First time I knew about Suharto's death was from TVRI. The government-owned TV station repeatedly reported the press conference from Tutut, Suharto's daughter, with full of tears. I imagine many Indonesians, who love drama and sinetron (soap opera), will be saddened to watch Tutut crying. That's the impact the the news trying to make.
Then, I switched the channel to Metro TV and I got the same impression. This TV station wants to portray Suharto as a national hero who deserved condolences.
When I switched to international TV stations, however, I got a different impression. International stations came up with honest and direct headlines. They want to tell the world that a brutal and corrupt dictator of Indonesia has died.
What I got from international headlines is Indonesia deserves a new beginning with a death of its dictator. Confession of Suharto as a dictator reveals that this country will never repeat the same mistake. Sadly, Indonesian media does not teach this nation the same message.
| Indonesian Media | International Media |
|
|
Now, what would be your headline for Suharto's death?
politics
Posts
3 comment(s):
Since I live in Scotland, I only found out about Suharto hours later. On TV (either CNN or Sky TV, not sure) I saw an obituary which consists of his success (economy-wise) and his 1965 moments with the comment of "that killed 2.5 millions people". That's why I'm surprised to see the headlines in Indonesian newspapers sound really softie and pay so much respect. As John Orford asks in his blog, do Indonesian give respect too easily?
Now it's clear most of Indonesian media is still occupied by the smiling general's power, a good analysis Pak Martin.
One more point, most of Indonesian media also use word "wafat" instead of "mati"...
Post a Comment
Don't hesitate to speak up! Comments moderation is only to guard this site against spams. So, you are most welcome to write down your comments in English or Bahasa Indonesia.