Reflections on media and social accountability: The case of Kendari TV and Radio Swara Alam

by A’o Dode

“…we at Kendari TV and Radio Swara Alam exert extra effort to serve as [Kendari society’s] diffusion agents.”

Social accountability is about the commitment to be accountable for plans and actions. It involves many stakeholders—like [the executive and legislative branches of] the government and citizens, which, of course, includes the media.

In my work as a media practitioner, I couldn’t help but notice that the perceived role of media here in Indonesia is to mediate or serve as a bridge in dealing with the interests and needs of the public. This, however, does not seem to suffice because of the [generally] passive characteristic of the citizens in Kendari city. There is a need to make people more connected to the media in order for our work to be more effective.

A Conversation with Teten Masduki (Part 3)

PART 3 of 3 – Teten Masduki articulates the connection between anticorruption and social accountability, and the revolutionary potential of people who are empowered to access and use information. He concludes with a vision of what he hopes to be able to do for and with Indonesia and the rest of the region in the next few years. Read part 1 and part 2

ANSA-EAP: I am sure you’re a board member of a lot of international organizations. What attracted you to ANSA-EAP, a relatively small effort?

Teten Masduki: ANSA-EAP’s concept is interesting to me. How do you engage society—from the government to the business sector and so on? I think ANSA-EAP’s idea to build and strengthen engagement between civil society and government is good. Civil society should be strong, have good capacity, knowledge, methodology. In my opinion, corruption is not only because of the government. We can establish an anticorruption commission or reform the Attorney-General’s office or the police, reform the bureaucracy but this will not be enough. Corruption will still be prevalent. Corruption is, after all, premised on the unbalanced relationship between society, government and the business.  When the government is too strong and the society is weak, corruption is very high.  So, I think ANSA-EAP’s social accountability perspective is helpful in equalizing and balancing this relationship.

A Conversation with Teten Masduki (Part 2)

In this second installment of a three-part interview, Teten Masduki shares the value of multistakeholder coalitions in his experience of championing reform work, and his desire to influence a wider audience to support the anticorruption movement.  Read part 1, and part 3


ANSA-EAP: From Legal Aid work, what attracted you to Indonesia Corruption Watch?

Teten Masduki:  [Indonesia Corruption Watch] was set up in Suharto’s time. I thought that the problem of our democracy was corruption. Democracy was coming, was underway, but I believe democracy alone is not enough to improve social welfare. From my experience as a labor activist, I knew very well that the problem of corruption was also in the industrial sector. At the time, labor cost was just 4 to 11 percent of the total cost, and the invisible cost was more than 20 percent. So, corruption pushed the lamentable labor condition further. Employers have no choice but to pay the military and local governments bribes. I dreamed that when I finish my work on the labor process, when we have new democratic capabilities, we could establish an anticorruption movement. But I couldn’t implement my dream during Suharto’s time.

A Conversation with Teten Masduki (Part 1)

This is the first installment of the "Conversations with the ANSA-EAP Executive Committee series", that feature individual Executive Committee members sharing their various advocacies and how these relate to social accountability. In this interview, Teten Masduki shares the early days of his advocacy work—from student activism during the Suharto regime to teaching students, and labor workers.

He sits quietly on a lone chair as our crew of two sets up in the villa-turned-makeshift studio. Hands folded neatly into each other on his lap, he’s the picture of calm and anonymity. Truth be told, had he chosen a different path, it would be hard to pick him among a sea of his fellow Indonesians.

ANSA-EAP Executive Committee member and Transparency International-Indonesia Secretary-General Teten Masduki, however, has long turned his back from a life of quiet and obscurity.

For instance, instead of teaching Chemistry to high school students in Indonesia—as was his original plan—he’s spending this particular Friday morning revving up for an interview on his ongoing and sometimes thankless fight against corruption in Indonesia and East Asia. At 47, Teten has made his good governance advocacy a life-long career and dream. A vision that is, in his experience, fraught with more than its fair share of hurdles. A fight that, for him, transcends national boundaries and can only be triumphant through the cooperation of the government, private and civil society sectors.

Victim or Partner? The Private Sector’s Response to Anti-Corruption Efforts

By J. Ibarra A. Angeles

IN MANY COUNTRIES, the private sector is both victim and willing accomplice of government corruption.

According to a 2008 study by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), acts of corruption—such as bribery, illegal deals, and conflicts of interest—drag down national economies, warp development policies, and reduce public confidence in government institutions.

Harming business and nation

In its study, CIPE said corruption harms business, and ultimately, the larger society, by diverting resources that could have been put to productive uses. Officials make decisions that benefit themselves and not the people.  It’s taxpayers who foot the bill.

Corruption makes it riskier for foreign and local investors to put money into the country. The message they get is that the rule of law, and thus property rights, are not always respected, making investments a risky proposition. Corruption in government reduces competition and efficiency. The losers? Consumers who must pay more for lower quality and limited product offerings.

Fewer jobs are created because of corruption. By making it more expensive to operate, business companies are less likely to grow, and less likely to generate more employment. Inevitably, this means adding to what could very well be already high poverty levels because corruption lowers the income potential of the poor. They are deprived of more opportunities in the private sector. It also constricts their access to good healthcare and education services

The private sector that is either based or operating in developing countries is particularly vulnerable because these countries tend to have weaker regulations and inconsistent enforcement of anti-corruption laws. Moreover, because it can be very profitable, a culture of corruption remains entrenched within the private sector and government institutions in these countries.