Wimar's World Too Hot To Handle

The Jakarta Post Thursday, April 5, 2007 By Anissa S. Febrina

Forget celebrity gossip shows, these days the most divisive and controversial issues are aired on TV talk shows.

The "talk" on shows like Jak-TV's Wimar's World got "so hot" that the private station said recently it needed "cooling down".

Regular viewers of the show hosted by prominent speaker Wimar Witoelar are in for a big letdown if they tune in this week as the show has been scratched.

"The contract for the first 13 episodes of Wimar's World has ended and we are currently holding the show to re-format it," program producer Martin Mohede said Wednesday.
The Wednesday night show on which invited guests -- including government and city officials -- discussed topical issues, was as of last week the most popular of Jak-TV's top-rating programs.
The station only airs in Jakarta.

Normally, television stations rely on their top-rated programs to attract advertisers, generally the main source of income for the media.

If Jak-TV is prepared to lose advertising revenue to terminate, suspend or modify a show, then there must be something wrong.

Wimar questions government policies with a sharp tongue, humor and wit, much to the annoyance of certain top city officials who were invited to talk on his show, a source at the station said.

Using cooking a special dish as an analogy for the show, the source said it had become too "hot and spicy" for some.

"We must understand that not all people like it spicy, thus we must make the necessary changes so it better suits everyone," the source added.

Just how hot and spicy did the show got?

Although the host said he had never been informed nor warned about it, Wimar recalled a number of remarks he made both to city officials and Jakarta governor hopefuls on both Wimar's World and Gubernur Kita (Our governor), a similar program aired by the station on which he is a panelist.

Some of the remarks involved the performance of the current Jakarta administration in dealing with urban problems, while others touched on the issue of corruption in one of the city's infrastructure projects.

"I have a certain style as a host. Some might have taken my remarks personally, but then again I have never been warned about being too offensive," Wimar said.

This recent incident reminded Wimar of how his talk show at national private station SCTV was scratched in 1993.

"But back then we could understand the situation. Freedom of speech was a luxury," he said.
In a so-called era of reform like today, people are free to speak their minds without fear of being punished by the authorities. Or so we thought.

Communications and media expert Effendi Ghazali said it was greatly concerning if it were proven that officials were meddling with freedom of speech.

"The danger is that it occurred at provincial level. It could set a bad example for other provinces."

But public speakers should also be very careful about what they say and how they say it as they could be held liable for libelous statements, he said.

Jak-TV denies having been pressured by any official to "cool down" the program.

"Pressure from outside parties is normal for the media. It is everywhere. But the decision is in our hands," Mohede said.

Let the public be the judge.


Viewers miss Wednesdays with Wimar

The Jakarta Post Saturday, April 7, 2007 By Anissa S. Febrina

Some were sitting slouched back in their sofas Wednesday night, ready to watch their favorite talk show, only to find out it had been canned.

"I was stretched out in front of the TV, waiting for WW (Wimar's World), to start, but it never did. I opened Perspektif and found out the show had been cut," Bujung, who regularly tuned in to the show, commented on host Wimar Witoelar's website.

"It is pretty disappointing. WW and Gubernur Kita (Our Governor, a similar program on the same channel) are the only programs I never missed on Jak-TV," he continued.

Light yet serious talk shows like Wimar's World might not be everyone's cup of tea, but as of Thursday, 69 expressions of disappointment over the "suspension" of the show had been posted on the website.

Private station Jak-TV, which airs only in Jakarta, had previously said it had stopped showing the program indefinitely, for "reformatting" purposes.

Cyberworld discussions quickly grew, with some suggesting the show had been taken off because of Wimar's criticisms of certain city officials.

Jak-TV denied having been pressured by the authorities to can the show, saying there was nothing unusual about the decision to reformat it as the first season of 13 episodes had come to an end.

But during a discussion Monday about whether to continue with the show, Wimar quoted one of the station's representatives as saying: "let's cool down until we have a new governor".

Regular viewers of the show -- on which invited guests discussed Jakarta's problems -- responded with comments ranging from "disappointed" to "feeling sick" upon hearing about the events leading up to the show being taken off the air indefinitely.

"They (officials) are the only ones who feel that it (the show) was too 'hot'," regular viewer Kemal Taruc said.

"They do not realize that the public has had it up to here with their performance," the former student activist said.

Wimar himself has kept a cool head over the incident, saying: "I have been censored on other occasions and am only here by their invitation.

"The decision is theirs (the station's)," he added, "they were very supportive previously."
Wimar's World, Jak-TV's top-rating show, had been airing for three months prior to the decision to temporarily discontinue its production.

Although the show might not be viewed by all nine million Jakartans, its fans are anxiously waiting for it to reappear.

How long will they have to wait?

"It could take a week, a month, two months. We are not sure," program producer Martin Mohede said.

Dikutip dari : Perspektif Online-Wimar Witoelar