Who’s committing suicide, media mates?

I SORT OF felt like a hero two days ago, after, literally, revealing truth and saving the face of Indonesian glorious media. Well, not to a big audience tho, just to a taxi driver who was a hundred percent sure that the Indonesian National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri has just committed suicide.

What? You ask did the National Police Chief actually commit suicide? Of course not. He just went missing somewhere nobody knows healing his gastro problem as claimed by his spokesman [finally today he showed up, tho!]. And there, what I meant by revealing truth. Plus, yes, saving the face of Indonesian glorious media!

A bit blur this one. Not a good pic I took. Try to see one below!

A clearer one, but accidentally cut one word: DIRI.

So I got into a taxi on Saturday afternoon after seeing a doctor. I told the cab driver to go to certain address. He started to preach, about his family and son who soon would be graduating from an engineering school in Bali. He said his son would come to Jakarta this month, asking for more money for his graduation. Mister cab driver said that he should work harder now, but however is happy because his son would soon earn his own income.

I must have been in a very good mood [probably after being, literally, cleaned up by my doctor?] I replied everything he said. Until I need some minutes to gasp, when he said:

—-

Cab driver: So I just don’t understand, why the National Police Chief must commit suicide? This is very embarrassing.

[silence... I was trying to understand what he said]

Me: Eh?

Cab driver: Yes, the National Police Chief, don’t you know it? I just don’t understand what he was thinking. I bet his family must be very embarrassed over this. It doesn’t make sense at all, a high ranked general committed suicide? Why did he do that? Here, I read it here.

[He showed me some newspaper with its headline: National Police Chief committed suicide. No quotation marks whatsoever, printed in bold]

Me: Oh!

[me astonished by both cab driver and the paper, I seriously thought he was completely joking]

Cab driver: I bet his enemy, what’s his name? That police?

Me: Susno Duadji?

Cab driver: Haha, yes, him, he must be very happy now, seeing his enemy committed suicide.

Me: But, Sir, I don’t think he committed suicide!

Cab driver: Well apparently he did, look at the paper!

Me: He was just having a gastro problem, Sir. He is still alive.

Cab driver: But the paper said he committed suicide?

Me: Probably that’s just the title, have you read the article completely?

—-

I spent some ten minutes making him sure that I wasn’t lying. I patiently asked him to read the whole story while waiting for the traffic light to go green. And as he read the paper, which of course stated that the National Police Chief is still alive somewhere in the middle or wherever of the article, then he started to believe me. Yes that newspaper *can’t mention its name* should thank me, BIG time!

Indonesian newspapers.

A question on where actually the National Police Chief had gone missing on Friday made headline on many Saturday papers edition. But seeing this one, I am not quite sure. I am not quite sure whether I can blame the cab driver for only reading the title [and even ignored the subtitle] and concluded the story as how he believed that moment.

Yes, there was a sub-title for the headline, saying: The concern of his closest. And below in bold with much much bigger fonts: The National Police Chief committed suicide.

But even me, oh I felt very embarrass over this!, I missed the sub-title! The headline drew me into the suicide part, only.

A title of any articles must be catchy, I agree. Some would say: a bit provoking would be fine, okay, fine. However, a title MUST reflect the whole thing you write in the story. But arguing for some yellow-press would take forever.

The thing is, after the end of Soeharto regime, the 1998 reform era, media has been growing so fast nobody could seal them anymore. There are tens of thousands of media in Indonesia in various packages, with their own set-standards and markets. It is not anymore the government to say these are good papers to read, and these are trashes. It is audiences, readers at across the archipelago, with their varied education backgrounds that then decide what they should read and believe.

Who should be blamed over the cab driver’s decision to buy some cheap paper with its very catchy title? And should he be held responsible for [maybe if I hadn't come into rescue *ahem*] probably telling some of his friends or wife at home that the National Police Chief has just committed suicide?

A friend (Okta Wiguna) sent me this picture some days ago. Some self-criticism I must say!

Freedom of press is an absolute option, but am not turning a blind eye over irresponsible, cheap media. But then, I don’t know who should be blamed for this. Are yellow press specialized themselves for spreading super juicy/provoking news, that likely read by uneducated groups, thus misunderstanding/misleading is inevitable? Do yellow-press owners get big money from this? Should we even consider yellow journalism as journalism at all?

Until today, we don’t have an exact standard for, let’s say, journalists here. No “accreditation” whatsoever for journalists or media here.

But discussion on accreditation would be very futuristic, the factual problem today is not all journalists even understand and apply journalism ethics. I am not saying that we should work based on theory, but knowing what the code of ethics says might be very useful.

Journalist is not a dream job here in my country because many are being paid poorly, and many many are still willing to take money from [some even extremely asked for it to] sources. A discussion on how to make media responsible for what they report, a journalist to what they write or broadcast is not possible to be held with empty stomaches. Ah, this discussion could also take years!

I once again hate the fact that I should surrender to the fact that poverty makes it all impossible. Well, probably poverty and tricky-greedy media owners in this case!