Some Media Siding with Certain Parties

VIVAnews - Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information (ISAI) found that the media has a tendency to side with certain political parties. It was the conclusion of ISAI's studies over print media between March 1 and March 20, 2009.

"ISAI recorded that 328 news items illustrated the participants of the Elections positively; 216 stories were negative; and 181 items were neutral," said Ahmad Faisol, ISAI Coordinator of Research, Advocacy and Media Watch, on Tuesday, March 24.

According to Faisol, in covering the 2009 Elections, the media still has less coverage on public issues. "In addition, if it is compared with stories on the chances that presidential candidates will have," he said.

However, ISAI appreciated that the media can be the watch dog for the 2009 Elections. He revealed that news covering in the media during February and March were dominated by guidelines on how to vote, elections violations and problems on final voters list.

The analyzed print media included Kompas, Indo Pos, Tempo, Republika, Media Indonesia, Jurnal Nasional, Seputar Indonesia, Suara Pembaruan, Sinar Harapan, Suara Karya, Rakyat Merdeka and Gatra.

In addition to print media, some TV stations such as TVRI, Trans TV, SCTV, ANTV, and Global TV were also analyzed. "[TV stations] rarely air issues on the candidates' track record," said Faisol.

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Translated by: Bonardo Maulana Wahono