Page 52 - Conflict, Terrorism, and the Media In Asia

3 Perning in the Gyre

Indonesia, the globalised media

and the ‘war on terror’

Jonathan Woodier

Introduction
The chaos of competing interests left by the collapse of the Suharto regime has
made Indonesia the most democratic country in Asia, accompanied by the ‘...blos-
soming of a free and aggressive local media after decades of suppression under Mr
Suharto...aiding civic activism, such as the fight against corruption’(Mapes 2004:
A1). However, efforts to influence, bully and control the mass communication
media continue, as powerful local figures refuse to recognise the emergence of a
plural industry, and political elites, accustomed to unquestioned power, find it hard
to convey their messages in an increasingly complex media environment.
Most recently, the sentencing of Bambang Harymurti, the editor of Tempo, the
country’s most influential newsmagazine to one year in prison in a libel case has
raised serious concerns about press freedom in Southeast Asia’s largest nation
(Hudiono 2004; The Jakarta Post 2004a). Harymurti was found guilty of libelling
businessman Tomy Winata in a story that suggested Winata, who has strong ties
to the military and the Suharto family, stood to benefit from a mysterious fire that
destroyed a Jakarta textile market in 2003. Not only did supporters of Winata
attack Tempo’s offices, but his lawyers also filed a series of civil and criminal
complaints against the magazine. It is ‘the vigour’ with which government
prosecutors have pursued Winata’s complaints that has worried those keen to
encourage democratic pluralism in the country (Mapes and Hindryati 2004: A2).
The court’s decision had a ‘chilling effect on freedom of expression in
Indonesia’ (The Jakarta Post 2004a). The use of libel and defamation laws to
silence criticism has become increasingly commonplace, as the country’s elites
have moved to silence the media genie and place it firmly back in its traditional
containment, perceiving court trials as a legitimate weapon to curb press freedom
rather than merely refusing to comment or denying inaccurate reporting (Asian
Media and Communication Bulletin 2004: 12).
The growing number of libel cases are, however, only the latest in a list of
strategies, including ownership, influence and violence, by which politicians,
local strongmen, religious groups and sectors within the police and armed forces
have reasserted control of the media. These attempts to stem the free flow of
information in the country come amidst renewed efforts by governments across
the region to control the flow of news and entertainment products in the face of