Public service broadcasting (PSB) regulation in Indonesia: Between market and public interest

Senior Lecturer, Department of Communication, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: masduki@hotmail.com

Abstract

The reform of public service broadcasting (PSB) faces many obstacles in countries with political transition such as Indonesia. After 1998-political change, the arrival of ideas to establish PSB in Indonesia in two decades lacks of appropriate policies. As in other transitional states in Eastern Europe, there is the lack of regulatory design as well as its implementation. This paper examines process of formulating PSB law in 2002, particularly pays attention to industry capture over the making process as a critical tool to observe a long-controvercial of broadcasting law revision process in Indonesia (2012-2016). By use public interest and capture theories in regulation, this paper answers why the outcome of PSB regulation is weak by observing how the law was made. This study provides new analysis on PSB media law that still rare in Indonesia. As independent and non-profit body, Indonesian PSB represented by RRI (Radio of the Republic Indonesia) and TVRI (Television of the Republic Indonesia) is protected by Broadcasting Act.32/2002. It was enacted in favor of two actors: authoritarian officials with interest to use PSB as their mouthpiece in one side and the industry groups with interest to apply free market policy on the other.