Creating content, shaping society: Do Indonesian media uphold the principle of citizenship? Report Series Engaging Media, Empowering Society: Assessing Media Policy and Governance in Indonesia through the Lens of Citizens’ Rights Oleh A joint research project of Yanuar Nugroho Dwitri Amalia Leonardus K. Nugraha Dinita Andriani Putri Jimmy Tanaya Shita Laksmi Supported by Creating content, shaping society – Do Indonesian media uphold the principle of citizenship? Published in Indonesia in 2013 by Centre for Innovation Policy and Governance Jl. Siaga Raya (Siaga Baru), Komp. Bappenas RT 01/006 No. 43A Pejaten Barat, Pasar Minggu, Jakarta Selatan 12510 Indonesia Cover design and layouting by Fostrom (www.fostrom.com) Except where otherwise noted, content on this report is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License Some rights reserved. How to cite this report: (Nugroho, et al., 2013) - Nugroho, Y., Amalia, D., Nugraha, LK., Putri, DA., Tanaya, J., Laksmi, S. 2013. Creating content, shaping society: Do Indonesian media uphold the principle of citizenship? Report series. Engaging Media, Empowering Society: Assessing media policy and governance in Indonesia through the lens of citizens’ rights. Research collaboration of Centre for Innovation Policy and Governance and HIVOS Regional Office Southeast Asia, funded by Ford Foundation. Jakarta: CIPG and HIVOS. Centre for Innovation Policy and Governance i Creating content, shaping society: Do Indonesian media uphold the principle of citizenship? Acknowledgements The research was funded by the Ford Foundation Indo nesia Office and undertaken by the Centre for Innovation Policy and Governance (CIPG), Jakarta and HIVOS Regional Office Southeast Asia Contract No. RO SEA 100371 and RO SEA 100374 Principal Investigator : Dr. Yanuar Nugroho, University of Manchester Researchers (CIPG) : Dwitri Amalia Leonardus Kristianto Nugraha Dinita Andriani Putri Jimmy Tanaya Academic Advisors : Dr. B. Herry-Priyono, STF Driyarkara, Jakarta Reviewer : Shita Laksmi Throughout the research, the team received huge support and assistance from numerous Indonesian me- dia practitioners, civil society contacts and partners, and individuals who participated in our study through the interviews. We particularly owe thanks and gratitude to Remotivi – Roy Thaniago, Roselina Lie, Indah Wulandari; Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (Alliance of Independent Journalists), Combine Resource Institution – Bantul, Central Java, our compatriots in community radio stations; Ria Ernunsari, Dandhy Dwi Laksono, R. Kristiawan, Inaya Rakhmani; and the interns at CIPG: Klara Esti and Levriana Yustriani who have been a big help during the research. The cover of this report was designed by Rachmat Affriadi Anggara and Dinita Andriani Putri. Kathryn Mor- rison proofread and edited this report. Centre for Innovation Policy and Governance iii Creating content, shaping society: Do Indonesian media uphold the principle of citizenship? List of abbreviations AJI Aliansi Jurnalis Independen / Alliance of Independent Journalists BPP-P3I Badan Pengawas Persatuan Perusahaan Periklanan Indonesia BPOM Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan / Food and Drug Monitoring Agency BPS Badan Pusat Statistik / Central Bureau for Statistic CSO Civil Society Organisation CSR Corporate Social Responsibility Depkes Departemen Kesehatan / Ministry of Health DKI Daerah Khusus Ibukota / Special Capital Region FPI Front Pembela Islam / Islam Defender Front GMDSS Global Maritime Distress and Safety System Golkar Golongan Karya / Golongan Karya Party Hanura Hati Nurani Rakyat / Hati Nurani Rakyat Party HTI HizbutTahrir Indonesia Kemensos Kementrian Sosial / Ministry of Social Affairs KPI Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia / Indonesian Broadcasting Commission KPU Komisi Pemilihan Umum / General Elections Commissions LGBT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender LSPP Lembaga Studi Pers dan Pembangunan / Institute for Press and Development MUI Majelis Ulama Indonesia / Indonesian Ulama Council MAVI Misionaris Awam Vincentian Indonesia / Indonesian Vincentian Lay Missionaries MNC Media Nusantara Citra Nasdem Nasional Demokrat / National Democrat Party NGO Non-governmental Organisation Pilkada Pemilihan Kepala Daerah / Regional Elections PON Pekan Olahraga Nasional / National Sports Week P3SPS Pedoman Perilaku Penyiaran dan Standar Program Siaran / Conduct and standards guide for broadcast programme PP Peraturan Pemerintah / Government regulation PWI Persatuan Wartawan Indonesia / Association of Indonesian Journalist RCTI Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia RRI Radio Republik Indonesia / Radio of the Republic of Indonesia SCTV Surya Citra Televisi Indonesia TPI Televisi Pendidikan Indonesia TVRI Televisi Republik Indonesia / Television of the Republic of Indonesia UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UU Undang-Undang / Law Centre for Innovation Policy and Governance v Creating content, shaping society: Do Indonesian media uphold the principle of citizenship? Executive Summary The purpose of this research is to empirically examine Indonesian media content, their workings and the factors influencing their work. It will explore the Indonesian television content, its influencing fac- tors and its impact upon citizens. 