English Corner

The New Order Story [1] Watch Out, Do Not Publish!

Kamis, 11 Februari 2021, 07:35 WIB

Dibaca 603

The New Order Story [1] Watch Out, Do Not Publish!

Kompas first edition on July 28th 1965 (Photo: Kompas Daily)

Pepih Nugraha

Penulis senior

When I started working at the Kompas Daily, the thing that linked my memory to the New Order under President Soeharto was the warning "Watch out, don't publish this news!"

It's not exactly the same as that sentence, but when I entered 1990, the New Order regime was still strong, On the 3rd Floor of the Kompas Daily Editor in South Palmerah, there was a special announcement board. Maybe a warning to be exact. Namely, a warning from ABRI which is now called the TNI.

The announcement board becomes a kind of inscription or a marker, that in a mass the ruler is very repressive, to the point of regulating what news can and should not be published, even though it is news of events such as the fall of a military plane, the dismissal of ABRI helicopters, and so on.

If it is as long as the Dispenad or Dispen ABRI Headquarters, it makes sense to ask for news not to be written, because the rank is equivalent to a general. But the ones who make calls to the Kompas office are even at the level of the Kodim or even the Koramil!

Can you Imagine, with the highest rank in the Korem, Kodim or Koramil, they could manage the biggest newspaper in the Republic of Indonesia just by sending it over the telephone!

What is even more unique is that when he had to write Suharto as President of the Republic of Indonesia, the Indonesian press was under the control of Mr. Harmoko as Information Minister (Menpen) at that time, and could not write his name carelessly. The press was obliged to write the name of "President Soeharto". You can't write "President Suharto", "President", or "Suharto", the SIUPP (published permission) can suddenly be revoked. Look, how arranged the New Order!

After Suharto fell, it was only in the era of BJ Habibie that the freedom of the press was somewhat felt, especially when Information Minister Yunus Yosfiah suppressed SIUPP, which during the New Order era was a frightening specter for press freedom.

In the New Order era, there was freedom of the press, but false freedom. In the Habibie era, newspapers were allowed to write "BJ Habibie" or even "Habibie" without any mention of the President. The important thing is that it is enough to mention the "President" once.

Gus Dur's era was even freer. Some wrote "President Gus Dur", "Abdurrahman Wahid", or even "Gus Dur" without any mention of the President. This good tradition has been continued by Megawati Soekarnoputri, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), and Joko Widodo (Jokowi) up to the present time.

It's strange if there is a group of people who want to restore this democratic condition to the past, to the New Order era, when to write the name of the President is regulated rigidly!

(To be continued)

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