Broadcasting Bill; Mahfud Md Says Investigative Journalism is Journalists' Job

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Mahfud Md, former coordinating minister for politics, legal, and security Affairs, strongly objected to the revision of Law No. 32 of 2002 on broadcasting. He argued that the broadcasting bill, which could potentially curtail investigative journalism, is fallacious as investigative journalism is the job of journalists.

“The media can excel if it has bold journalists who are capable of doing investigative journalism,” Mahfud said in a written statement on Wednesday, May 15.

The former chief justice of the Constitutional Court thus resisted the bill currently under deliberation by the Legislative Board of the House of Representatives (DPR). Article 50 of the bill notes the restriction of the broadcast of exclusive investigative journalistic content.

According to Mahfud, banning investigative journalism is tantamount to prohibiting researchers from conducting their jobs. He said that both functions are crucial to each profession, despite their different purposes.

“We need to protest this. How can the media be prohibited from engaging in investigative journalism?” he said.

The DPR, he stressed, should instead prioritize harmonizing broadcasting laws so that the amended law can complement the Press Law and the Criminal Law.

Mahfud expressed concern that some laws pertinent to public interest remain unclear, such as the Asset Confiscation Bill and the Currency Bill, which have not yet been discussed in the DPR.

“Unfortunately, the people are mere onlookers, but they are not aware as they are not literate. They are unaware that they are being deceived and their rights are being taken away. So the people are just silent,” Mahfud Md lamented.

SULTAN ABDURRAHMAN

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