INTRODUCTION

This chapter traces the role and challenges of the electronic media, particularly those of television, at various key junctions in Indonesia's political history. It also examines the status of television today as Indonesia grapples with its difficult transition to democracy.

Political leaders habitually seek to manage the media. They can enforce a regimen of control for a certain period of time, but the process is fraught with political tension and harbours a great potential for crisis, conflict and chaos. Although press freedom and freedom of expression are basic human rights acknowledged in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 19), as well as in Indonesia's 1945 Constitution, the implementation of these rights has had a chequered history. For more than 50 years after Indonesia's Independence (1945–1998), freedom of expression and press freedom were very much controlled by the rulers, except during two “honeymoon” periods.

In the present post-Soeharto period, press freedom and freedom of expression are safeguarded by an August 2000 amendment of the 1945 Constitution, the People's Consultative Assembly Decree no. XVII/1999 on Human Rights, and the Press Law no. 40/1999. However, written statutes alone cannot safeguard press freedom. Having the appropriate laws is important, but a free press will only thrive if it becomes part of a larger democratic culture within the country. Unfortunately, a democratic system and its values are not well-established yet in Indonesian society. Many individuals or groups are already complaining that press freedom in the current liberal climate has gone too far. On the other hand, there are those who do not understand that freedom should be tempered by a strong sense of responsibility.

The shifting dynamics of media politics are contained within a nexus of activism, media and political power that is a prevailing motif in the history of the Indonesian nation. In the twentieth century, Indonesia's political history was shaped by popular activism.2 The media played a central role in raising public consciousness and galvanizing people into action. Politicians therefore understood the importance of the media in seeking and maintaining power — and this realization informed an official media policy that sought to control, while at the same time make allies of, the media.