According to The Jakarta Post, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission Bali branch (KPID Bali) has told Bali TV to stop the airing of its news programme, Seputar Bali, due to its biased coverage of the gubernatorial election and the candidates. Bali TV has been banned from airing Seputar Bali for four days from May 8 to 11. Seputar Bali repeatedly aired part of the Bali legislative plenary meeting in Denpasar held on April 28, during which the two pairs of candidates presented their vision and mission, featuring coverage of only one candidate.

“Bali TV, through its Seputar Bali programme, has ignored the cover-both-sides principle when airing news about the candidates’ vision and mission. They have violated article 40 in the 2012 Broadcasting Guidelines and Programme Standards [P3SPS] that regulates the principles of journalism. Based on the principles of journalism, especially the cover-both-sides principle, the media must air news from both sides. In this case, they must air the vision and mission of both candidates,” the commission head, Komang Suarsana, told Bali Daily on Wednesday.

The report added that Bali TV news programme editor Dewi Tika has denied that Bali TV had ignored the 2012 Broadcasting Guidelines and Programme Standards that regulates the principles of journalism. Dewi Tika said that Bali TV would temporarily stop airing Seputar Bali, but would air another news program as a substitution. “We have firmly explained to the KPID that the airing of the vision and mission of candidate number one is part of an advertorial. We have offered candidate number two advertising, but they refused,” she said.