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The national broadcasting watchdog has defended its decision to classify racy gossip shows, known locally as infotainment, as non-factual programming.

The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) on Wednesday declared with the Press Council and the House of Representatives’ Commission I that infotainment shows, which mostly cover celebrities’ private affairs, could not be considered real journalism.

“None of the Commission I lawmakers at Wednesday’s meeting denied that infotainment shows were disturbing programs,” KPI chairman Dadang said on Friday.

Speaking at a discussion on what constitutes a factual program, he added that of all the complaints the KPI had received in June, 31.98 percent dealt with infotainment shows. Talk shows came second with 11.5 percent, followed by reality shows with 9.98 percent of complaints.

“All the complaints about infotainment objected to the excessive coverage of the celebrity sex tape scandal,” said Dadang, referring to the media circus surrounding leaked sex videos purportedly featuring singer Nazriel “Ariel” Irham and TV hosts Luna Maya and Cut Tari.

Previously, infotainment shows were considered factual shows, which according to the KPI’s broadcasting code of conduct and programming standards, present factual data and are produced in accordance with journalistic principles.

However, media expert Amir Effendi Siregar, from the Yogyakarta-based Indonesia Islamic University (UII), said infotainment shows could be classified as either non-factual or factual.

The problem was not merely about branding them one way or another, said Press Council member Agus Sudibyo.

“It’s about considering whether it’s decent or not to discuss a certain topic in the public domain. A factual show is not always a journalistic product,” he said.

He added true works of journalism addressed issues pertinent to the public interest, therefore it would be the KPI’s task to draw a clear line on what constituted public and private interests.

Agus also said another way to decide what category infotainment shows fell under was to look at how television stations labeled them.

“As far as I know, there are only three stations — RCTI, Indosiar and Global TV — that include these shows in their newsrooms,” he said.

He added the council “respected and appreciated” the KPI’s decision because ultimately it was the commission that had been overwhelmed with complaints about the shows.