NOTES WEEK 4

Chapter 1. Press Policy of the Guided Democracy Era

President Soekarno marked the beginning of a new chapter or era through the issuance of a
Presidential Decree on July 5, 1959, namely the start of the Guided Democracy political and
government system, and the 1945 Constitution being reinstated as the state constitution. This has
an impact on the political field of the Indonesian state. Policies and decisions during the Liberal
Democracy era that followed the foundations of the 1950 Provisional Constitution needed to be
reviewed and readjusted to the new state foundations, namely the 1945 Constitution. Power
during the Guided Democracy era was authoritarian and guided based on all decisions and
policies issued by President Soekarno (Marpaung , 2012: 8).

The life of the press at this time certainly underwent changes by following the changing political
system, where the condition of the press was required to promote, disseminate, and also support
President Soekarno's ideas, including Guided Democracy, Presidential Decree 5 July 1959, and
the Political Manifesto of the Republic of Indonesia (Muhsin, 2019: 1). The Guided Democracy
Period can be seen as a dark period for the press and journalism in Indonesia. This can be seen
from the issuance of a decision on October 12, 1960, namely the Guidelines for the Supreme
Warlord (PEPERTI), where this decision made the press and its journalists work as an
ideological tool for government leaders and authorities, as a means of disseminating government
ideology (DN et al., 2017: 256).
The ruling (PEPERTI) regulated in Number 10 provides rules for the press (newspapers,
magazines, and others) regarding Publishing Permits. Furthermore, it was reiterated that the
plague needs to be far from revolutionary criminals and permits began to be overhauled, with the
issuance of Presidential Decree No. 359/HK/1960 (Harahap, 2020: 72). The press that does not
heed these rules and decisions will gradually be abolished or eliminated. It didn't end there, the
existence of the Manipol which was also used as the direction of the state, made him expelled as
well

a new decree, namely MPR Decree Number II/MPR/1960, which requires all press in various
media to be a tool for the benefit of government policies and also the validity of the Publishing
Permit (SIT) (Hapsari, 2012: 51). The government and President Soekarno issued the Publication
Permit to suppress the press that was not in line with the Guided Democracy government system.
The existence of the Publishing Permit made the press obligated to comply with various
conditions determined by the government, especially to support President Soekarno's Manipol.
Members of the press who are involved in the world of the press sign a document containing 19
articles to obtain the license to publish (Harisman et al., 2020: 107-108). The PEPERTI policy is
a continuation of the decision from PEPERDA Jakarta Raya. During this Guided Democracy era,
the press was also known as the "guided press", where the press followed guided policies and
decisions issued by President Soekarno. So that there is no more press media that contradicts the
government. Where policies to shackle the press at this time continue to be issued, so that the
freedom of the press is really constrained. 19 Statements containing agreements to obey, obey,
be loyal, help, and others to the government, need to be made by the press to obtain permission
to publish (Harisman et al., 2020: 104).

But in the end there were also many press who did not agree to sign the "19 Statements" made by
the government, so many press chose to stop publishing their newspapers. One of them is
Masyumi's Harian Abadi newspaper, on October 31, 1960 this newspaper chose to leave its
readers' leave. On the other hand, other newspapers still choose to obey and comply with
government regulations. President Soekarno, with the support of two other forces, namely the
Indonesian Army and the Indonesian Communist Party, is increasingly showing its strength on
the political stage. At this time President Soekarno made many slogans such as: Tavip, Trikota,
Ganefo, Oldefo, Trikora, Manipol Usdek, and Resopim. Which calls for the slogan, especially
the Manipol Usdek as a guidebook for the press that needs to be obeyed, obeyed and followed
without having to be criticized (Suwirta, 2008: 63). The press at this time was used as a
revolutionary tool that had to support the government with various slogans and defeat the
enemies of the revolution, namely imperialism and capitalism. Therefore, if there is a press that
does not support this, the government will give strict sanctions or punishments. This was also
conveyed by Usman's spokesperson (Usdek-Manipol spokesperson), namely Roeslan Abdulgani,
that "the press must be an instrument of revolution that has not yet been completed and for the
press that does not support the Usdek Manipol it is better to withdraw or the revolution itself will
sink it" . In this case there are several newspapers that support government policies such as the
newspapers Duta Masjarakat, Suluh Indonesia, Harian Rakjat, Warta Bhakti, and Bintang Timur
(Said, 1988: 135-
137).

As time went on, in the end many press vying to show that he was very revolutionary and
supported President Soekarno as the Great Leader of the Revolution (PEMBESREV). It can be
seen from the press that began to eliminate social criticism aimed at the government. Not only
that, decisions and statements from the government must be published on most pages in the press
media, even though this is only a mere repetition (Suwirta, 2008: 64). The closeness of President
Soekarno to the PKI made newspapers published by the PKI the most widely used media or
newspapers on the Indonesian political scene. Meanwhile, journalists who disagreed with this
agreed to form the Soekarnoism Support Agency (BPS), which was spearheaded by B.M. Diah,
Sumantoro, and Adam Malik. The formation of the Soekarnoism Support Agency (BPS) aims to
distance President Soekarno from the influence of the Communist Party. However, President
Soekarno preferred to dissolve BPS in December 1964 and several newspapers were banned in
February and March 1965. This was on the grounds that BPS was supported by the United States
(Chaniago et al., 1987: 78-85) .
In May 1965, the government issued a new regulation regarding the press. The regulation
stipulates that the press must be subordinate to the existing nine political parties. This regulation
was issued as an attempt by President Soekarno to integrate newspapers so that they would be
under the control of political parties first. These regulations make the face of the national media
increasingly ideologically charged. Media that are not affiliated with political parties are
considered individualistic, liberal, floating, and non-revolutionary institutions. Several mass
media will become voices for community organizations and political parties, including namely
(Harisman et al., 2020: 104-105).
a) Suluh Indonesia newspaper published by the Indonesian National Party
b) Duta Masjarakat newspaper
made by NU (Nahdatul Ulama)
c) The Harian Rakjat newspaper is the voice for the Indonesian Communist Party
d) Api Pantjasila newspaper as a voice for the Association of Indonesian Independence
Supporters (IPKI)
With this regulation in place, the press published by the PKI had a great advantage, because there
were fourteen newspapers affiliated with it, then NU had seven newspapers affiliated with it. But
there are also press that survive, such as the People's Mind in Bandung. Therefore there are pros
and cons to this policy, where a newspaper belonging to the Muhammadiyah organization named
Mertju Suar said that currently the press is dead due to the pressure of regulations, even though it
used to be a demand in the struggle (Iskantini, 2002: 80).