The Craft of Ms. Desi Anwar of Metro TV

What happened to journalism in Indonesia? Two weeks ago, thejakartaglobe.com published an article titled: “Desi Anwar: My Take on ‘Delusional’ Prabowo.” Very uncouth. The article indicates a turning point that a great change of journalism has taken place in Indonesia. Thirty years ago there were two kinds of articles, either very good or terribly bad. There seemed nothing in-between. Now everything is slapdash and mediocre. Why are so many famous journalists now so mediocre?

So the saying goes that the cream always rises to the top. Ms. Desi Anwar is a senior journalist at Metro TV and a columnist in The Jakarta Globe. She knows the cheap way to make herself popular in Indonesia these days is by alleging that Mr. Prabowo Subianto has been the worst disaster to ever befall to Indonesia. This senior journalist has little if any real regard for Mr. Prabowo’s constituency! Infact, the spiel written by her was no more than a reflection of her, of course, based on arrogance, megalomania and a deeprooted sense of total moral superiority to all Indonesian people. If she is the cream at Metro TV, what is the milk like over there?

Let her know something about civil society. It needs civic values, and civic values are upheld through a civil discourse that does not exclude or marginalize the other. Civic discourses cannot be navigated if the participants of the discourse get into the habit of using language to eradicate the other's worth, value or dignity. Civic discourses try to search and achieve consensus over shared values, and strive to respect and tolerate values upon which people cannot agree.

Gone are the days of responsible journalism. Nowadays, to be a good journalist requires no skill. This kind of circumstance is utilized by the proprietors of the media groups. They use their own media as a vehicle for these failings. They make it seem necessary in some social context, even if they have to invent that context theirself. They seem not to worry about their journalists ability, people will believe anything when they charge enough for it. They act as thought everybody used their measuring system. That is the way some of the media institutions operate, they can readjust the parameters according to their whims or the necessities of the moment.

While it has become all too common for Ms. Desi and the likes to refer to Mr. Prabowo Subianto as a kidnapper, a fascist and a hoodlum, yet to the opponent of Mr. Prabowo they potray some concocted fantasy of a man with enough sheer brazen audacity that people come to accept its reality without ever asking any questions. These things are done in continuous manner that, eventually, what started out as pure bluff has come to be considered as validated fact. The skill to hone is that of changing the minds of others without their detecting the change and of, so to speak, allowing others to see things their way. Seducing people. Graciously and generously granting them the favor of being brainwashed by these journalists. This is the highest and most refined form of lying.