina Jalan Gatot Subroto Kav. 97, Mampang, Jakarta Selatan, DKI Jakarta 12970, Indonesia sahrasad@yahoo.com Abstract The resignation of President Soeharto in May 1998 marked the end of new order era and started a fundamental change within democracy in Indonesia. As a democratic state, Indonesia arguably provides a system to guarantee the freedom of press and good environment of mass media; as the media is supposedly not to be power driven. Several factors have been observed to understand the relationship between press and democracy. Those are democratic revolution, freedom of press, political oligarchy, the role of students, and criminal democracy practice in Indonesia. This article found that under the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Boediono (SBY-Boediono) era, newspeople freedom in journalism was gripped by the practice of "criminal democracy" which continues to undermine the development of press freedom. To conclude, democracy in Indonesia is decayed by unjust practices from the political elites; it further affects the way press and mass media in performing their roles as the fourth pillar of democracy. Keywords: press, democracy, oligarchy, poor governance, criminal democracy Abstrak Berakhirnya masa jabatan Soeharto sebagai Presiden Republik Indonesia pada Mei 1998 menandai hadirnya era baru pemerintahan yang membawa perubahan fundamental dalam demokrasi di Indonesia. Sebagai negara demokrasi, Indonesia memiliki kewajiban untuk menyediakan kebebasan pers dan atmosfer pers yang baik dan bebas dari control kekuasaan. Beberapa faktor ditinjau untuk menemukan hubungan antara pers dan demokrasi, antara lain: revolusi demokrasi, kebebasan pers, sistem politik oligarki, peranan mahasiswa, dan praktik criminal democracy di Indonesia. Artikel ini menemukan bahwa di bawah pemerintahan SBY- Boediono, kebebasan awak media dalam jurnalis memengalami hambatan dari praktik criminal democracy yang menghambat proses berkembangnya kebebasan pers di Indonesia. Simpulan yang ditemukan adalah, demokrasi di Indonesia mengalami berbagai permasalahan akibat praktik-praktik tidak benar yang dilakukan oleh elit pemerintahan. Hal ini mempengaruhi kredibilitas media massa dalam menjalankan peranannya sebagai pilar ke empat demokrasi. Kata kunci: pers, demokrasi, oligarki, pemerintahan buruk, criminal democracy Introduction Under Reform era, relationship between press and democracy in Indonesia post Soeharto was full of complexity. Mass media as the fourth pillar of democracy endured pressure from political oligarchy of Indonesian elites, not only in political sector but also various strategic sectors, including national mass media industry. Therefore, function of mass media to control the elites did not work adequately. The condition required new perpectives to see the phenomenon comprehensively. In the system of the Old Order era of Sukarno's Guided Democracy (1959-1965) and Suharto's New Order (1966-1998) the government were known for committing repressive act such as suppressing the press and people. Sovereignty and the principle of law were under challenge. Moreover, the basics and important values such as human values and human rights were abandoned. Research by Abdurrahman Surjomihardjo shows that started from the colonial period up to the New Order era, the hegemony on national press had been carried out by the state. Tragedy of press 27 Sahrasad: “Press, democracy and state in Indonesia Post-Soeharto” companies bans were something common at that time. It is shown from the data of the Press Council that during the Old and New Order era, dozens of journalists are captured for jail with 237 publishing licenses were being revoked (Surjomihardjo 2002). Tempo magazine was one of the examples, experienced banned for two times before being reissued. Tempo was banned for first time in on March 13, 1982, for the manufacture of articles that indicate election fraud in 1981. The second ban was on June 11 edition 1994, because of the articles about the purchase of German used warships by the government. Unlike Tempo, the Indonesia Raya newspaper was banned once and never being republished. Bernas magazine journalist, Udin, once being killed and never revive again. These evidences indicate how the press and the history of power were close, inside and outside (Batubara 2007). Repressive situation on political power in one side and economic liberalization in the other side became a contradiction. In one hand, State had the responsibility protect the accumulation of capital while at the same time State also provided room for the development of democracy, as a capitalist state guarantees both the right of ownership and political rights (Kunio 1987). The stream changes in 1998 through the student movement to reform democracy, human rights, people’s dignity and welfare, appeared from the birth of the middle class and educated community. There were other factors which had significant influences such as life integration between Indonesia with the world community through economic network, information, sharing ideas and experiences. Democracy has basic principles namely human dignity and human rights which were being respected and protected without discrimination. Democracy also has a civil rights guaranteed by the constitution, such as the right to liberty, property and equality before the law. Press freedom and democracy Before the era of democracy in 1966-1998, the newspapers can be issued only if they gained SIUPP (press publishing business license), which was very expensive and controlled by the Suharto regime. However, when the reform era came, people began benefiting from the freedom of the press. Without any discrimination, the license to publish mass media is more accessible and open to the public. Yet, the extensive issuance of press publishing also increases the pro and contra opinion due to several factors, such as, public and Government had been accustomed with the old authoritarian model. Another factor was the fact that the first period of the press freedom increases the quantity of mass media that live in the new air of freedom. When the reform in 1998 rolled out in Indonesia, the national press got up from the ground and the press freedom was open again marked by the enactment of Law No. 40 of 1999. The various obstacles that threaten national press were being dismissed. The SIUUP that was applicable in the era of New Order was no longer needed, anyone can issue press publications anytime without complicated requirements. In the Article 6 of Press Law No.40/1999, national press carries out the role as follows: (1). Meet the public's right to know. (2). Affirm the basic values of democracy and human rights and respect for diversity. (3). Develop a common opinion based on accurate and precise and right information. (4). Conduct supervision, criticism, corrections and suggestions on matters related to public interest. (5). Fight for justice and truth. Professionalism means ideology that values professional skills or personal abilities in general, as the main tool to achieve success. In Indonesia, the wind of reform was blow hard that wide corridors of democracy unfold. Liberalization takes place massively. Public spaces, which previously were filled with spider webs of power that every moment could fetter the freedom of the press, had opened more widely. Alternative voices that for so long settled behind the cubicles of public silence suddenly wafted out. The development of the Indonesian press recently has noted some important indications of change dealing with the press after Soeharto's New Order. First, the deregulation of media made by the post-Suharto regime as shown by the easiness in gaining a license and the revocation of SIUPP 28 Masyarakat, Kebudayaan dan Politik Vol. 27, No. 1, tahun 2014, hal. 27-43 system has led to widespread press publications. Unfortunately, the increase in the quantity of media is not accompanied by journalism quality improvement. While the media that tends to be partisan repeatedly holds the "language sensationalism" as seen through the selection of the title (headline) that is bombastic or makes garish cover designs, at the same time entertainment magazines and tabloids do the "vulgarities" and "eroticity" of sex information. That situation is known as negative press. The Indonesia recent society is the society overflowed with information in the form of images, text, sound and visual communications. Media-saturated society also leads to the media narcotization for the community. "Narcotization" is a term used to describe the negative effects or deviant consequences (dysfunction) of mass media. The term actually comes from Paul f. Lazarsfel′d, and Robert k. Merton. In their essay, Mass Comuniation, Popular Taste and Organized Social Action (1984), they use the term "narcotizing dysfunction" to refer to the social impact of the media, which often overlooked. They believe that the mass media cause apathy. Second, it is the emergence of the so-called "new media" in our society lately. To mention them is the Internet and increasingly sophisticated multimedia technology. Internet access brings a new culture in the utilization of spare time (leisure time). With the Internet, the boundaries of space and time have been compressed. More value and benefits can be taken and used by media users, for the sake of efficiency