1. The rapid growth of Indonesian media industry since the 1998 Reform, although considered as a catalyst for transparency, signalled the emergence of new media conglomerates. Today, twelve groups of media have control over nearly all of Indonesia’s media channels. The prac- tice of current media oligopoly has put the media industry purely as a profit-led entity and hence represents a profitable business that can easily be shaped by the owner’s interests and is thus highly beneficial for those seeking power. This strong nexus between power system and media industry is forcefully manifested in form of media content. 2. There is no open diversity in content. Content analysis of television shows that the coverage of majority and minority groups is unequal. We find that content is heavily Jakarta-centric in terms of geographical context, Islam-centric in terms of religious orientations and Java-centric in terms of ethnic identities. Content with geographical identities is ruled 34.1% by Jakarta (69.6% by Java), content with religious qualities is dominated 96.7% by Islamic identities and content with any ethnic reference is led by Javanese identities by 42.8%. This does not only imply that there is a lack of open diversity, but more dangerously that there may be evidence of hyper-impositions of content favouring the majority over the minority. 3. Our research concludes that the profit-led media industry has left citizens on the edge of the media sector. Homogenous content is a simple proof that the media regard citizens merely as consumers rather than a group of people with rights. This means content suffers from an element of ‘sameness’ as suggested in the Hotelling’s Law (Hotelling, 1929) and low heteroge- neity. Since the business-driven media seek profit, the production of content is always within the context of profiting from programme. This powerplay through content is a danger in so many ways; it is an evidence of repression of opinions in a democratic setting, it is endanger- ing the rich local culture and it gives an inaccurate depiction of minority groups – as content is controlled by those with superior access to media. Overall, the evidence of concentration in content may not be by nature but by design, more accurately termed as a ‘centralisation of content’. 4. There are other factors that directly shape the content of media such as owners’ interest, the structure inside the media and the journalists themselves. Therefore, the discussions on con- tent could not be detached from these factors. We are aware of the notion that no media is free from intervention. However, what we aim to see from this research is to what extent this influence is applied, in what situations these interventions happen and how this affects media content. Owners’ power over the media is unquestionably strong, but this is also because the editorial room allow the interventions to happen. The lack of professionalism in journalists also shapes the content production. Centre for Innovation Policy and Governance vii Creating content, shaping society: Do Indonesian media uphold the principle of citizenship? 5. In an industry where many politicians own media channels, reportage on the owners’ politi- cal activities remain important as the media have their own team to report and broadcast the activities. This violates journalistic ethics since the media only cover the owners’ parties without covering the other parties. Aside from the political influence, the editorial room also has the tendency to consider its advertisers. As the main source of income for the media, ad- vertisements influence media content. There might be no direct request from the advertisers to shape certain news/reports related to them. However, in several media, the editorial rooms tend to loosen the reports related to their advertisers in order to maintain a good relationship with them. In some cases, journalists also opted not to report on the news related to its adver- tisers despite the importance of the news, since the news would most likely not be published. We also find that not all media are easily distracted by their owners or advertisers. This kind of media usually has a solid and strong team of editors and journalists so that they do not fully depend on their owners/organisation. 6. The lack of professionalism