NU: The nation's character has now been determined by media

Jakarta, NU Online
General chairman of the Central Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) KH Hasyim Muzadi said that mass media has now had a significant influence in coloring society. What appeared by media has likely determined the nation's character, exceeding the role of education in schools and religious tenets.

Hasyim made the remarks at a meeting taking up issues on how to create ethical and educative television programs held by the committee of the NU 32nd Congress as a series of agenda ahead of the congress.<>

In the meeting held on Wednesday at the PBNU headquarters, Hasyim was of the opinion that there had been complaints voiced by such circles as religious leaders, cultural groups and teachers in regard with the presence of uneducated media.

"Has media been relevant with the nation's interests or just for the media ones themselves," Hasyim said, adding that the circles considered that the media was not value-free.

While the programs arousing public anxiety, among others, are infotainment, reporting one's family privacy, pornography and many other  news inappropriate to be consumed  by teenagers.

The Indonesia's largest Muslim organization in its ulema meeting held in Surabaya in 2006 considered that infotainment littered with gossip news was forbidden (haram).

Hasyim said that there had now been many media industries putting aside and even violating emerging laws and regulations, adding there had possibly been other power behind all this.

At this point, Hasyim said, PBNU called on all broadcasting institutions to ban any practice of exploitation and the process of commodification or made greater use of all marketable things regardless of ethics and values, such as family conflict, privacy, poverty, free-sex, hedonistic life style, patriarchal hegemony, and dependence on many mystical things and so on as broadcast materials.

Hasyim reiterated that PBNU did not agree with any reason that media just wants to provide what having so far been 'pursued' by various social elements regardless of social as well as religious values.

"The reason is on the wrong track and cannot be used as a foundation for basically the functions of media for public are giving information, as means of education, entertainment and cultivating social relationship," he said.

That's why, Hasyim added, PBNU considered the importance of concrete actions from all authorized parties such as Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), Press Council, the Department of Communication and Information to take firm measures and procedure to give warnings to all televised programs which are dangerous for public. (mkf)