Jakarta Campaign Turns Vicious After TVOne’s ‘Red Smear!’

After their Jogja office came under attack, and another demo outside their Jakarta premises, TVOne has promised to clean up their act, which has made them a laughing-stock in my eyes, but has infuriated supporters of Joko Widodo, the Jakarta Governor who’s running for President.

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•                                    V               Jokowi
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• Whether the station will keep its word, or, given its owner is the multi-millionaire Abuzrizal Bakrie, who’s backing Jokowi’s rival Prabowo,  be allowed to keep its word, remains to be seen.

Certainly the way they have been spinning their coverage indicates that journalistic ethics play an off-key second fiddle to theirwage-packets – or their job security. It’s a pity – I have generally watched that channel in the past, but not any more. 

Indonesan are usually sensible people, and thus have no time for Communism.

There are exceptions, notably in the clammy corridors of the Jakarta Globe and Jakarta Post, whence we hear repeated refrains about poor, persecuted, unrepentant totalitarian PKI scum.

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• But loathing of marxism is much more common, and a common bond among all creeds here. The local Reds, the PKI, did their best in 1965 to destroy Indonesian democracy, importing thousands of guns from Communist China.  
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All of a sudden we had some cretin circulating a photo of Jokowi allegedly at Boris Yeltsin’s grave (note Christian cross BTW)  with the question, “Have you finished studying communism in Russia and China, Jok?”  http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2014/07/03/campaign-spirit/

Okay, that’s just one nitwit utterly ignorant of Russian history. Heck, I myself would lay flowers on the grave of the man who freed Russians from Communism!

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But imagine the rage of Jokowi’s party, the PDI-P, when TVOne aired suggested connections between the evil dead Reds and the modern, incontrovertibly democratic party ( some excellent personalities in tis ranks, like Diah Rieke Pitalokah and EvaSundari, as well, of course, as Jokowi)

PDI-P is locked in a close-run race for the Presidency,  and it’s alleged that TVOne broadcast accusations of PDI-P as being an enemy of the Indonesian Army (TNI) that had supported ex-PKI members.    http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/07/03/tvone-raided-false-statement-jokowi.html

“There are a lot of black campaigns against me. I have tried to remain calm, but the rumors keep spreading. This is getting too much. Being linked to communism is insulting,” Jokowi stated during a press conference after campaigning in Bandung city.

It certainly is insulting to be called a communist.

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• There are few worse sorts of people on this planet than the acolytes of Marxism.  

Now TVOne is saying it was all a big misunderstanding.

But will their belated climb-down have the same impact as the original smear?

Mud sticks.

And this campaign is getting VERY NASTY!