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Indonesians love their soap operas and juicy gossip shows revolving around celebrities. Over the past few years, local television stations have been battling it out to capture a larger audience share by satisfying viewers’ desires for racy programs and shows that seem hell-bent on revealing so-called facts about the private lives of celebrities, no matter how trivial. Stations often pontificate without restraint, spewing holier-than-thou comments that mete out their subjective judgments.

But it appears that these shows may have gone too far. Mainstream TV stations have come under fire for airing too many sensational pieces dealing with dirty laundry, celebrity hookups and star breakups. “The racier the better” seems to be the motto of these programs, which have come to be classified as infotainment.

These shows, however, have little educational or moral value. Ultimately, they don’t have the public’s interests at heart. But because of their great commercial pull, they dominate the airwaves. Private TV stations broadcast them almost around the clock, even at time slots when children are most likely to be watching TV.

While entertainment programs have their place in the public space, they must be properly managed. We must have programs that include proactive dialogue to build consensus on core beliefs like morality.

Through this, we can agree upon core values that will guide society’s thinking and philosophy that, in turn, determine society’s emotions and aspirations. Once these values are established, they will positively affect our behavior and actions.

Programs must help the public perceive who our true leaders and heroes are during this moral crisis. Programs must help us find out who our true visionaries are — people who can see beyond the obvious problems. They can see into the heart of the crisis and anticipate the problems that lurk around the corner.

Morals and ethics are the fibers that bind our nation together. However, many have said that instead of moving forward, guided by morals and ethics, we have been on the path of regression. Such programs must be seen in this context, where the sustainability of our society is at stake.

This does not mean shows should simply include human rights and environmental issues. More critically, programs should have a moral dimension, even going so far as to establish a foundation for certain values.

If the current craze over infotainment programs goes unchecked, our society risks being uprooted. Our youth will seek to emulate the actions of celebrities who promote questionable behavior that runs contrary to our cultural values or behavior that is simply destructive.

Given the enormous power of TV — especially among children and the lower classes — it is important that our TV programs follow a certain set of standards based on good morals. Because it is on this, that our future depends.