Indonesia Elections 2014: Media owners get airtime advantage

JAKARTA - Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo is the most popular presidential contender but you wouldn't know that from watching television in the capital.

The major television stations in Jakarta routinely ignore him in their coverage. They do, however, run political advertisements accusing him of abandoning Jakarta after less than two years as governor of the city to be the presidential candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party - Struggle (PDI-P).

In the battle for the hearts and minds of millions of Indonesian voters in the legislative elections next week, politically inclined media owners are milking their control of television, whose reach extends to the remote corners of Indonesia, from Sabang in Aceh in the west to Merauke in Papua in the east.

Even before the start of campaigning on March 15, television stations were carrying advertisements of their bosses who are contesting the presidential polls in July, featuring them on talk shows and providing longer airtime for their campaigns.

Regulators have already issued a warning letter to eight stations, namely RCTI, MNC TV, Global TV, TV One, ANTV, Metro TV, SCTV and Indosiar. The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) on Monday cited these stations for devoting too much airtime to parties aligned to their owners.

KPI deputy chief Idy Muzayyad said the stations breached the rule disallowing more than 10 slots a day to any one party and were "being counter-productive" in carrying hostile ads. One example is the leaked videos of presidential contender Aburizal Bakrie on holiday on the Maldives with two starlets, each separately holding teddy bears, broadcast on two TV stations linked to his rivals. To many observers, they were not so much a news expose as a politically motivated smear campaign.

Media watchers cite two television stations that have blatantly campaigned for their owners: TV One, controlled by Mr Aburizal, who is Golkar chairman, and news channel Metro TV owned by Mr Surya Paloh, chairman of the National Democratic Party (NasDem), which was established in July 2011.

TV One devotes more airtime to Golkar and Mr Aburizal compared to other parties and presidential candidates. Similarly Metro TV lavishes airtime on Mr Surya, who also aspires to be a presidential contender, and his fellow NasDem politicians. The channel splashes longer footage of NasDem rallies daily and holds talk shows with NasDem politicians on the panels.

Meanwhile, MNC television network, owned by the Hanura Party's chief patron and vice-presidential candidate Hary Tanoesoedibjo, is busy promoting the party and its presidential candidate Wiranto.

MNC spokesman Arya Sinulingga said its newsrooms are independent and that "we report news about all political parties every day".

The print media is equally partial to its owners. Media Indonesia, owned by Mr Surya, reports widely on NasDem, while the Rakyat Merdeka daily gives a positive spin on its owner, Mr Dahlan Iskan, a presidential aspirant from the Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"These two newspapers always report favourably about their owners," said Mr Muzayin Nazaruddin of the Media Care Society at a discussion on the media at the Indonesian Press Council on Wednesday.

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Media analyst Agus Sudibyo of Matriks Indonesia told The Straits Times that airtime and column inches do not necessarily translate into popularity.

He noted that Mr Joko does not control any media organisation, nor does PDI-P. "But he remains popular and electable compared to other politicians who own television stations," said Mr Agus.

Analyst Effendi Ghazaly told The Straits Times that television stations risk a voter backlash.

"Voters may decide not to vote for them because of this over-exposure," added Dr Effendi, who teaches political communication at the University of Indonesia.

By law, television stations are prohibited from broadcasting more than 10 political advertisements from any one political party, including those that masquerade as news, in a day. They are also banned from carrying political advertisements that smear other candidates.

KPI can issue warning letters and ultimately strip stations of their broadcasting licences if they fail to toe the line after two written warnings.

"The problem is that although we have rules, it takes months before the KPI can really take action against certain stations. By then, the elections would have been over," said Mr Agus.

MIXING MEDIA AND POLITICS

ABURIZAL BAKRIE - Golkar party chairman and presidential candidate.

Owns: News channels TV One and ANTV, and online news portal Vivanews.

SURYA PALOH - National Democratic Party chairman and potential presidential candidate.

Owns: Metro TV and daily newspaper Media Indonesia.

HARY TANOESOEDIBJO - Chief patron of Hanura Party and running mate of party president Wiranto in the presidential poll.

Owns: PT Media Nusantara Citra (MNC), one of the largest media networks that controls national channels RCTI, Global TV, MNC TV and the Seputar Indonesia daily, along with several other print and online news portals in the country.

DAHLAN ISKAN - State enterprises minister and potential presidential candidate for the Democratic Party of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Owns: The Jawa Pos group of newspapers.

salim@sph.com.sg

This article was published on April 4 in The Straits Times.

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