KPI Chairperson Ubaidillah said that the media should remain politically neutral to ensure residents continue to enjoy quality broadcasts.
"We hope in the political year, all television broadcasters can be balanced to all (election) participants because all contestants should be equal before the media," he added in South Tangerang, Banten, on Tuesday.
Broadcasters are expected to assist the people in obtaining complete and thorough information about elections and politics through news reporting to help them decide their preferred leader and legislators, he explained.
He said broadcasters should ensure equal space, time, and news coverage for all participating parties in the election.
"Hence, residents will learn about who are standing as candidates of Indonesia's leader in the future, and in the end, they will be educated by broadcasters' content and vote according to their conscience," the KPI chief said.
He highlighted that news reporting quality declined in the 2019 elections due to broadcasters' failure to maintain neutrality in reporting on parties participating in the election.
KPI found that the news reporting index score was 2.93 in 2019, below the 3-point threshold for quality news reporting, he noted.
Ubaidillah expressed the hope that the same situation will not recur during the 2024 elections and the media will maintain quality news reporting. He added that KPI also found the news reporting index score in the first half of 2023 was 3.38, which is above the threshold.
Indonesians will vote for the new president on February 14, 2024. On the same day, they will also vote for House of Representatives (DPR) legislators, Regional Representative Council (DPD) senators, and province-, city-, and district-level legislature members.
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Translator: Livia Kristianti, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Sri Haryati
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