Indonesian Journalists’ Ethical Dilemmas: Self Evaluation of Indonesian Journalism Codes of Ethics A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Drexel University By Anggi Fajar Ayu In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Television Management May 2015 © Copyright (2015) Anggi Fajar Ayu. All Rights Reserved. ii Acknowledgements I would like to extend my sincere eternal gratitude for my thesis advisor who has been very knowledgeable, patience and helpful, Lydia Timmins, PhD. I wouldn’t be able to finish this thesis if not for her continued encouragement. I want to acknowledge TVMN Program Director, Al Tedesco whom his classes were nothing but joy to listen to; his wealth of knowledge is something that I will always admire. The day I stepped into his office for an interview was the day I reassure myself that I am going into the right direction and it’s never too late to follow your dream. To Nine and Anastasia, thank you for being the beacon of light! Lastly, thank you for all of my respondents who have completed or tried to complete the online survey…You guys ROCK! iii Table of Contents List of Table .................................................................................................................. v List of Figures .............................................................................................................vii Abstract ..................................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Hypotheses ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background and Need ..................................................................................... 1 1.3 Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................ 3 1.4 Research Questions ......................................................................................... 4 1.5 Limitations ....................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review .................................................................................... 5 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Body of the Review ........................................................................................ 8 2.2.1 Indonesian Television Audience Measurement ........................................ 8 2.2.2 History of Indonesian Journalism ........................................................... 13 2.2.3 Media, Presidential Elections & Politics ............................................... 13 2.2.4 Challenges on Indonesian Journalism .................................................... 14 2.2.5 Comparison with other journalistic developing countries ...................... 14 Chapter 3: Methodology............................................................................................ 17 3.1 Qualitative vs. quantitative research ............................................................ 17 3.2 Participants ..................................................................................................... 18 3.3 Setting ............................................................................................................ 18 3.4 Intervention and Materials ............................................................................. 19 3.5 Measurement Instruments ............................................................................. 19 3.6 Data Collection and Procedures ..................................................................... 20 3.7 Data Analysis ................................................................................................. 20 Chapter 4: Findings .................................................................................................. 21 4.1 Sample Size ................................................................................................... 21 4.2 Demographic Profile of the Respondents ...................................................... 21 4.3 Survey Results ............................................................................................... 22 iv Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion ................................................................... 40 5.1 Summary ....................................................................................................... 40 5.2 Findings ......................................................................................................... 40 5.3 Recommendation ........................................................................................... 42 5.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 44 List of References ....................................................................................................... 45 Appendix: Survey Questionnaire ............................................................................. 49 v List of Tables Table 1: Indonesia Prime Time Audience Share & Media Ownership……………….6 Table 2: The World Television Industry’s Revenue Distribution, end 2012…………7 Table 3: Indonesia Advertising Revenue…………………………………………......8 Table 4: Indonesian Television Market Share……………………………….……....10 Table 5: Media Ownership in Indonesia…………………………………………......10 Table 6: Genders of the Respondents………………………………………………..21 Table 7: Highest Completed Level of Education……………………………………22 Table 8: Major in Highest Completed Level of Education………………….………22 Table 9: Respondent’s Employment History…………………….………………….23 Table 10: Experience in the newsroom………………………………………….…..23 Table 11: The Duration……………………………………………………………...24 Table 12: Respondents’ last position in a newsroom…………………..……………24 Table 13: What the Respondents Like about the Newsroom………………………..25 Table 14: Type of Assignments……………………………………….……………..25 Table 15: Knowledge of the Indonesian Journalism Code of Ethics………………...26 Table 16: Where the Respondents Learned about the Indonesian Journalism Code of Ethics………………………………………………………………………………...26 Table 17: Ethical Dilemmas Encountered by the Respondents…………….……….27 Table 18: Respondents’ Ethical Dilemmas……………………………………….…29 Table 19: Usage of the Journalism Code of Ethics………………………………….31 Table 20: Respondents’ Reason……………………………………………………..31 Table 21: Who/What Helped the Respondents………………………………………32 Table 22: The Respondents’ Opinion of the Indonesian Journalism Code of Ethics..32 vi Table 23: How Helpful is the Journalism Code of Ethics?..........................................33 Table 24: How Effective the Journalism Code of Ethics to Solve Respondent’s Dilemmas?...................................................................................................................34 Table 25: Will Respondents promote the Journalism Code of Ethics to Their Peers?34 Table 26: Will Respondents Use the Journalism Code of Ethics again in the Future?35 Table 27: Respondents Opinion to 11 Principles of the Journalism Code of Ethics...36 Table 28: Respondents’ Reasons…………………………………………………….38 Table 29: Triangulation Chart……………………………………………………….43 vii List of Figure Figure 1: Timeline of the main ethics code pertaining to journalists in Indonesia…..13 viii Abstract Indonesian Journalists’ Ethical Dilemmas: Self Evaluation of Indonesian Journalism Codes of Ethics Anggi Fajar Ayu This thesis analyzes the practice of the profession of television journalism in Indonesia and whether the fundamental codes of ethics as standards of journalism were consistently practiced in Indonesia's market-driven media sector. This thesis draws on the research from a thesis about “Press Ethics and Practice of Journalism in Turkey: A Case Study on Turkish Journalists’ Self Evaluation of Their Codes of Practice.” (Hilal, 2006). According to Hilal, while media owners, executives or stockholders have consistently used the press as an instrument in the furtherance of their interests; this issue has been aggravated by the recent concentration in media proprietorship. This thesis addresses the historical formation of the Journalism Code of Ethics in Indonesia, practices prior to and after freedom of press happened in 1999 preceding concentrating on the implementation of 11 principles of the Journalism Code of Ethics in Indonesian news media. It also addresses the recent development such as media, politics and PEMILU (presidential election). The fundamental issue in media morals is the ethical quality of those in the area and the compatibility of journalism and ethics. (Hilal, 2006). This thesis’s objective was to learn if Indonesian TV journalists and Newsmakers were using the code of ethics as guidance, will they use it again in the future, and will they recommend its use to their peers; how effective was the 11 principles of the Journalism Code of Ethics to encounter ethical dilemmas with technology. ix The study finds while 92% of the respondents have knowledge of the Indonesian Journalism Code of Ethics, and 36% of the respondents impacted by a severe conflict/ ethical dilemma, the majority of the respondents, 26% are in doubt that it was helpful and 33% of them though that the Indonesian Journalism Code of Ethics was really helpful to help them to solve their ethical dilemma. 30% of the respondents also in doubt