Press as an Agent of Restraint: The Political Roles of Indonesian Press against Corruption

This paper is scrutinizing the political roles of Indonesian press against corruption. This research is written based on the case study of Kompas Daily conducted by doing content analysis and interviews, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative approach. The choice of Kompas Daily as a case study is due to the fact that it is the most influential and the biggest circulation newspaper in Indonesia. The main data are the reports of Kompas in the latest and biggest corruption case in the National Traffic Police Corps (Korlantas) centering on the procurement of vehicle simulators that cause the state to lost Rp 100 billion (US$10.33 million) in the Rp 198.7 billion procurement fraud. The graft case has become more complex as it is involving highrank police officer, Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo and some lawmakers. This paper reveals that Indonesian press dominantly poses its political role as an agent of restraint. The roles become very strategic mainly when other three democratic institutions are unable (or unwilling) to perform well. However, the challenges of press in performing such a role are not easy. The Kompas laboratory highlights some problems to be resolved regarding the need to improve journalistic professional competency; the need for the press to be independent from proprietor‟s ideology; and the need to enforce media policy on empowering the journalist‟s professionalism and the public