Australian media bias<\/p>\n
Could a Jakarta Post reader please tell me what the Australian
\nmedia's problem is regarding news from Indonesia? It seems they
\nslant stories about my country to fit their long-held biases.
\nThis letter writer checked out the suspicions he had about
\nAustralian media reporting during the recent Irian Jaya hostage
\nrescue operation.<\/p>\n
I first heard the news about the successful Indonesian army
\noperation on BBC radio on May 16, 1996, in the early afternoon
\nJakarta time. The British report said that nine hostages had been
\nrescued, eight OPM separatists were dead, and two Indonesian
\ncaptives had been killed. In light of what was known later, this
\naccount was accurate, with no embellishment by the \"Beeb\".<\/p>\n
At 6:00 p.m., I switched on CNN television news and their
\nJakarta correspondent was by then able to report that all the
\nrescued hostages were on an Indonesian air force Hercules
\ntransport plane shortly due to land in the capital city. CNN
\nbasically gave the same version as the BBC. At 6:30 p.m. I tuned
\nin to the RCTI Seputar Indonesia (Around Indonesia) half-hour
\nnews broadcast and heard the first interviews with Indonesian
\nmilitary officials. The first pictures of the military rescue
\nfrom the field were also shown.<\/p>\n
Curious about how the Australians would handle it, at 7:00
\np.m. I viewed the ABC's television news. The successful Irian
\nJaya hostage rescue mission was announced by AusTV with the
\nnewscaster stating that \"The Free Papua Movement (OPM) has
\nsuffered a setback.\" The number of hostages rescued was
\nmentioned, then the fact that two of the Indonesian captives had
\nbeen killed. Relying only on conjecture, the news report by
\nAustralia Television then speculated that the two hostages found
\ndead may have been hit by Indonesian army gunfire. Of course the
\ndetails were still vague at that point, but to me that
\nimplication revealed a lot about the mentality and biases of the
\nAustralian press. It was probably their wishful thinking that the
\nIndonesian army had, at least in part, botched the rescue
\noperation. At least two witnesses among the hostages, and I
\nbelieved a third, Anna McIvor, stated that they had seen their
\ntwo Indonesian colleagues hacked to death by the OPM separatists.<\/p>\n
What would be particularly galling to Indonesian viewers was
\nthat the accompanying picture to the AusTV news report was the
\nOPM flag on the screen. Here was a flag, recognized by no
\ngovernment in the world, given prominence by the Australian
\ntelevision newscast editors, again revealing quite a bit of an
\nanti-Indonesian prejudice. Would they have shown the Tamil Eelam
\nflag in stories about Sri Lanka? Or a Tibetan Flag? Or perhaps
\nthe Moro liberation colors in news from the Philippines? Or that
\nof the Basque separatists in Europe? Perhaps -- if only for
\nover dramatization. CNN \"Headline News\" newscasts show only
\nnational flags. The Australian press does things differently.<\/p>\n
Unlike the Australian government or those Australians who feel
\nIndonesian territorial integrity is best for the region --
\nBalkanization of my country would have disastrous consequences,
\neven for Australia -- their press seems intent on roiling the
\nwaters. Is it any wonder that Australian journalists have been
\nsuspect in this country?<\/p>\n
I would never rely on Australia Television alone for news
\nconcerning Indonesia, and I hope people around Southeast Asia
\nrealize the existence of these press prejudices.<\/p>\n
FARID BASKORO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/australian-media-bias-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }