Pacific Media
WatchPacific Media
Watch
INDONESIA:
Wahid sacks editor and demands 'honest news'
_______________________________________________________________
Title -- 2621 INDONESIA: Wahid sacks editor and demands 'honest news'
Date -- 22 March 2000
Byline -- Lindsay Murdoch
Origin -- Pacific Media
Watch
Source -- Sydney Morning Herald, via John M.Miller, fbp@igc.org, 22/3/00
Copyright -- SMH
Status -- Unabridged
-------------------------
WAHID SACKS EDITOR AND DEMANDS 'HONEST NEWS'
JAKARTA: Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid has ordered a shake-up of the country's official news agency, Antara, removing its editor-in-chief and demanding it be more independent.
For months last year Antara published fiercely anti-Australian stories about the role of Australian troops in East Timor which prompted complaints from Australian diplomats in Jakarta about their accuracy.
Australian diplomats and officials believed Ant- ara's coverage was designed to fuel anti-Australian sentiment in Indonesia and deflect attention from atrocities com- mitted by its military and proxy militias in East Timor. The Australian embassy in Jakarta was the target of anti-Australian demonstrations over more than 40 days that included the firing of guns and throwing of Molotov cocktails.
Mr Wahid ordered the removal of Antara's head, Mr Parni Hadi, who had a close association with the former Habibie government, and replaced him with a columnist and writer, Mr Mohamad Sobary.
But soon after a ceremony where Mr Sobary, 47, was installed in the job, Antara carried a report claiming that most of its journalists and employees objected to the appointment.
Mr Hadi, who took charge of the agency in 1998, snubbed the ceremony.
Acting State Secretary Mr Bondan Gunawan, who swore in Mr Sobary on behalf of Mr Wahid, quoted him as saying that abuses of information for political purposes must end.
"A news agency, although state owned, must be able to deliver open and honest news because the state is not allowed to lie to its people," Mr Bondan said.
He told Mr Sobary, a friend of Mr Wahid, not to cover up bad news and said the President would be disappointed if Antara did not become more independent.
Meanwhile, Mr Wahid is losing of his closest aides, Ms Ratih Hardjono, 40, who denied accusations before a parliamentary committee last month that she was an Australian spy.
Ms Hardjono's resignation as presidential secretary comes after months of tensions among staff at the palace following the sidelining of the military-dominated State Secretariat that had wide powers and authority under the 32-year Soeharto presidency.
The spy rumours are believed to be have been circulated by people who saw Ms Hardjono, a former correspondent in Australia for Indonesia's Kompas newspaper, as having too much influence with the President.
A presidential spokesman told journalists Ms Hardjono was resigning to concentrate on her wedding.
Jakarta Post
March 22, 2000
REPLACED NEWS AGENCY HEAD THREATENS COURT ACTION
JAKARTA (JP): Former Antara news agency chief Parni Hadi said on Tuesday that he was considering filing a lawsuit at the Jakarta Administrative Court against a presidential decree which replaced him with Mohamad Sobary.
"I was just suggested by Amien Rais (People's Consultative Assembly speaker) to take the decision to court," Parni said on the sidelines of a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission I for defense, foreign and political affairs.
However, he said the suit should be discussed together with Antara employees, claiming that they regretted his predecessor was an outsider.
Antara lawyer Akbar Lubis accused President Abdurrahman Wahid of violating Law No. 40/1999 on the press, which required the candidate for the agency's top post must first be proposed to the House.
"The President's decision was illegal, it is a breach of law," Lubis said.
He contended that Antara, which was established in 1937, was not a state- owned agency until former president Sukarno arbitrarily "confiscated" it through a 1962 decree.
But during Tuesday's hearing, legislator Ferry Tinggogoy of the Indonesian Military/Police Faction at the House asked Parni to boldly accept the presidential decision.
"Former president Soeharto appointed his man for Antara chief and Parni was appointed by former president Habibie. So now Gus Dur also appoints his man," Ferry said, referring to President Abdurrahman by his popular nickname.
Ferry also contended that Abdurrahman's decision was legal since the Press Law had not yet been endorsed by the President while the 1962 decree had not yet been revoked.
Legislator Sutradara Gintings noted that the contention also stemmed from the fact whether Parni was politically installed as the Antara chief by Habibie.
"If Parni was a political appointee, it's normal that Gus Dur does the same thing," Sutradara of the Indonesia Justice and Unity faction said.
Parni, a close associate of B.J. Habibie and former general manager of Republika daily, was appointed head of Antara by the former president in 1998.
Separately, an Antara journalist who asked for anonymity refuted reports that agency employees rejected Sobary, saying that only a few people, mainly Parni's close aides, objected to the agency chief.
"Parni did little to improve the agency. The agency would have gone bankrupt in three years if we didn't make any improvements," the journalist said.
Meanwhile in Medan, North Sumatra, political observer Andi A. Mallarangeng said that Sobary was the right person to head the agency.
"He deserves the post, and I hope he remains critical with his columns," Andi said on the sidelines of a one-day seminar on Bank Indonesia independence and demand on its transparency at Hotel Tiara here on Tuesday. When asked if Sobary's closeness to Abdurrahman was the main reason for his appointment, Andi said "it was Sobary's uniqueness which led him to the post".
In Makassar, South Sulawesi, Hasanuddin University mass communications expert Andi Muis said Abdurrahman's decision to remove Parni was "inappropriate and disturbed the performance of the country's oldest news agency".
"How can an artist lead a journalistic institution? He's more of a columnist and it will be hard for him to lead Antara. Parni has lot of experience and he is a true journalist.
"I think Abdurrahman's decision was based more on politics rather than technical aspects," Muis said on Tuesday.
"But anyway I concede that Abdurrahman has the right to make such an appointment. The question is: Has he made the right choice?" he added.(27/39/edt/sur/jun)
+++niuswire
PACIFIC MEDIA WATCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation comprising journalists, lawyers, editors and other media workers, dedicated to examining issues of ethics, accountability, censorship, media freedom and media ownership in the Pacific region. Launched in October 1996, it has links with Journalism Program at the University of the South Pacific, Bushfire-Media, Journalism Studies at the University of PNG (UPNG), the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), and Pactok Communications, in Sydney and Port Moresby.
© 1996-98 Copyright - All rights reserved. Items are provided solely for review purposes as a non-profit educational service. Copyright remains the property of the original producers as indicated. Recipients should seek permission from the copyright owner for any publishing. Copyright owners not wishing their materials to be posted by PMW please contact us. The views expressed in material listed by PMW are not necessarily the views of PMW or its members. Recipients should rely on their own inquiries before making decisions based on material listed in PMW. Please copy appeals to PMW and acknowledge source.
For further information, inquiries about joining the Pacific Media Watch listserve, articles for publication, and giving feedback contact Pacific Media Watch at:
E-mail: niusedita@pactok.net.au or bfmedia@mpx.com.au
Fax: (+679) 30 5779 or (+612) 9660 1804
Mail: PO Box 9, Annandale, NSW 2038, Australia
or, c/o Journalism, PO Box 1168, Suva, Fiji
Website: http://www.pactok.net/docs/pmw